A Summer of Success for Shrewsbury Cricket

It has been a winning summer for Shrewsbury School Cricket.

Freddie O (Ch, UVI) has again received excellent recognition for his development with a call up to the Ireland U19 squad.

He represented his country in two Youth ODIs at Loughborough, taking on England and Bangladesh. In the game against England he top-scored for the Irish with a sensational 83, which included ten fours and a six. He is in contention for a place in the Ireland side for the 2026 ICC U19 World Cup, which will take place in Namibia and Zimbabwe.

Over 950 teams entered the 2025 ECB U15 T20 competition in April, with the culmination of the tournament seeing the winners of the South, South West, North and Midlands regions meeting at the beautiful Arundel Castle ground on the final day of August.

Shrewsbury had booked their place after some thrilling victories in the earlier rounds, and took on a Scarborough College side in the first semi-final. After a sparkling 46 from Athwal G, (R, IV) had seen them post 154 in their 20 overs, the bowlers held their nerve to seal a narrow 3 run win.

King's Taunton were the opposition in the final, and despite a valiant effort, were too strong for a Shrewsbury side which contained a staggering 8 U14 players. This phenomenal achievement follows a hugely successful tour to the UAE, a summer term filled with both team and personal highlights which included Arjan B (SH, V) selection for the Bunbury Festival-winning Midlands side, and brings to an end a wonderful 12 months for the group.

The 1^st XI boys capped a fine year by lifting the coveted Silk Trophy in early July, after convincing victories over Grey College from South Africa, Eton College, and Stowe. The South Africans hold the record for producing more One Day International cricketers (and the second highest number of Test cricketers )than any other school in the country, and fielded a side with several stars in the making. The Salopians rose to the challenge and chased down their total of 266 on day one, with subsequent wins over fine Eton and Stowe sides in the following two days seeing Shrewsbury complete a stunning clean sweep. The Salopians played some stellar cricket, scoring 928 runs in the 3 games at a run rate of 6.4 per over, backed by some tenacious bowling and fielding in sweltering conditions, and deservedly claimed the silverware to round off another excellent season.

Adam Shantry, Cricket Professional