Three teams unbeaten after day one

Bath celebrate a day one victory at Oakham © MCCNGP

MCC Spirit of Cricket U13 National Club Championship

Finals Week – First Day Report

The first day of the National Finals Week at Oakham School was greeted with glorious sunshine, a marked change from the weather experienced by all the teams involved in their attempts to qualify for this festival of cricket.

The eight teams playing at Oakham are South Northumberland, their third consecutive visit, Countesthorpe (Leicestershire) appearing for the second year running, old visitors from Bath and Wolverhampton and four new teams at the Festival from Hastings & St Leonard’s Priory (Sussex), Chesham (Bucks), Northop (North Wales) and Scholes (Holmfirth, Yorkshire).

After the two rounds played on the first day three teams were still unbeaten namely Wolverhampton, Bath and South Northumberland whilst Chesham and Countesthorpe had managed one win each.

Northop, although losing both games, had the third highest total of runs scored with no less than five cases of batsmen retiring on reaching 30 in these two matches that they have played.

A fluent stroke from Bath batsman Henry Poulson © MCCNGP

Between the eight teams there have been three batsmen who have reached 30 in both matches, namely Alex Grant (Wolverhampton), Liam Naylor (Northop) and Harry Rouse (Bath).

The best bowling performances have been from Charles Gill of Countesthorpe who took 4-6 in three overs and James Turner of Wolverhampton who took 4-9 also against luckless Scholes.

Former Essex and Hampshire all-rounder, now MCC’s Head of Cricket, John Stephenson, said: “The standard of play has been hugely impressive, and in keeping with the tournament name, the competition is being played in the right spirit - hard but fair."

Bath skipper Henry Hayes on his way to a first-day 30 © MCCNGP

The four-day finals mark the end of the summer’s Championship, which this year saw over 1,600 teams enter. Competitions were held in each of the ECB’s 38 counties, with the winners going through to the Regional Finals before just eight teams qualified for this week’s tournament.

The Finals are played over four days, with each team playing each other at least once before the winner is named on Friday August 10. The winners will be presented with the Ken Barrington Cup, by Ann, Ken’s widow, who has presented the award 27 consecutive years.

In line with their sponsorship of the competition, the club who display the best on-pitch attitude throughout the week will receive an MCC Spirit of Cricket award.

Table

Standings after Second Round (20 KB)

Scorecards

First round of matches:

MCC U13 2007 finals, day 1 - Bath v Hastings & SLP (84 KB)
MCC U13 2007 finals, day 1 - Scholes v Countesthorpe (84 KB)
MCC U13 2007 finals, day 1 - Wolverhampton v Northop (85 KB)
MCC U13 2007 finals, day 1 - S Northumberland v Chesham (85 KB)

Second round of matches:

MCC U13 2007 finals, day 1 - Chesham v Northop (83 KB)
MCC U13 2007 finals, day 1 - Countesthorpe v Bath (84 KB)
MCC U13 2007 finals, day 1 - Hastings & SLP v S Northumberland (84 KB)
MCC U13 2007 finals, day 1 - Wolverhampton v Scholes (84 KB)