Newport Cricket Club U13 Girls
retained the Lady Taverners UK National U13 Championship with convincing wins
against Narborough & Littlethorpe (Leicestershire) and Enfield (London) in
the National Finals Day at Leamington Spa.
Four Regional winners throughout England and Wales
had qualified through to the Finals Day:-
Wolverhampton (Midland Regional
Winners)
Narborough
& Littlethorpe (Northern Regional Winners)
Ealing (South East Regional
Winners)
Newport (South West Regional Winners)
Having
won the tournament in 2013, there was added pressure on the Newport Girls and
with rain falling before their Semi Final with Narborough, a 5 over eliminator
or ‘Bowl Out’ was high on the agenda!
As the rain eased a little, an important
toss was won by the Newport girls who put Narborough in to bat, as the game was
reduced to 16 overs a team.
R.Chipman
22 and B.Blanksby 16 put on 30 off 12 overs for the first wicket, but at a slow
pace against tight bowling from Charlotte Scarborough and Jess Thornton. Lauren
Chambers claimed the first wicket clean bowling Chipman, which was quickly
followed by a good run out by Jess Thornton. With Amy Harris also bowling well,
claiming another wicket, Narborough could only reach a total of 56-3 in their
16 overs.
The
total posed no problems for the Newport openers with Charlotte Scarborough
(16no) and Jess Thornton (20no) scoring freely to reach the required target in
the 10th over without losing a wicket.
Ealing
had beaten Wolverhampton in their Semi Final to set up an intriguing Final. Now
in bright sunshine, Ealing won the toss and put Newport into bat, a decision
they were soon to regret.
In the previous week, openers Charlotte Scarborough
and Jess Thornton, had both enjoyed a successful week as members of the England
U15 Super 3’s training group and they quickly took control, scoring 30 off the first 5 overs. Both girls were looking in great form,
matching each other shot for shot. The fifty run partnership was reached in 9
overs and a big score was looking possible. Excellent running between the
wickets and quick to pounce on any loose bowling, the openers reached the 100
partnership in 16 overs before Charlotte Scarborough who had reached her own
personal fifty was run out in the closing stages of the innings for an
excellent 55. Jess Thornton continued to bat well, and sensible batting from
Amy Harris allowed Jess to reach her own personal fifty off the last ball of
the innings, to finish 50 not out. Newport scoring a very useful 126-1 in 20
overs.
When
Charlotte Scarborough bowled the Ealing opener H. Latham with the very first
ball of the innings, a rather dispirited Ealing knew it wasn’t going to be
their day. The remaining batsman battled bravely, but had no answer to the
Newport bowlers and wickets fell regularly, falling to 20 all out. Scarborough
finishing with 4wkts for just 5 runs and Thornton 2-12, leaving Newport winners
by a stunning 106 runs. Newport were crowned UK Champions, it was a magnificent
achievement to retain the Lady Taverners UK U13 National Trophy.
Team
Jess Thornton (Capt.), Charlotte Scarborough, Amy
Harris, Lauren Chambers, Ellie Harlow, Molly Cooper, Beth Proctor, Catrin Phillips,
Amy Evans
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Fresh from the Newport U13 Girls Lady
Taverners UK Cup success, the Club’s U15 Girls team travelled to Leamington
Cricket Club in buoyant mood for the U15 UK Finals. The girls were not to be
denied and completed a remarkable UK Winners Double, beating Walmley (Midlands)
and Ansty (Sussex) at the National Finals Day.
In their semi-final Newport were drawn to
play last year’s winners Walmley. In an eagerly awaited clash between last
season’s finalists, Newport were put into bat and made a solid start with
openers Georgia Parfitt and Rose Evans scoring 45, before Parfitt was out for
18. Rose Evans batted throughout the innings, hitting a four off the last ball
of the innings to reach her personal fifty and a Newport total of 113-4 from
their allotted 20 overs.
In reply, Walmley made a steady start reaching 17
before the loss of their first wicket. However, in a devastating spell of
bowling Charlotte Scarborough ripped through the top order Walmley batting
recording figures of 5 overs, 1 maiden, 3 wickets for 9 runs, to leave Walmley
reeling at 25-3. An excellent run out by Ella Reed and a further wicket by Meg
Simkins added to the Walmley woes and they could only reach 68-5, to leave
Newport winners by 45 runs.
In the UK Final Newport played Ansty
(Sussex), who had beaten Wrenthorpe (Yorkshire) in the other semi final.
Newport were once again put in to bat and got off to a great start scoring 49,
before Rose Evans was out for 22. Georgia Parfitt was joined by Ella Reed and
the pair soon began to dominate the Ansty bowling sharing a match winning
partnership of 96, to post a fantastic 145-1 Newport total. Reed made 28 not
out, but Parfitt’s 70 not out was the highlight of the innings, scoring runs to
all parts of the ground.
Ansty were under tremendous pressure and when
Charlotte Scarborough trapped opening batsman Lucy Western LBW for 0 with the
third ball the writing was on the wall. Excellent bowling by Scarborough and
Jess Thornton, who each took 3 wickets completely destroyed the Ansty batting
and the Sussex team were all out for 28 in just 14.1 overs, to leave Newport
winners by 117 runs.
Newport U15 Team : Rose Evans (Capt), Georgia
Parfitt, Thea Huckle, Ella Reed, Charlotte Scarborough, Meg Simkins, Jess Thornton, Aimee Watson, Amy Harris,
Sophie Osborn.
Having won both the U13 and U15 Lady
Taverners UK titles, Newport have become the first Club to win the two
prestigious UK age group titles in the same year. Head Coach Mike Knight
praised the two teams saying, ‘To win one UK title was fantastic, but to become
UK Champions at both age groups was incredible. The girls have worked hard in
training since October and have been rewarded for their fantastic work ethic by
becoming ‘Double UK Champions’. Everyone at the Club is very proud of them’
Any girls (aged 7-13 years) interested in
learning to play cricket should contact Mike Knight (07793823294) or
[email protected]
for information about winter coaching.