Shrewsbury come unstuck on travels
By Stuart Dunn at the Shrewsbury Chronicle
Shrewsbury are targeting the start of another decent run of results after their recent revival in the Birmingham League premier division was emphatically ended with a heavy 113 run defeat at fellow mid-table side Kenilworth Wardens.
Skipper Rob Foster revealed beforehand that Shrewsbury usually struggle on their visits to the Warwickshire club and that pattern disappointingly continued.
Foster admitted it was a day to forget and is now seeking two much better displays over the Bank Holiday weekend as Shrewsbury, 38 points clear of the relegation zone, host Kidderminster on Saturday before a tricky trip to second-placed Barnt Green on Monday.
Kenilworth opted to bat first last weekend and found conditions just to their liking to amass a competitive 304-3 from their 50 overs.
Mike Barnard, the only Shrewsbury bowler to enjoy any success, claimed 3-53 from 10 overs, but it was otherwise hard going for the visiting attack as the runs flowed freely.
Wardens skipper Martin Donald smashed an unbeaten 108 from just 51 balls while opener Keith Bell, the brother of England Test star Ian, narrowly missed out on a ton, ending on 97 not out.
Kenilworth’s long-serving Indian pro Sitanshu Kotak also kept the scoreboard ticking over by hitting 68.
Shrewsbury, in reply, quickly lost in-form opener Ed Foster and they were always up against it as they were eventually dismissed for 191.
Will Parton, making a welcome return to the side, top scored with 35 while there were also runs for skipper Foster (32), Steve Leach (22) and Tom Cox (21), but no-one delivered a telling contribution as Alastair Wilkinson claimed 4-42.
“It was obviously disappointing,” said captain Foster. “Sometimes you have to credit the opposition and their captain, Martin Donald, played a great innings.
“It was some of the cleanest hitting I’ve seen in a long time and he really took the game away from us.
“I felt anything around 250 would have been a good score but they ended up passing that fairly comfortably.
“When we batted Ed hit the first ball for four and was then out off the second ball so that kind of summed up our day.”
Meanwhile, Shrewsbury II enjoyed one of their better days of a difficult season in the reserve premier division by beating Attock II by 50 runs at London Road.
The home side’s total of 142 all out in which experienced pair Jon Anders and William Davies were mainstays looked vulnerable at the halfway stage, but then Shrewsbury excelled in the field to skittle Attock for 92, with young Jack Garmson taking five wickets.
Shrewsbury, who remain bottom of the league, travel to Moseley II on Saturday before hosting Barnt Green II on Monday.
