Middlesex take U17 title

Middlesex scooped the ECB's Under-17 County Championship for the first time in their history when they comfortably defeated five-time winners Yorkshire.

Michael Payne hit an unbeaten century and Nicoll claimed 4-35 as Middlesex eased to a 105-run victory.

Middlesex won the toss and elected to bat first for the two-day match which took place at Chelmsford.

It proved to be a wise decision as Daniel Simpson cracked 63 at the top of the innings to propel his side to 100 for one. However, Moin Ashraf sparked a collapse as he took four quick wickets, including a spell of 3-1, to reduce Middlesex to 123 for five.

Payne remained unmoved and began to rebuild the innings with the help of Ajay Sangha who hit a valuable 37 in a partnership worth 91 runs.

When Sangha was out, with the score 250 for seven, Payne gleaned a further 72 runs from the tail as he moved to his century which came in the 100th and final over of the innings as Middlesex were finally dismissed for 322.

Ashraf was the pick of the Yorkshire bowlers, finishing with 4-44.

Yorkshire made an awful start to their innings as Tom Hampton made an early breakthrough with just five runs on the board.

Inspired by Charlie Roebuck, Yorkshire staged a mini-revival and a second-wicket stand of 55 with Geldart gave them a platform to push on. They were soon undermined, however, by two wickets from left-arm spinner Ravi Patel and one from Sangha which left them a mountain to climb at 106 for four.

Roebuck and Sharp injected life into the innings with a 61-run stand but none of the Middlesex batsmen could follow their lead.

Roebuck was eventually dismissed for a majestic 110, caught by wicketkeeper Stuart Poynter off William Jones, while Sharp fell one run short of a battling half-century as he became one of Nicoll's four victims.

Scorecard:

U17 County Championship Final 2008 (23 KB)