Shropshire cricket fans had the chance to experience the thrill of the latest Ashes series a little closer to home when we hosted our annual cricket evening at The Lord Hill Hotel last Thursday night with three special guests.
Former cricketers Jeremy Snape (England) and Ian Harvey (Australia) shared their memories of the game, and sports broadcaster Pat Murphy was the host for the evening.
Our Managing Director, Laurie Riley, said: “It was a great opportunity for our guests to hear from both players about their careers at both county and country level.
“And the timing was perfect as our event coincided with the first test in the latest Ashes series, so it was fascinating to hear both players’ thoughts on how the battle might pan out in the coming weeks.”
A raffle and auction of cricket memorabilia was also held and raised £1,023 for our chosen charities – The Shrewsbury Samaritans and Stay Telford (a local charity based in Telford that helps homeless young people, providing housing and support for indivdiuals and families across the Telford and Wrekin area).
Jeremy Snape has combined the experience of being a successful international cricketer, coach and psychologist to provide innovative performance ideas for teams and leaders.
He played 10 One Day Internationals for England, and has held roles as performance coach for the South African cricket team, as well as supporting two Indian Premier League teams and the Melbourne Stars.
Ian Harvey played 73 One Day Internationals for Australia and was a World Cup winner in 2003. He also enjoyed a highly-acclaimed career in the English game with Gloucestershire, Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Northamptonshire.
Pat Murphy is an English sports writer and radio broadcaster. A former writer for the Birmingham Post, he has been a BBC sports reporter for almost 30 years, specialising in football and cricket. When he’s not overseas covering England’s cricketing fortunes he can be heard commentating on Premier League football for BBC Radio 5 Live.
Practising his batting technique is our Managing Director, Laurie Riley together with Jeremy Snape (left) and Pat Murphy (centre)