Exciting finish at ‘special’ cricket contest

A Leicester cricket competition which attracted young players from across the world concluded in dramatic style.

The finals of the under 12s and 14s categories were decided in spectacular fashion on Friday, August 19, to wrap up two weeks of sensational white ball cricket in the 10th annual Colour Clothing Tournament.

The contest, organised by City Cricket Academy (CCA), has been running since August 8 with the under 8s, 10s, and 17s competing during the first week and the under 12s and 14s categories taking place last week.

Teams from Dubai’s ICC Academy and India’s Cricket Next Academy flew over to take part in the tournament, while sides from Merseyside also joined in alongside young cricketers from Leicestershire and Northamptonshire as well as neighbouring counties.

The under 14s final went down to the final over with 2 needed off the last 2 balls. CCA Supergiants scored the runs to win by three wickets having chased down 109.

Thomas Bunce, 13, from Leicester, was the captain of CCA Supergiants. He said: “I really enjoyed everything. It was a brilliant experience.”

Under 14s player of the tournament James Bennett, 14, from Leicester, said: “It’s been great fun to play fun to play cricket for five days. The weather has been brilliant up until the final day.”

Vedant Deshpande, 13, from Dubai, who represented ICC Academy, said: “This was my first time in the UK. I have learned a lot from especially from the fast bowlers.”

ICC Warriors won the under 12s final against CCA Cobras in a tightly-contested game, having scored 82 runs from a reduced 12-over match due to rain.

Karan Zaveri was under 12s player of the tournament. The 11-year-old from Dubai said: “I really had fun playing in the tournament and am happy that we won.”

A total of 22 teams competed at two venues for the first time to cater for the increased interest, with the action taking place at Leicester Grammar School and the University of Leicester’s Stoughton Road Playing Fields.

Don Bhagawati, director of CCA, said: “I would like to congratulate every single player for taking part in a special tournament. The standards were high and the competition strong but everyone played with a smile on their face and enjoyed the game.

“The competition has gone from strength-to-strength over the years and now attracts teams and players from around the globe. It has been an excellent opportunity for youngsters to compete in a white ball tournament.”

Under 12s
Best fielder: Oliver Bunce (CCA Lions)
Best bowler: Nathan Bell (CCA Titans)
Best batsman: Ethan La Porte (CCA Cobras)
Spirit of the Game 1- Sam Robinson (CCA Lions)
Spirit of the Game 2- Aryan Mehul Chudasama (CCA Cobras)
Player of the tournament: Karan Zaveri (ICC Academy)
Man of the match – final: Harry Jonstone (ICC Academy)
Medals for 2nd place: CCA Cobras
Medals for 1st place: ICC Warriors

Under 14s
Best fielder: Jack Fleetwood
Best bowler: Vedant Nilesh
Best batsman: Dhruv Jhawar
Special award: Shival Bawa
Player of the tournament: James Bennett
Man of the match – play off: Gautam Sanghvi
Man of the match – final: Siddhant Argawal
Medals for 2nd place: ICC Silvers
Medals for 1st place: CCA Supergiants