High View won Drax Cup 2008
High View Learning Centre, in Wombwell, near Barnsley has won the Drax Cup 2008, the biggest cricket competition for under-9s in the country.
The team beat Harehills Primary School, Leeds by 33 runs in the finals played today (Thursday 26 June 2008) at Headingley Carnegie Stadium, Leeds, one of the most famous cricket grounds in the world.
Eaton Angel top scored for High View with 37 runs. It is the second year that Harehills have finished runners-up.
Stakesby Community Primary School, from Whitby won a third place play-off against North Duffield Community Primary School, near Selby after the teams tied, with both scoring 199 runs for the loss of five wickets.
Some 40 children were involved in the finals, treading the same turf as current England captain Michael Vaughan and his fellow Yorkshire team-mates, who now and in the past have been Test players.
Peter Emery, production director of Drax Power, sponsors of the Drax Cup presented the trophy and medals alongside Darren Gough. Peter said: "I would like to thank every school that took part for their involvement and commitment in helping to make the Drax Cup such a fun event to play in and watch. I should also like to congratulate High View on their outstanding performance today!"
He added: "Youth sport and education are two important themes of our community relations programme. This competition is an ideal way of bringing them together and enabling children to enjoy sport and through this learn valuable lessons about supporting each other and taking responsibility."
The finals were the culmination of a 3-month competition which attracted 270 schools from across the region, treble the number that entered the inaugural Drax Cup last year.
The competition is organised by The Yorkshire County Cricket Club in conjunction with The Yorkshire Cricket Board and The Yorkshire School's Cricket Association.
Stewart Regan, chief executive of The Yorkshire County Cricket Club, said: "Encouraging youngsters to play cricket is essential for the long term success of the game and I am delighted with the continued support of Drax Power.
"Children at the age of 7 or 8 years old are starting to form their first real opinions about which sport to follow and which team they wish to support and the Drax Cup is a great way to develop an interest in the game of cricket and in particular The Yorkshire County Cricket Club."
The Drax Cup supports children in developing literacy and numeracy skills by encouraging them to write match reports to be read out in school and assist in match scoring.
Drax's sponsorship strengthens the company's links with the game and is part of its Cricket In The Community (CITC) scheme, which provides cricket coaching in schools to support education and promote sports learning as part of the National Curriculum.
Drax estimates that around 600 children now benefit from CITC every year, while today's finalists are among some 3,000 pupils and teachers from across Yorkshire who have participated in the competition.
For full details and competition rules visit www.yorkshireccc.com/draxcup
