County pair top Minor Counties list
They may have failed to scoop any team honours, but Shropshire's cricketers claimed a clean sweep of the Minor Counties individual prizes for 2008.
Shropshire's cricketers claimed a clean sweep of the Minor Counties individual prizes for 2008." class="imageframe imgalignright" height="130" src="http://www.shropshirestar.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/cricket-ball.thumbnail.jpg" width="175"/>They may have failed to scoop any team honours, but Shropshire's cricketers claimed a clean sweep of the Minor Counties individual prizes for 2008.
Explosive batsman Atiq-ur-Rehman finished top of the championship batting averages for both western and eastern division teams after scoring 563 runs in eight innings at an average of 80.43.
His highlights came with scores of 175 against Wales and 158 against Devon as he became the first-ever Shropshire player to score 150s in consecutive innings.
Off-spinner Andy Gray topped the bowling averages after a season in which he wrote himself into the Shropshire record books by becoming the first county player to take nine wickets in an innings.
His 9-56 against Cornwall came during a campaign in which he took 36 wickets at an average of 13.39.
The awards will be accepted by Shropshire secretary Neville Birch on behalf of the players at the Minor Counties' annual general meeting at Lord's on December 3.
By James Garrison