Cooke and Griffiths are Shropshire stars

They were named Junior Boys and Junior Girls Player of the Year awards during the evening held at the White House Hotel in Telford.

Cricket Shropshire chairman Keith Higgins said: “A big thank you to the Shropshire Star for their continued sponsorship of seven of the awards we hand out at the presentation night.

“It’s great to see the newspaper supporting the cricketing community in the county in this way and helping us to continue to promote this great game of ours.”

Harry Cooke had a fantastic and very busy season, performing superbly for the Shropshire Under 15s side earning himself a place in the Under 15s Midlands team at the prestigious Bunbury Festival.

He continues to work hard at his game as an all-rounder, and has been selected for the Worcestershire Academy in 2020 in recognition of his outstanding year.

Amy Griffiths received her Junior Girls Player of the Year award for her outstanding leadership and performances throughout the season for the Under 13 Girls – and she is already knocking on the door of the county Under 15s side.

Another of the Shropshire Star awards is the Gerry ‘Gloves’ Gladwell wicket-keeping award – and this went to Eddie Lewis from the Boys Under 15s squad.

His citation said: “Eddie is excellent standing up to the stumps with an excellent natural catching. He finds time away from County commitments to work hard on his game and this is really starting to show in his performances.

“His exposure to 1st XI cricket at Whitchurch CC has also accelerated his development.”

The Team of the Year trophy went to the County Under 13 Boys – a talented squad who their tournament at the annual week-long Taunton Festival playing some exciting cricket with depth and quality coming to the fore.

The Beyond the Boundary Award went to Kath Howard from the Friends of Bowring Park in Wellington.

Lead officer Adrian Collins said: “We have a wonderful network of volunteers within our clubs, but to assist in our outreach we need support from individuals and organisations outside of cricket to help spread the word of our great game.

“This summer a special lady who is part of the Friends of Bowring Park helped us introduce almost 100 children to the game in Wellington who may never have had the opportunity before.

“The park which has an ECB funded artificial wicket, has seen us deliver three initiatives – Get Telford Active, Have a Go sessions and Wicketz programme.

“It is also home to Wrekin Wreckers practice night. Kath coordinated, organised, posted hundreds of leaflets, sent Social media into a frenzy and worked tirelessly to give people a chance to enjoy themselves.”

The Junior Development Club of the Year went to Forton CC.

Adrian said: “Forton share their geographical area with two other clubs, so there are challenges for all three clubs. A spate of break-ins have not deterred this dedicated band of volunteers who have worked hard during recent years with small numbers.

“The past two seasons have seen numbers really start to increase with a family-friendly environment, excellent parent support and enthusiastic Coaches have now established a solid Junior Section which is overseen by a Junior Sub Committee who focus entirely on Junior Development.”

The club had success on the field too with both Under 11s and Under 13s in 2019, the latter winning the league and cup, whilst the Under 11s were runners-up in the League and semi-finalists in the cup.

The Border Club of the Year were Newtown CC.