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| Rain ruins game at Whitchurch |
| Next to no play on the final day |
22nd July 2010 |
Shropshire's Championship match with Cornwall at Whtichurch ended in a disappointing draw as only 2.4 overs were possible on the final day due to rain. Shropshire made three changes from the team which defeated Hertfordshire in the Knock Out Semi Final. Jono Whitney missed out through injury, whilst Mark Downes and Anthony Parker were unavailable. They were replaced by Alex Huxley, Steve Taylor and Jonty Mountford, who made his seasonal debut. The start was delayed by an hour due to rain. Ed Foster won the toss and decided to bat in overcast conditions, a decision he was soon to regret as in the space of 8 balls both he and Chris Murtagh were back in the pavilion. Foster mistimed a pull to mid on, whilst Murtagh was the victim of a peach of a ball from Alex Smeeth. The loss of their leading run scorers seemed to unsettle the rest of the batsmen as a succession of poor shots left Shropshire going into lunch on 67 for 6. Only Rob Foster, with 30 put up any resistance. Once again it was the experience of Andy Gray, Matt Tilt and Steve Taylor which rescued Shropshire. Tilt (15), ever reliable in tight situations helped Gray add 54 for the 7th wicket, then Taylor (32) added 51 with Gray for the 8th wicket. Gray was eventually out for a pugnacious 68. The Shropshire innings subsided to 202 all out, with Dan Davis 4 for 40 in 24 consecutive overs, the best of the bowlers. For once, Shropshire's fielding fell from their high standards, as catches were missed. Steve Taylor took 2 wickets and Jonty Mountford one as Cornwall ended the first day on 84 for 3. On the resumption, a stand of 84 between ex Somerset all rounder Keith Parsons (70) and the impressive Davis (48) gave the visitors the initiave, but the introduction of off spinners Andy Gray and Rob Foster saw Cornwall dismissed for 252, a lead of 50. Gray took 4 for 49 and Foster 3 for 72. Ed Foster and Alex Huxley set about reducing the deficit, adding 30 before Huxley was dismissed by the last ball of Tom Sharp's first over. Chris Murtagh helped the captain add 34 before Foster (43) got what appeared to be a harsh LBW decision. However he reached 500 Championship runs this season just before his dismissal. When bad light and rain ended play early at 5.40pm, Rob Foster and Murtagh had added a further 80 as the hosts ended on 144 for 2, leading by 94. An early lunch was taken on the final morning and play finally started at 1.30 pm. Foster and Murtagh helped themselves to easy runs as Cornwall put on the occasional bowlers. However only 2.4 overs were possible before rain again intervened and the captains shook hands. Foster ended on 63* and Murtagh 48* in a total of 171 for 2. Murtagh's fine season continued as he passed 400 Championship runs. Hopefully Shropshire will have learned some lessons from this match, principally the need for the middle order to give more support to the two Fosters and Murtagh. They will need to be at their best for the two remaining matches against Berkshire and Cheshire, traditionally two of the strongest teams in the Western Division. Umpires R Evans and M Jones Scorers CLW Barthorpe and J O’Brian |