Finalists set for showdown

The four teams who have qualified for the national finals of the ECB’s Nationwide sponsored U15 National Club Championship are now known.

Notts Unity Casuals were the first team to qualify when they won the North Regional Final at York on July 30.

The following day in the South West Regional Final at Weston-super-Mare the Semi-Finals were completed but the match between South Wilts and Bournemouth was rained off after 19 overs of the South Wilts innings.

The two sides replayed the fixture on Sunday at Bournemouth’s Chapel Gate ground after tossing for choice of venue. Bournemouth batted first and posted a score of 92 which proved just too much for the South Wilts side who played too many expansive shots in their run chase.

In the Midlands Regional Final at Leamington, Wolverhampton won an extremely close match against Kibworth which went down to the business end of the last over. Cambridge Granta beat the host club, Leamington, in the third place play-off.

The South East Regional Final saw Blackheath beat the favourites for this year’s competition, Harrow St Mary who were U13 Champions two years ago, to bag the other place at Kibworth.

Interestingly Bournemouth will be one of the first clubs to appear at the new venue for the finals day of this championship after it was moved from their own ground to a more central location within the country.