One change to side for Shropshire trip

June 1, 2022

SUFFOLK make just one change to their side for the NCCA Trophy Group 3 match away to Shropshire on Sunday.

Mildenhall all-rounder Tristan Blackledge, who bowled well in the nine-wicket win against Norfolk on his home ground, has a university exam early on Monday so is unavailable for the match at Oswestry, start 11am.

Darren Batch, who missed last Sunday’s match with a side strain, is still unable to bowl, so Matt Allen replaces Mildenhall team-mate Blackledge (pictured above) for the 50-overs-a-side fixture.

Suffolk Head Coach Andy Northcote said: “Matt only played in one of the T20 matches but is it fair to say he is considered to be a potentially exciting white-ball player.

“Matt has a fantastic skill set and is really starting to be a frontliner in Mildenhall’s XI. He’s young, strong and has a long future ahead of him. This will be a nice challenge for him and as well as a big eye opener as to how tough National Counties cricket can be.”

Northcote said he was pleased with the quality of Suffolk’s all-round performance against Norfolk at Mildenhall in Sunday’s opening game.

He said: “It’s great to have such a strong start to the campaign, losing just the one wicket chasing 230, which is almost unheard of in today’s world.

“There was a late change to the order during the interval and it paid off – the left-handed combination of Nick Browne and Jack Beaumont works well. Jack hits the ball cleanly in obscure areas whilst Nick is the classical open that will try to bat all 300 balls.

“However, equally pleasing is that we have highlighted areas we can improve on in the field and with the ball and we look forward to Sunday’s match with 10 of the same side available. Tristan bowled exceptionally well, so having him missing is a big loss.”

Northcote admitted he did not know too much about opponents Shropshire, who play in the Western Division of the NCCA Championship and sat out the opening round of Group 3 fixtures.

“Our analyst Olly Williams normally gets us videos, stats and areas to bowl / angles of field etc ahead of the game, so we will be making use of that information,” added Northcote.

Suffolk: Jack Beaumont, Nick Browne, Ben Claydon, Josh Cantrell, Darren Ironside, Ben Shepperson, Ben Parker, Matt Allen, Dom Manthorpe, Tom Rash (capt), Jacob Marston (wkt).

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