GRAHAM Wagg will make his first appearance for Shropshire when he captains the county in this weekend's opening 50-over friendly of the season.

The former Glamorgan all-rounder will lead Shropshire against Staffordshire at Himley on Sunday at 11am.

It's the first of four 50-over-friendlies arranged by Shropshire in preparation for the NCCA Trophy 50-over competition, which starts at the end of May.

Shropshire’s director of cricket John Abrahams said selection has been affected with some club competitions in England already underway.

He said: “We should have been playing Staffordshire in the T20 competition, which was cancelled, but they agreed to go ahead with a 50-over fixture at the same venue on the same day, so it hopefully helps them and helps us as well.

“We’ve been limited with selection as a couple of teams are playing knockout games in the Birmingham League, so players from Shrewsbury and Shifnal have not been considered.

“It provides us with the opportunity to look at other players and with four friendly matches before the first NCCA Trophy match, we would hopefully by the fourth have a good idea of who our best players are.”

Both Shropshire and Staffordshire are selecting 12 players for Sunday, with a nominated non-batsman, while both sides will be able to rotate players in the field.

Oswestry players Ryan Lockley, David Laird and Ben Roberts have been named in the squad.