Australian ace Reece O’Connell is close to sealing a return to Shrewsbury to act as the club’s overseas player for a second successive season.
Shrewsbury chairman Andy Barnard and the club’s part-time Australian coach Ross Stephen have both held talks with O’Connell in the last few days, with the London Roaders happy with the way negotiations are progressing.
O’Connell, who is currently enjoying a successful season playing grade cricket at home in Perth for Claremont Nedlands, was a big hit in his debut campaign with Shrewsbury as the club narrowly missed out on promotion from the Birmingham League’s first division.
His skills as a quality spinner saw him claim more than 70 wickets while he also weighed in with valuable runs.
O’Connell, who hopes to forge a career in the First Class game by forcing his way into the Western Australia set-up, was also extremely popular with team-mates and club members for his enthusiasm and good nature.
Shrewsbury were a little concerned as to whether they would be able to entice him back for a second season given the player’s commitments in Australia, and they had started to think about possible alternatives.
But Barnard is now optimistic Shrewsbury are close to agreeing a deal with O’Connell, who teaches at an indoor cricket centre in Perth.
“I’m fairly confident at this point that Reece will be returning,”said Barnard. “Ross Stephen is over here at the moment and has spoken to him and he’s also confident.
“It’s just a question of getting everything sorted with Reece now.
“With his work commitments, we know he would be available to play in 17 of our 22 league games, but we’re trying to get it up to 19 if we can.
“But I’m feeling much more confident about him coming back than I was a few weeks ago.”
Shrewsbury, meanwhile, have opted to enter the midweek Birmingham League Twenty20 KO for the first time this year.
They will enter the competition at the second round stage and have been handed a home tie against division three newcomers Oswestry on Wednesday, June 18 (6.30pm).
Should Shrewsbury come out on top, they would also have home advantage in round three against Whitchurch, who have received a bye.