The 24th England Schools' Cricket Association Bunbury Under-15 Festival at Chester produced another feast of cricket with four Yorkshire boys selected to go forward in a national group of 22 to receive specialised coaching at the ECB’s National Cricket Performance Centre at Loughborough University next week.

They were pace bowlers Lewis Stabler (Richmond School and Richmond CC), Chris Curtis (Hall Cross School and Doncaster Town CC), Jack Holt (Scalby School and Scarborough CC) and all-rounder Will Rhodes (Cottingham High School and Cottingham CC).

Lewis also took the Best Bowler Award with his penetrating left-arm pace, and he was awarded one of four David English Bunbury Scholarships to include a week’s training with the full England squad at Loughborough University.

Yorkshire captain Jonathan Tattersall won the Market Form Best Fielder award presented during the festival dinner at Chester Racecourse attended by ECB officials and MCC president John Barclay and Chief Executive Keith Bradshaw.

Yorkshire supplied eight boys for the North squad of 14, and lost by three runs to London and East who went on to win the Festival. The others were batsmen Kris Ward, who captained the North, and Jamie McNichol, along with Under-14s wicket-keeper Barney Gibson.

The other White Rose age-group teams have enjoyed a very successful summer with the Under-15 B and Under-12 A teams both victorious at their Ampleforth Festivals. The Under-14s won their Festival at Taunton, and they have won all eight of their qualifying matches in the ECB County Cup: they now go forward to the semi-final/final playoffs at Oakham School on August 17-18.
 
The Under-15s have qualified from the North group to reach their semi-final/final playoffs, also at Oakham, on August 19-20.

The Under-13 are unbeaten in the County Cup competition with five wins. They came unstuck with weather at the Taunton Festival, although recording a comprehensive victory over the eventual winners, Kent.

DAVID WARNER