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Parton takes on captaincy full time

Parton takes on captaincy full time

Shrewsbury Cricket Club13 Jul 2018 - 13:04
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By Stuart Dunn at the Shrewsbury Chronicle

Will Parton has been appointed captain of Shrewsbury Cricket Club after leading the Birmingham League high-flyers for much of this season.

The Shropshire batsman replaces Ben Stebbings, whose performances this year have been limited owing to university commitments.

Stebbings, who made his third appearance of the campaign when he played in last weekend’s winning draw against Knowle & Dorridge, skippered Shrewsbury to runners-up spot in the premier division last year.

Shrewsbury vice-chairman Ed Foster told the Chronicle: "Will Parton has officially taken over the captaincy from Ben with immediate effect.

“Ben’s not playing this weekend and misses a couple more games throughout the summer, so I think he just felt that it might be best for the side if there was a more consistent captain there and Will’s happy to do it.

“Ben’s got a busy diary. He’s doing a Masters qualification, which means he often has to be at university at weekends.”

Parton has captained Shropshire’s Twenty20 side this season and has often led from the front for Shrewsbury with impressive performances at the top of their batting order.

“Will’s really relished the role this year and he’s done a really good job,” added Foster, also a key member of a Shrewsbury side currently third in the premier division.

“He’s been at the club a long time now, probably about 10 years or so, and he’s turned himself into a fantastic cricketer and he’s now showing his hand at leadership as well.”

Shrewsbury, who head to Moseley on Saturday, were boosted by the return of Henry Blofield, an offspinning all-rounder, for last weekend’s match.

He impressed with bat and ball on his first outing for the club’s first team for more than a year last weekend.

Foster said: “From the club’s point of view, it’s good to see Henry back. He’s a wise head on young shoulders and he certainly stepped up to the plate.

“He’s been to Argentina and he’s more recently come back from Russia as part of his languages course at university.

“He’s back for pretty much the rest of the season now, bar a bit of time in August.”

Shrewsbury, nine points behind leaders Berkswell, are now looking forward to the trip to sixth-placed Moseley.

“We played them in the first game of the season,” added Foster. "It was a tough game and we just managed to creep over the line right at the very end and grab all the points to set us off on this season’s journey.

“We won’t be taking them lightly and we want to carry on where we left off last week and just keep marching on.”

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