It’s been a special week for five youngsters in the Middlesex youth pathway this week, as Nilesh Bhandari, James Isbell, Sebastian Morgan, Samarjeet Singh and Pansilu Wijesinghe, all Middlesex EPG Under 17 players, are representing the county at the ECB’s Super 4s competition in Loughborough.
It should have been all six of the Club’s Under-17s in attendance, had Caleb Falconer not had to withdraw from the competition, missing out whilst recovering from concussion after being struck with the ball in the Club’s recent Under-18 County Championship match against Kent – although not before he’s hit a century in each innings of the game, taking his runs tally for the season to over 1,000 runs for the Club.
The England Development Programme Super 4s tournament, which takes place at Loughborough every year, includes the best young players from across the country and provides a competitive environment for them to showcase their skills against all other high potential players from the county network in an environment that will accelerate their technical and tactical development.
The competition splits the best talent from across the eighteen counties’ youth development programmes into four regions - the London and East, the North, the Midlands, and the South & West regions, with all five of Middlesex’s players representing the London and East region.
The week kicked off in the fifty-over format, with the London and East side facing an opening tie against the North on Monday. This was followed by a tie against the South and West on Tuesday, a fitness day on the Wednesday, and a final 50-over group game against the Midlands on Thursday. On Friday, attention turned to the T20 format, with the London and East facing a further two games, against the North and the South and West.
Monday’s opener saw the London and East side bowling first, and there were wickets for both Sebastian Morgan (2 for 16) and Nilesh Bhandari (2 for 56) as the North were restricted to 263 for 9 in their 50 overs.
In reply, Isbell opened the batting and was in the runs for the London and East, hitting 63 off 79 balls when opening, with useful knocks also coming from Wijesinghe (21 off 34) and Morgan (21 off 26), as the victory target was reached in the 46th over, with the London and East winning comfortably by four wickets.
Tuesday’s game against the South and West again saw Isbell in the runs, hitting a fantastic 119 off 129 balls, with another useful knock from Wijesinghe, a quickfire 29 from 18 balls, as London and East scored a hefty 308 for 6 in their innings which was reduced to 45 overs due to early rain.
A wicket apiece for Singh and Morgan restricted their opponents to just 291 in reply, as London and East secured their second victory of the week, winning by 15 runs via the DLS method.
After the scheduled fitness day on Wednesday, with no matches being played, the final fifty-over game of the week saw London and East again batting first, and once again it was Isbell who capped an incredible week, hitting another century (136 off 128 balls) to amass a total of 318 runs in the three games at an average of 106. Wijesinghe again hit a useful 31 from just 24 balls, contributing to the London and East’s huge total of 390 in their 50 overs.
With ball in hand there were wickets again for Singh and Bhandari, who finished with figures of 2 for 35 and 2 for 8 respectively, as the Midlands were no match for their southern opponents, dismissed for just 193 inside 27 overs to see the London and East run out winners by a huge margin of 197 runs and finish the fifty over competition undefeated, winning all three of their games.
Attention then turned to the T20 format on Friday, with London and East facing the North first up, and being asked to bat when losing the toss.
Having showed his powerful hitting prowess throughout the week in the middle order, Wijesinghe was pushed up to open the batting and duly responded by hitting a quickfire 25 off 17 balls to get the London and East’s innings off to a flyer, as they went on to post a total of 185 for 9 in their 20 overs.
Singh was given the responsibility of the new ball in the reply, and he duly responded by taking two of the North’s wickets, finishing with figures of 2 for 38 from his four overs as they reached 181 for 5 in reply, falling just short in their chase as London and East secured another win, narrowly by just 4 runs.
Next up, in what was their final game of the week, London and East took on the South and West, who batted first and posted 182 for 6 in their 20 overs, with Bhandari and Singh again both successful with the ball, picking up figures of 1 for 25 and 1 for 20 respectively.
Chasing 183 for victory, Wijesinghe was again entrusted with the openers spot by London and East, and despite him hitting a swashbuckling 82 off just 60 deliveries in their reply, the London and East fell just short in their chase for a fifth consecutive win, losing out by 4 runs.
The London and East side were crowned winners of the fifty-over competition, winning all three matches, and were duly presented with the Super 4’s fifty-over trophy, with each of the Middlesex boys playing a part in the team’s success across the week.
Congratulations to each of Nilesh, James, Sebastian, Samarjeet and Pansilu for their achievements this week, they have done themselves and their county proud.
Pictured below, from left to right, are Pansilu, James, Nilesh and Samarjeet with the Super 4’s fifty-over trophy. Missing from the photo is Sebastian, who didn’t feature in the final day’s T20 matches.
