Oliver struck the joint second highest score by a Shropshire player when he hit a dazzling 175 to set up victory in the county’s last match against Wales at Oswestry last week.

Gary Fellows, who hammered 182 against Wales in 2005, is the only man to have compiled a bigger score in the Championship for Shropshire.

Now Oliver, the 22-year-old opening batsman, is keen to exploit his knowledge of Whitchurch’s Heath Road ground when he returns to his former club for Shropshire’s final Western Division match of the season against Devon which gets under way on Sunday.

Oliver, from Woore, has fond memories of his time playing for Whitchurch which ended when he opted to take up a new challenge by joining his former county team mates Chris Murtagh and Neil Saker at Surrey club Reigate Priory for this season.

“I always look forward to going back to Whitchurch,” said Oliver. “The old saying is you don’t know what you’ve lost until it’s gone and batting at Whitchurch is so much different to anywhere else.

“It’s a glorious place to bat and it’s a good venue for cricket. I’ve got some good friends at Whitchurch and it will be great to go back.”

The stakes could not be higher for Oliver’s first return to Whitchurch since leaving the club with Shropshire in contention for their first Championship triumph since 1973.

Dreaming
They are currently 10 points behind leaders Wiltshire while Oxfordshire, who take on the table-toppers in their final game, and Cornwall, who sign off against Wales, are also dreaming of title glory.

Oliver said: “We’ve never been too presumptuous about our chances even when we were top because we knew it was a long season. We’ve got as good a chance as anyone else and the fact Oxfordshire are playing Wiltshire with a lot riding on that game will help us out.

“Our record at Whitchurch is pretty good so we’re all looking forward to it.”

Oliver admits he would love to make another leading contribution after cracking a brilliant 175 against Wales last time out.

“I was so disappointed when I got out,” he said. “Myself and Ed Foster as openers set our standards really high. I got a double hundred for Whitchurch last season and I was really driven to do the same again.

“I hadn’t batted for three weeks and I was telling everyone I was champing at the bit. The groundsman at Oswestry did a superb job to get cricket on for the three days after the rain.”

Oliver added he was pleased to have made the move to Reigate Priory and that helping Shropshire win the title would crown his year perfectly.

The first ball will be bowled at Whitchurch on Sunday at 11am with free admission on each of the three days.