Cheshire v Shropshire CCC – MCCA Championship At Chester on Sun/Mon/Tues 22/23/24 August 2004 Shropshire won toss – Match Drawn - Cheshire 7 pts Shropshire 6 pts
Cheshire 1st			Cheshire 2nd
S.A.Twigg	c Whitney b O'Connor	3
D.N.Leech	c Tilt b Smith	23
G.F.Archer	no	113
A.J.Hall (c)	c Ralph b Mason	39
M.R.Dawson (w)	c Ralph b Smith	3
N.D.Cross	ro	63
S.J.Renshaw	c Catterall b Mason	36
S.Ogilby (wk)	no	0
J.P.Whittaker
D.B.Pennett
R.W.Fisher
	Extras	25
	Total (6 wkts)	305

 

Shropshire Bowling 1st					Bowling 2nd
	O	M	R	W	O	M	R	W
O'Connor	19	6	46	1
Mountford	7	1	21
Whitney	12	1	40
Catterall	10	4	31
Smith	26	11	57	2
Mason	16	1	89	2

Shropshire 1st Innings			2nd Innings
E.J.Foster	no	25
C.P.Martin	lbw Fisher	16
M.A.Tilt (wk)	no	6
T.J.Mason
N.M.K.Smith
D.N.Catterall
J.P.Ralph
G.L.Home (c)
J.D.Whitney
A.P.O'Connor
J.Mountford
	Extras	6
	Total (1 wkts)	53

 

Cheshire  Bowling 1st					2nd
	O	M	R	W	O	M	R	W
S.J.Renshaw	7	1	27
D.B.Pennett	7	2	14
R.W.Fisher	6	4	6	1

 

 

 

CHESHIRE SUFFER C&G HEARTACHE AFTER WASHOUT

By Neil Goulding

 

CHESHIRE's Minor Counties Championship clash with Shropshire was abandoned as heavy rain resulted in a washout at Chester Boughton Hall.

With no play possible on the second day, and with the bad weather continuing, both sides agreed that there was no chance of a result - even with a contrived finish if the downpour halted.

The result means that Cheshire have now failed to qualify for next season's Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy, albeit they have only lost one Western Division match all year.

"We are disappointed not to have qualified for the C&G - but there's nothing we could have done about the weather in our last two matches," Gerry Hardstaff, the Cheshire chairman, said.

"We batted well in this match and against Oxfordshire (at Banbury), and put ourselves in a strong position after the first day.

"But we have to look at the games earlier in the year to see why we haven't qualified. We did need to pick up more batting points and having been in a strong position against Devon (at Oxton), we threw away a golden chance to win the match."

Despite missing out on C&G qualification for 2005, Hardstaff is confident Cheshire now have a nucleus of a team which can challenge for honours in the coming seasons.

"Graeme Archer has been a great signing for us and without him we might have struggled in the batting department," added Hardstaff.

Archer, formerly of Nottinghamshire, scored a splendid unbeaten 113 for Cheshire on the opening day of their tussle with Shropshire.

The ex-Staffs batsman also scored another hundred - 121 not out - against Oxfordshire at Banbury. He is his county's best performer with the bast this season having scored an impressive 434 runs in only six innings.

"Graeme joined us at an important stage in the season. Our captain, Andy Hall, was injured, and we were also without Nafees Din, who scored a lot of runs for us last season," said Hardstaff.

"But we're developing as a team. We've got a good team, now, and ideally you want a squad of 14 regular players that you can pick from all season. That hasn't always been the case, but the young lads that have come in have done well.

"It's a big learning curve playing at this level, but we are willing to give those that are good enough a chance to prove themselves.

"We have learnt this year that you have to win at least three matches if you are going to challenge for honours. We haven't done that, but we can build on this year's performances."

WEATHER HALTS CHESHIRE'S PROGRESS

 

By Neil Goulding

 

CHESHIRE's chances of qualifying for next year's Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy have all but disappeared after the second day of their Minor Counties Championship clash with Shropshire was rained off at Chester Boughton Hall, yesterday.

Andy Hall's team need maximum points and other results to go their way if they are to qualify.

But heavy rain meant there was no chance of any play and now Cheshire can only win if there is a contrived finish on the final day's play.

"It's very frustrating for everyone," admitted Gerry Hardstaff, the Cheshire chairman.

"The rain took the wind out of our sails against Oxfordshire, in a match we needed to win, and the same has happened here."

Indeed, Cheshire have had no luck in their final two matches in the Western Division - and ultimately the weather has wrecked their hopes of C&G qualification.

"The weather hasn't helped, but we can look back at the season and admit we didn't score enough batting points," added Hardstaff.

"I just hope we get some cricket on the last day. We've got a good, balanced side and we have strengthened our batting. It's just a shame that we've managed to post big scores in our last two matches - and the possibility of a result has been halted by the rain."

A brilliant unbeaten 113 from Graeme Archer, the former Nottinghamshire batsman, helped Cheshire post 305-6 declared on Sunday.

Oxton all-rounder Neil Cross also weighed in with a useful 63 as the pair shared an important third-wicket partnership of 130.

But with Shropshire finely poised at 53-1 overnight, both teams were denied the chance to try and take control of proceedings.

 

No play Day 2 due to rain.