Congratulations to the Middlesex under 16s Boys, who won the Royal London Cup on Sunday, winning a close final against Yorkshire to round-off an unbeaten campaign in 2022.
Having won the toss at Loughborough University, Middlesex skipper Eddie Campion elected to bat first, and they started brightly with the bat as Viren Nain played positively for 42 off 40 balls, striking 8 boundaries in the process.
The loss of regular wickets however stalled any significant progress in the innings, which saw Middlesex stutter to 127 for 7 before the tail wagged and restored some momentum late in the innings. Important contributions down the order from Absar Muhammad (26), Ben Salter (22) and Naavya Sharma (19) helped the side to a total of 191, before they were bowled out in the 47th over. On a decent batting surface and on a small ground the Middlesex total looked to be somewhat under par, leaving Yorkshire the happier of the two sides at the interval.
With ball in hand it was a dream start for Middlesex, as Naavya Sharma struck early, taking a wicket with just the 2nd ball of the innings.
Ben Salter, fresh from his 2nd XI Championship debut earlier in the week, then took two quick wickets to leave Yorkshire in trouble on 32-3. before a period of rebuilding and consolidation saw them take the score to 66 for 3.
A flurry of wickets from captain Eddie Campion (10-2-35-3) and Sebastian Morgan (5-0-19-1), saw momentum swing back in Middlesex's favour, as Yorkshire slipped to 101-7 and in desperate need of a similar rally to Middlesex's tail.
Yorkshire’s Tom Burton did just that, playing with great composure, striking 11 boundaries to take Yorkshire close, however, Middlesex held their nerve with Nilesh Bhandari (7-0-18-2) dismissing Burton for 74, caught brilliantly on the rope by Morgan. Sharma (10-2-28-2) returned to dismiss the final batsman, leaving Middlesex winners by 22 runs.
It was the U16 side’s 12th consecutive win in the competition in what has been a brilliant campaign!
Their Royal London competition began with the group stages, with wins against Surrey, Essex, Sussex, Kent, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Cricket East. A resounding quarter-final win against Wales took Middlesex to a London derby semi-final with Surrey, which they duly won when defending 230 to reach Sunday's final.
Several
individuals had outstanding seasons. James Isbell (U15) and Dylan Rawal
finished 3rd and 6th highest run scorers in the competition respectively. James
scored 385 runs at an average of 77, with 3x50’s. Dylan scored 361 runs at an
average of 60, with 1x50 and 2x100’s. Eddie Campion (21 wickets), U15 Nilesh
Bhandari (20 wickets), U15 Pansilu Wijesinghe (19 wickets) and Naavya Sharma
(17 wickets), were 3rd, 4th, 7th and 11th leading wicket takers respectively.
Captain Eddie Campion led throughout the campaign with maturity and tactical acumen way beyond his years.
The Under 16 group were coached by James Hewitt and Mark Lane, and managed by Paul Martin.
Huge congratulations to all involved in what has been a brilliant year for the Under 16 Boys side.
Read the scorecard from the final HERE
