James Ralph joins Shropshire cricket's centurion elite

Ralph will notch up his 100th Minor Counties Championship game for the county when their three-day Western Division game at Cheshire gets under way at Nantwich.

Former county captain Ralph admits he's delighted to be on the verge of taking his Championship appearances into three figures while he has also represented Shropshire in 65 one-day matches.

But the classy Bridgnorth batsman admits getting a victory is the important thing, with Shropshire third in the Western Division and still in with a chance of title glory with two games to go.

He said: "It's a proud moment for me but the main thing is we go there and bounce back from the Berkshire defeat with a win.

"We've got to go with the mindset that we need to win both of our remaining games, and if we do that and don't win the division then we would be a bit unlucky.

"The Berkshire game was disappointing and it followed the trend this season in that we can't seem to bat 90 overs in our first innings, which we need to to."

Ralph averages 33.15 with the bat in the Championship – with a top score of 140 – while he has also taken 41 wickets and held on to 89 catches.

It's ironic the 40-year-old will reach his landmark against Cheshire given they also provided the opposition when he made his Championship debut at Alderley Edge in 1998.

But while much of the pre-match focus has been on Ralph, skipper Steve Leach knows his men must cash in with the top two – Berkshire and Cornwall – playing each other.

"Ralphy is a top player and a great servant to Shropshire cricket," he said.

"We didn't play as well as we can against Berkshire but we know we still have a great chance of winning the league.

"But we have to perform this week. We can't afford any more slip-ups."