Cornwall Youth Festival 2003

Carrick area clubs fared well in the 17th Cornwall Youth Cricket Festival, held 10th to 15th August 2003 in Penryn. Falmouth Cricket Club won the exciting Under 17 'Cricket Max' event and were runners-up in Friday's Under 15 Final, whilst Grampound Road carried off the unusual treble of three Plates and backed this up with a 'Cup' in the Under 11 softball competition. A new record 58 teams took part in another successful festival, blessed with much sunny weather throughout the six days.

Matches took place on four grounds this time, including 'Flicx' pitches laid on the fields of Penryn Rugby Club and Penryn Sports College. All of the main finals were again held at St Gluvias Cricket Club, where food and drink sales to the five or six hundred young cricketers (aged between six and seventeen) and their parents and coaches smashed all records.

In the main Under 15 event, Falmouth and Paul, clearly the two strongest sides this year, sailed through their semi-final groups and met in the 12 eight-ball overs final. Falmouth were rocked by losing Anthony Angove to the first ball of the match and struggled to just 81-9, which proved no real challenge for the boys of Paul CC, including Player of the Final Ryan Edwards, who romped home with six wickets and four overs to spare, despite losing three early wickets themselves. Local lads Justin Hocking (87), of St Gluvias, and Liam Hoban (6 for 10), from Falmouth, were the winners of the Best Batting and Bowling awards.

In the Plate competition, Grampound Road completed an amazing treble by adding a victory over Gorran to their Under 13 and Under 17 Plate successes.

The fast and colourful Under 17 tournament, played over just 5 eight-ball overs, featured thirteen teams in four groups. Surprise package Looe reached the Final, having defeated Camborne in the semis, but were comfortably eclipsed by a confident Falmouth outfit, conquerors of Beacon, who reached the simple target of 45 with considerable ease. Stefan Churcher, of Falmouth, was named Player of the Final.

Also on Thursday, the visiting West Dulwich U13 team, from London, completed an unbeaten run through the event with a 22-run win against Penzance. Dulwich recorded six wins and a tie, against Redruth, but a very evenly contested tournament also saw good contributions from Gorran, Truro and Bude. Top performer for the winning team was wicketkeeper George Clarke, who reached 50 three times, twice unbeaten.

Sunday's Under 11 softball competition saw six mini pitches in use and each team played at least four matches. Grampound Road fielded three sides and their 'B' team deservedly picked up the main trophy, defeating St Just in the Final, though they were given a fright in the semi-final, where Troon lost just 146-144.

The Festival Committee have already announced that the 2004 Festival will run from Sunday 8th to Friday 13th August.

Full results

Under 11 (18 teams) : Plate - Truro 141, St Erme 110

Semi-finals - St Just 132, Hayle 111 Grampound Road B 146, Troon 144

Final - Grampound Road B 136, St Just 96

Player of the Final - Matthew Manuell (Grampound Road)

Under 13 (15 teams) : Plate - Grampound Road A 141-3, Newquay 70-7

Semi-finals - Group 1: West Dulwich defeated both Redruth and Gorran, with maximum points (60)

Group 2: Penzance 41 pts., Bude 38, Truro 29

Final - West Dulwich 128-6, Penzance 106-5

Player of the Final - Alex Westren (Penzance)

Best Batting Performance - Alex Westren (Penzance), 70 Best Bowling Performance - Richard Vanstell (Bude), 5-29

Under 15 (12 teams) : Plate - Grampound Road 89-5, Gorran 62-5

Semi-finals - Group 1: Falmouth beat Alleyn's Old Boys and Newquay

Group 2: Paul beat Redruth and St Gluvias

Final - Falmouth 81-9, Paul 82-4 (Paul won by 6 wickets)

Player of the Final - Ryan Edwards (Paul)

Best Batting Performance - Justin Hocking (St Gluvias) 87 Best Bowling Performance - Liam Hoban (Falmouth) 6-10

Under 17 (13 teams) : Plate - Grampound Road beat St Just

Semi-finals - Looe beat Camborne Falmouth beat Beacon

Final - Looe 44-4, Falmouth 45-3 (Falmouth won by 5 wickets)

Player of the Final - Stefan Churcher (Falmouth)

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