A night to remember for cricketing heroes

The presentation evening was held at the White House Hotel in Telford with former Worcestershire and Shropshire ace Jack Shantry and Laura Macleod, who represented England nearly 100 times in all forms of the game, as special guests.

Each presented awards during the evening, and gave a short speech to the packed room with 270 guests in attendance.

Left-arm seamer Jack played for Worcestershire for ten years before a back injury forced him to take early retirement in 2018. Since then he has moved into umpiring, coaching and done work for radio.

In addition, he was granted his benefit year by Worcestershire in 2019 for his ten years of service, and one of the beneficiaries will be Cricket Shropshire.

Shrewsbury-born Jack told the audience he made a career in the First Class game despite the doubters who said his bowling action meant he would never be successful.

He said: “There are lots of young cricketers in the room, so I would like to outline the five things you need to help you in your future cricketing careers.

“In summary, they are: Work hard even when no one is watching, motivate yourself, enjoy it, take the time to speak to people, and be able to take criticism.”

Laura, who is now Women and Girls’ Cricket performance manager at Warwickshire, said it was an exciting time for the sport, and she praised Shropshire for its role in developing the game in the county.

“Shropshire has really been to the fore in many initiatives such as Softball Festivals which has seen participation rise significantly in the county.”

She said there was also now a clear pathway for girls making their way in the game in Shropshire from softball cricket, through hardball club cricket, to the Shropshire side and then the Warwickshire development XIs through to the England set up.

Cricket Shropshire chairman Keith Higgins thanked both Jack and Laura for their taking time to attend, and also to the Shropshire Star for sponsoring some of the awards.

Included as part of the awards on the night were the Shropshire OSCAs – the Outstanding Service to Cricket awards – recognising the contribution many people make behind the scenes at clubs across the county.

Mark Rowe received the Unsung Hero OSCA for his work with Calverhall CC, where he has been involved since it was formed in 2003, including five years as Chairman.

He still umpires for the club on a Saturday, helps with the junior sessions on a Monday, helps with the ground and is always the first to arrive on match days, invariably doing all the unglamorous jobs.

Mike Waldron received the Lifetime Achiever award for his work at St Georges CC.

He has been actively involved in the junior section at the club since 1998 and is a coach, junior committee chairman and team manager.

He regularly helps on the ground, has been club secretary for 18 years and was treasurer of the East Shropshire Junior League for many years.

Pete Thornton received the Heartbeat of the Club OSCA for his work at Allscott CC.

He has been involved with the club for 20 years in most aspects of the club, is Vice Chairman, Club Welfare Officer and runs the Under 10, 11, 13 and 15 teams. He is always positive and also has the unofficial title of Morale Officer.

Mike Sheehy was honoured with the Pro Active Leadership in Cricket OSCA for his outstanding service to Shropshire Cricket in general, and Wem CC and officiating in particular, alongside his wife Val for nearly 50 years.

He served as treasurer at Wem for 46 years, and has been treasurer and secretary of the Association of Cricket Officials in Shropshire for 25 years.

Tributes to his tireless dedication to cricket in Shropshire were paid by Andy Barnard, head of Cricket at Shrewsbury School, and Tom Kane chairman of Shropshire ACO as he also received a special service presentation.

Jack Shantry is available for one to one coaching sessions in Shropshire, and can be contacted via email jackshantry@hotmail.com