Shropshire Star advertising director Peter Guy with Shropshire Star young cricketers of the year Joe Carrasco and Aswin Babu.

One of Shropshire’s top cricket coaches has hailed the wealth of young talent being developed in the county.

Former Worcestershire bowler Paul Pridgeon, head coach of the Shrewsbury-based Emerging Player/Worcestershire Satellite Academy, said some of the players should be playing Minor Counties cricket sooner rather than later.

He said the county’s age group sides had produced some impressive performances over the past season – including the under-13s winning the Taunton festival.

Speaking at the Shropshire Star-backed Shropshire Cricket Board awards evening at Wrekin College, he encouraged the county’s senior selectors to give some of the young talent a chance.

He said he understood why in the past players had been brought in from outside the county to bolster the team in the Minor Counties Championship.

But he said if senior officials were prepared to get the current crop of youngsters in the side now to allow them to develop, the county could reap the benefits and win the Championship within five years.

He said: “We have a huge depth of young talent in the county now.

“I read in the Shropshire Star at the start of the every season that the county have a chance of winning the one-day competition or the Minor Counties Championship, and I just think it is not going to happen.

“Let’s get the right man in charge alongside a high quality pro to work with the depth of talent there is and turn the corner.

“I believe we have four or five players in the system who could go on and play First Class cricket. But there are seven or eight behind them who should be playing Minor Counties cricket in the near future.

“The county could have a couple of lean years while they gain the experience, but I think they could win it sooner rather than later.”

More than 30 youngsters were awarded their county caps to mark their achievements and attitude last season during the evening.

Other award winners included Shrewsbury skipper Ed Foster who took the Shropshire Star Leading Run Scorer reward with more than 900 runs in the Birmingham Premier to head the league averages.

Shifnal skipper Adam Shimmons took the Leading Wicket Taker award for 60 plus wickets in division one.

By DAVID BALLINGER

All the evening’s award winners

Shropshire Star Leading Run Scorer: Ed Foster (Shrewsbury).

Shropshire Star Leading Wicket Taker: Adam Shimmons (Shifnal).

SCB Leading Allrounder: Chris Hurst (Quayside).

SCB Disability Player of the Year: Matt Askin (Albrighton).

SCB Women’s Player of the Year: Evelyn Jones (Whitchurch).

SCB Girls’ Player of the Year: Rachael Howells (Wrekin College and Wellington).

SCB Younger Cricketers of the Year: Joe Carrasco (Oswestry) and Aswin Babu (Wellington).

Under 10s: Sam Baugh and Charlie Home. Under 11s Luke Beckett, Charlie Cooke, Daniel Lloyd, Henry Rose. Under 13s: Ed Barnard, Joe Carrasco, Will Cooke, Tom Ellis. Under 14s: Matt Gregson, Ryan Jakeman, Sam Owen, Tom Weston. Girls: Rachael Howells, Hannah Sturge, Jeska Ward.

Under 15s: Jack Edwards, Jack Hudson-Williams, Steve Leach, Tom Pickerill. Under 17s: Aswin Babu, Steve Barnard, Alex Blofield, Martin Delaney, Ryan Lockley, Duncan May, Ben Price, Matt Swift. Girls/Women: Jess Breakwell, Beth Jones, Evelyn Jones, Megan Jones, Naomi Payne, Clare Pym, Rebecca Rushton, Charlotte Walsh. Disability: Matt Askin, Dave Ingram, Shaun Rigby.