CORNWALL YOUTH CRICKET FESTIVAL REPORT 2006

Another feast of cricket was enjoyed at the 20th Cornwall Youth Festival last week in Penryn, where hundreds of young cricketers played in four tournaments, over six full days. The organisers were again delighted with the response from many Cornish clubs and, indeed, several visiting from further afield. In particular, local clubs such as Penzance, Redruth, Grampound Road, St Austell, Truro, St Gluvias and Falmouth should be congratulated on the extent to which they supported the competition.

St Gluvias CC's Kernick Road site and the club's members also played their part fully in the continued success of the event.

Visitors West Dulwich romped to victory in the Under 13 Final, topping 200 runs in their 12 8-ball overs innings in the Final against St Just, runners-up for the second successive year. Stuart Garratt narrowly missed out on a memorable century, hitting 97 not out for the winners. The Lord's Taverners area representative, Mr Andrew Huckerby, presented the prizes to the Under 13's on Thursday evening and expressed his delight at the scale of the Festival and the organisation behind it.

At the beginning of the week, Newquay were the winners of the Under 11 Final, where they defeated St Erme. A record twenty-three teams played on six pitches, with Grampound Road fielding four sides, their 'A' side collecting the Plate trophy. The Bowl winners were Falmouth 'A'.

Grampound Road's strong youth section showed their colours to the full in the second half of the week, easily winning the Under 15 and Under 17 competitions, seeing off the challenges of Penzance and Falmouth respectively. Their U15 side scored 200 in each of their three qualifying games and the 'B' side performed more than usefully, too, winning two matches.

The Twenty-First Festival, in 2007, will run from SUNDAY 5th to FRIDAY 10th AUGUST.

CYCF officials would like to thank everyone who helped with this year's event, particularly Penryn College, the Lord's Taverners, One & All Sports and other sponsors, as well as R Booth Ltd, who produced a wonderful souvenir programme, and the members of St Gluvias CC and the Falmouth & Penryn Lions Club.

Full results Under 11 (23 teams) : Bowl - Falmouth A 155, Redruth 136 Plate - Grampound Road A 232, Beacon 125

Semi-finals - Truro 128, St Erme 146 Newquay 130, Penzance 100

Final - Newquay 133 beat St Erme 97 by 36 runs. Player of the Final - Ryan Jelbert (Newquay)

Under 13 (13 teams) : Plate - Redruth A 98-4, St Gluvias 90-6

Semi-finals - St Just 149-1, Penzance 95-4 Grampound Road 102-7, West Dulwich 103-2

Final - West Dulwich 201-4, beat St Just 102, by 99 runs. Player of the Final - Stuart Garratt (West Dulwich)

Best Batting Performance - Stuart Garratt (West Dulwich) 97* Best Bowling Performance - Alan Smith (Camborne) 4-14

Under 15 (14 teams) : Plate - Camborne 114-3, Praze 84-6

Semi-finals - Grampound Road A 146-2, Falmouth 93-5 St Austell 101-7, Penzance 105-0

Final - Grampound Road Road A 156-3, beat Penzance 106-7, by 50 runs. Player of the Final - Tom Hughes (Grampound Road)

Best Batting Performance - Charlie Neil-Hall (Grampound Road A) 110* Best Bowling Performance - Lewis Taylor (Camborne) 6-17

Under 17 (9 teams) : Third Place - St Austell beat Redruth (bowl-out)

Semi-finals - Falmouth 95-1, Redruth 86-5 St Austell 73-2, Grampound Road 74-3

Final - Grampound Road 63-0, beat Falmouth 57-5, by 8 wickets. Player of the Final - Jamie Trudgeon (Grampound Road)