Lucy Arnold leads from the front for Shropshire
Skipper Lucy Arnold led from the front as Shropshire’s Women’s XI launched their league campaign with a victory and a defeat.
They hosted Cambridgeshire & Huntingdonshire at Bridgnorth in Group C of Division 3 of the Royal London One-Day Cup, and then followed that clash with a visit from a strong Essex side.
In the first game Arnold won the toss and decided to bat first, and Shropshire got off to a flying start with Shelton’s Robyn Mathews punishing some loose bowling on her way to 28.
The introduction of spin saw the scoring rate slow, and a collapse saw the girls in a little bit of trouble despite 24 from debutant Morganne Prince.
But skipper Arnold held firm with a half-century, and was well supported towards the end of the innings by 15-year-olds Nyah Edwards and Beth Charnell, who made valuable contributions before Shropshire were dismissed for 151.
Coach Ian Gregory said: “It was a decent total but the girls were a bit disappointed to be bowled out with 19 overs of their innings not used up.”
In the Cambridgeshire reply, tight bowling from Edwards and Ludlow’s Courtney Cooper kept the visitors bogged down before Edwards claimed the first wicket by inducing a snick to wicket-keeper Meg Felstead.
Then Alberbury’s Lara Jones got to work with her spin, claiming a key wicket just before the tea break, and then two more soon after as she returned impressive figures of 3-22 from her 10 overs.
Another debutant, Sammi Short, then bowled a smart spell, conceding just seven runs from her seven overs, picking up two wickets in the process.
Following a short rain break, the girls returned to the pitch and finished off the tail with opening bowlers Edwards and Cooper rattling the timbers in quick succession after Quatt’s Jenny Cotham had picked up a wicket.
Cambridgeshire were dismissed for 72 to give Shropshire victory by 79 runs.
The next day the groundstaff at Bridgnorth worked hard after heavy overnight rain and further downpours during the morning to get the pitch ready for a reduced overs game in the afternoon.
A solid first 10 overs featuring some excellent fielding work (including a sharp catch at point for Lara Jones) had Shropshire right in the mix, with Essex just sneaking over the 50-run mark at halfway.
However, a few late lusty blows and wickets in hand helped them accelerate to a final total of 126-6 off their 20 overs, with Jordi Matthews claiming two wickets.
Shropshire’s reply was steady rather than spectacular, although Robyn Mathews took advantage of some overpitched deliveries from the Essex openers as she hit 39.
However, with the Essex bowling unit sticking to their plans and hitting consistent lines outside off stump, the required rate was always moving out of reach and Shropshire finished 24 runs short on 102-8. Coach Gregory added: “The game was a true test of how far the squad had come, given that Essex have been in Division 2 of the ECB competitions for most of the last few seasons.
“Although the girls fell a bit short in the end, they can take huge pride in the fact that they pushed a well-drilled Essex team in a very competitive game.
“The girls put in two very promising performances, playing some excellent cricket at times, and came away with a solid haul of 23 points which bodes well for the rest of the season.”
