Sam Whitney wants Shropshire to take confidence from how they performed in the National Counties Cricket Association Championship last season ahead of this weekend's three-day opener against Wiltshire.

After losing their first Championship match last season, Shropshire responded impressively to win two and draw one of their next three games to finish second in Western Division Two.

Whitney, Shropshire’s Championship captain, is now looking for a positive reaction from his side following some disappointing results for the county in the NCCA One Day Trophy in recent weeks.

Shropshire’s Championship campaign starts with a three-day match against Wiltshire at Corsham CC on Sunday (11am).

It will be followed by games against Wales, Cornwall and Devon.

“We need to forget about what’s gone on in white-ball cricket,” said Whitney. “We need to look to the positives that we’re unbeaten in the last three games we’ve played in the longer format and take confidence from that.

“We’ve got very, very good players. Look at what happened last year with Graham Wagg. He was the best player in the competition, so hopefully he can emulate that form.

“We’ve got players who are coming in, guys we’re going to be handing Championship debuts to, so we’re going to be able to have a look at them at this level.

Ludlow opening batter Luke Miles, enjoying an impressive season for his club in the Shropshire County Cricket League, will make his Shropshire debut against Wiltshire.

Bridgnorth captain David Exall, the experienced former Herefordshire all-rounder, has also been called up to play for Shropshire for the first time.

There will also be first Championship appearances for Shropshire for opening batter Andre Bradford, who has played every match for the county so far this season in the NCCA Trophy and NCCA T20 competition, and Andy Harrison, the Wem seamer who made his county debut in last weekend’s NCCA Trophy match at Norfolk.

Shropshire: Andre Bradford (Swarkestone), Luke Miles (Ludlow), Matty Simmonds (Bridgnorth), Graham Wagg (Wem), David Exall (Bridgnorth), David Laird (Bridgnorth), Ben Lees (Bridgnorth), Sam Whitney (Bridgnorth, captain), Sam Ellis (Formby), Andy Harrison (Wem), Ben Roberts (Brymbo).