James Taylor leading congratulations for Shrewsbury Saracens

The former Shrewsbury School pupil, who has been on international Test match duty against South Africa at Lord’s, sent messages to the team following Sunday’s 111-run win against Harrow Wanderers at Shenley.

Taylor also represented Saracens, which is a side made up of former Shrewsbury School pupils, earlier this season in their second round victory over Whitgift Mitres.

Delighted captain Tom Cox said: “He sent us a couple of messages after the game and he has been staying informed of how we were getting on which was fantastic.

“It was also really nice he turned out for us earlier in the season.

“I would be surprised if there has ever been anyone who has played a Cricketer Cup game and Test cricket in the same season.”

Cox has also hailed the bowling of team-mate Steve Barnard which turned a see-saw final firmly in Saracens’ favour with a five-wicket haul inside 10 overs.

Saracens had endured a difficult innings having won the toss, finishing on 199-8, and their opponents had been patiently building towards their required total when Barnard struck.

“He bowled brilliantly,” said Cox.

“They had reached 30-1 but then Steve just ran through them and they were 42-6 after that.

“I think that was the stand-out performance because it made the difference in the game,” he added as Harrow were dismissed for just 88 runs.

Cox (41) also praised the contributions of batsmen Ali Pollock (49) and Steve Leach (44), who along with the skipper played key roles in building what turned out to be a winning total.

The team were cheered on by around 200 of their own supporters in Sunday’s final and Cox added: “You could see how much it meant to some of the older members.”

Saracens will be aiming to successfully defend their trophy next year and the silverware will be on display at Shrewsbury School in the meantime.