The English Cricket Board has confirmed that following their merger with the Portman Building Society, Nationwide will sponsor the ECB National Under 15 Club Championship in 2008 - the remaining year of the sponsorship agreement.
The competition, now known as the Nationwide Under 15 National Club Cricket Championship, has gone from strength to strength since it was initiated by the Lord’s Taverner’s in 1972.
In recent years, it has been a breeding ground for aspiring cricketers, with players such as Nasser Hussain, Marcus Trescothick and James Anderson having participated in it.
England and Lancashire’s Andrew Flintoff graced the 1993 competition scoring 234 not out in 20 overs, including 22 sixes!
In 2007, a record 1,704 clubs entered the Championship with 18,744 young cricketers taking part, an increase of 43 clubs from 2006, itself a record year.
A host of England and county stars attend the Final, which this year will take place at Kibworth on 21 August 2008.
Nationwide Under 15 National Club Cricket Championship - REGIONAL FINALS:
Tuesday 29 July - York
Thursday 31 July - Weston Super Mare
Monday 4 August - Leamington Spa
Wednesday 6 August - Horsham
Nationwide Under 15 National Club Cricket Championship - NATIONAL FINALS:
Thursday 21 August - Kibworth CC, Leicestershire
More on Blackheath Under 15s Nationwide Cup Win
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PrintWe have now received more details of Blackheath Under 15’s superb win in the Nationwide National Cup competition.
The full Press Release from the Club can be found at this link. Scorecards are available of the Semi Final and Final as well.
Finally, a photo of the winning team!
Jubilant Blackheath win the Nationwide Under 15 National Cup
As is reported on the front page of the KCB website, Blackheath Under 15s have won the Nationwide Under 15 Club Championship.
In doing so they become the second Kent Club in successive years, after Tunbridge Wells in 2007, to carry off the trophy. It is a quite remarkable feat for Blackheath and for Cricket in general in the County.
Victorious father and son combo James and Richard Fleming were all smiles as they contemplated the tag of national champions.
The pair, who are coach and captain respectively of Blackheath, masterminded and executed the perfect plan to beat a game Wolverhampton by 17 runs in the final of the Nationwide U15 National Club Championship.
Having posted 124 for eight, Blackheath dismissed their opponents to lift the trophy for the first time in their history.
“It’s been a great day,” said Fleming senior. “It’s awesome. To get to the final and win it is something I will remember for the rest of my life. I think everyone is a little overawed by it.
“It’s been a tremendous journey, a tremendous climax for us and a wonderful moment for the boys – a once in a lifetime thing.
“A couple of weeks ago my son and I looked at the ECB website and saw the story about Tunbridge Wells winning this competition last year. We looked at each other and said ‘are we really going to get there and do what they did?’ It’s amazing.”
Winning a competition for the first time is notable enough, but to do it at the first time of asking as Blackheath did is nothing short of remarkable.
“I said to our colts chairman in November or December ‘let’s get in this competition as I think we can go all the way’,” said Fleming, whose hunch proved correct.
“We came to the final with a bit of confidence but not arrogance or complacency. We wanted to see how we would do against the top opposition in the country.
“I feel very proud of them. They controlled both games, went out there and seized the initiative and got their punches in first. Having Wolverhampton two for three, we were pinching ourselves.
Blackheath had to fend off stiff opposition in their journey to become champions. A staggering 1,750 clubs set off at the start of the season with dreams of glory, but only one side would emerge victorious.
“I think it’s a fantastic competition. When you look at the great names of recent English cricket who have played in it – Trescothick, Hussain, Flintoff – I wonder if we have anyone in our midst who might one day look back at this as his coming of age.
“Tribute to the hard work of the boys. I have very special bunch of kids. Most of them have been together since ten or 11 and most of them are now performing in adult cricket. We feel excited about the future of our club. It’s been a great year for our club’s colts section.”
Fleming junior shared his father’s confidence at the outset of the competition but admitted their achievement had not sunk in quite yet.
“We thought we were the best side in the country and we have proved it now,” he said. “It’s the biggest thing we have done as a team but hopefully we can go on to bigger and better things when we are seniors.
“I didn’t know what to say at the end of the game. I just shouted as loud as I could. All the boys are elated. It’s a big achievement. Nobody else from our club has done something like this before.”
Rules of the Competition
It’s looking possible that not everyone has received a copy of the Rules and Regulations for the Nationwide Under 15 National Championship although they were sent out to each League.
You will find a copy of the Rules and Regulations 2008 for the competition on this website.
If you have an issue or a problem with the competition or the Rules under which it is organised and run, please contact Heidi Coleman at KCB.
Nationwide Under 15 National Club Cricket Championship
The situation as at 30th June 2008
Leagues have entered the number of teams shown in Column 2. Column 3 shows the number of clubs from that League that will progress through to the last 16 in the County.
Ashford, Swale and Border will run mini-leagues to determine which team goes through to the last 16
| LEAGUE | Number of Clubs at U15 entered | Number of Clubs for last 16 by 26th May |
| North | 12 | 4 |
| Medway | 10 | 3 |
| Saxon Shore | 10 | 3 |
| Canterbury | 5 | 1 |
| Thanet | 5 | 1 |
| Mid | 7 | 2 |
| Weald | 3 | 1 |
| * Border | 1 | Mini League |
| * Ashford | 1 | |
| * Swale | 1 |
The Ashford, Swale and Border Mini-League Programme is as follows:
| Mini Leagues - 1 Team | Play by 19th May | Play by 26th May | WINNER TO GO THROUGH TO KENT’S LAST 16 |
| Swale League Teams play by 19th May | SWALE v BORDER | Winner of Swale VS
Ashford | |
| Border League Teams play by 19th May | |||
| Ashford Teams play by 19th May | Bye to next round vs ASHFORD |
The Last Sixteen Stage
Once the above competitions are resolved, the last 16 teams in Kent will be known. The following table shows the progress to the eventual winning team which will go on to represent the County in the National Championship
| To be played by 9th June | Quarter Finals by 23rd June | Semi Finals - draw 23 June - played by 30th June | Finals 4th July |
Match A | QF1 Sandwich v LBH | Semi Final 1 Sandwich vs Blackheath | Blackheath vs HSBC |
| Match B LBH v St Lawrence | |||
| Match C The Mote v Plaxtol | QF2 The Mote v HSBC | ||
| Match D North 3 v Medway 1 | |||
| Match E Otford v Tunbridge Wells | QF3 Tunbridge Wells v Margate | Semi Final 2 HSBC vs Margate | |
| Match F Chestfield v Margate | |||
Match G | QF4 Blackheath v Rainham | ||
| Match H Hawkinge v Rainham |
The Final takes place at Mote CC, Maidstone on Friday 4th July 2008 and the aim is to start the game at 5:45pm
Umpires:
The umpires for the game are:
U15 - Brian Fridd & David Lapthorn
Further information:
Each team will be asked to provide a team sheet for the umpires on the evening (including date of birth of each player)
Match balls will be provided by the KCB.
Just in case you may not have seen them you can find the match regulations at this link.