Wales v Shropshire

   3-5 August 2008                                     Abergavenny Cricket Club

Match Drawn

Wales 7 points Shropshire 12 points

Shropshire made five changes for their visit to Abergavenny. John Maunders, Atiq Rehman and Steve Taylor returned to the side whilst Matt Tilt and Bruce Thomasson made their first Championship appearances of the season. Jamie Ralph won the toss and decided to bat, a decision that looked good as John Maunders and Jack Shantry made a steady start before maunders, who had looked settled, was caught off Will Owen for 21. Shropshire lost two quick wickets, with the Foster brothers back in the pavilion, but Atiq Rehman joined Shantry and they began to repair the damage. Their partnersip blossomed, putting on 120 before Shantry was trapped in front for a Championship best 88. Rehman was in fine form, and was welll supported by Thomasson (35) and Taylor (30). He was last out for a fine 175, his best Championship score, and the second highest ever by a Shropshire batsman in the Championship as the innings closed on 389 for 8, by far the best batting prformance of the season.

The Welsh reply started well, as Glamorgan's Rian Watkins and Michael Clayden put on 36 for the first wicket and Imran Hassan helped Clayden to put on 49 for the second. However, on the second morning all the Welsh batsmen struggled against some excellent bowling by Steve Taylor (6 for 54), well supported by Jack Shantry and Andy Gray, and were eventually all out for 158. With a lead of 231, skipper Ralph would normally have enforced the follow on, but with Taylor carrying a slight injury and Shantry having bowled a lot of overs, he decided to bat again.

Poor early batting saw Shropshire subside to 57 for 5 as Will Owen (4 for 29) took advantage. However, a stand of 60 by Ralph (33) and Maunders, batting down the order with an injury, enabled Shropshire to reach 167 for 8 dec, with Maunders making his first Championship half century on 56*. Set 399 to win, Wales started like a train with Watkins (30) attacking the bowling. However, Taylor, Shantry and Gray each took a wicket as Wales ended the second day on 65 for 3, seeking a further 337 to win. All that became academic, as persistent rain on the third day meant that the umpires and captains agreed to call off the proceedings after lunch, leaving Shropshire frustrated with a draw.

Shropshire can console themselves with a much better performance than the previous two games, aand now look forward to finishing the season in style when they visit Devon.

Umpires            A Hicks and G Curson

Scorers             J Jones, CLW Barthorpe and C Green