Family values powering Shropshire's resurgence

The side which beat Northumberland in Sunday’s quarter-final at Shifnal was coached by Ed Home, captained by one of his sons, Charlie, and included another, Jack the Worcestershire and England Under-19 all-rounder.

But the Homes' connections with the county club do not end there. Ed also played for Shropshire along with his brother Guy, who also captained the county, while their father Jim, who passed away in November, played for Shropshire in their first-ever National Counties Championship match against Staffordshire at the Goodyear Ground in Wolverhampton in May 1957.

Add to that Guy’s son Tom, who played one match for the county in 2013, and Ed’s daughter Milly, who has played for Shropshire, Warwickshire and Central Sparks as well as international lacrosse for England, and you have a remarkable dynasty covering most of the county’s history of competitive cricket.

“As kids we went with our mother to watch our father play on Saturdays and Sundays and as we got older we went with him, got a bat and a ball and as soon as the game was over we were on the pitch playing with other like-minded kids,” Ed said. “We travelled all around the local clubs watching cricket, scoring and then, as we got older, we started to play.

"Our original club was Wroxeter underneath the Wrekin and we were fortunate to have some good competitive sides which usually did well in the National Knockout, which was quite an achievement for a small village club.

“Yes, there is pride in the family but what you want for anybody, whether it’s my son or anyone who is playing, is for them to go out there and have as much fun as we did when we played.

“It’s all about making friendships with your own team but also the opposition, having fun and building camaraderie and friendships over a period of time. When you come across each other in 10, 20 or 30 years time it’s like you left off where you started.

“I say to all of them: this is the best time of your life. You will look back and think to yourselves ‘wow, these are special times’. They don’t last forever unfortunately. While you are fit and young that’s what you want to be doing.”

Enjoyment is an important part of Ed Home’s cricketing ethos, developing talent is another and Shropshire have done that very successfully for more than half a century.

Oswestry-born Andy Lloyd, who won an England Test cap, played alongside another Shropshire product, Phil Oliver, in Warwickshire’s John Player League-winning side of 1980 with Ted Hemsley and Cedric Boyns (Worcestershire) and Brian Shantry (Gloucestershire) among their contemporaries.

The current crop of Shropshire lads includes Dillon Pennington and Joe Clarke (Nottinghamshire), George Garrett (Kent), Theo Wylie and Ed Barnard (Warwickshire) and Mitchell Stanley (Lancashire).

Northamptonshire seamer Ben Sanderson found his way back into first-class cricket following his release by Yorkshire by enjoying three productive seasons with Shropshire and Harry Darley progressed through the county’s age group teams before being signed by Worcestershire.

“If they end up being taken away from us sooner rather than later then we have done our job haven’t we?” Home said. “That’s what we are there for to try and push through the talent pathway and on to higher honours.

“Nothing gives me greater pleasure than when they want to come back and play for you even though are still playing professional cricket.

"Theo Wylie played for us in our first Trophy match of the season and there are others that we would like to get in but we can’t.

"Ed Pollock went to school in Shropshire and he would love to play for us as I’m sure would Ed Barnard, but he’s got bigger fish to fry at the moment.

“We have a good group of players, they are nice people and it’s a pleasure to turn up every weekend and see them all.

“What we also try and do is to give people who have fallen through the cracks an opportunity. Cameron Jones was at Worcestershire through the academy, he played a List A game for them but he didn’t quite make it.

“We got him to come to play at Shifnal this season because he lives in Wolverhampton, so he’s only down the road. In the first part of the season he’s had some eye-catching performances for us.

"He didn’t play in the quarter-final because he had a trial with the MCC Young Cricketers, he’s got into that and he’s now got a three-week trial with Sussex which is brilliant.

“So, we can be a springboard for people to get back into first-class cricket and we can provide them an atmosphere in which they are valued and which is fun.

"While we want to win, winning is not the be all and end all. It’s how you conduct yourself.

“I think that’s why we play well as a team. Everybody has got each other’s backs. They enjoy other people’s success and they are the first to put their arm around someone if they are finding it tough.

“From my experience the teams with that philosophy tend to do better, particularly under pressure.”