Gloucestershire Under 17 Boys v Clifton College (at Clifton College)
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Clifton College 149 all out (35 overs)
Gloucestershire 150-3 (20 overs)
Gloucestershire won by 7 wickets

Gloucestershire under-17s cruised to a seven-wicket win over Clifton College with a much-changed side from the one that had secured qualification to the Royal London Cup semi-final a few days earlier.

A strong all-round performance saw Gloucestershire chase down the 150 they needed for victory in just 20 overs having bowled Clifton out for 149.

Corse and Staunton all-rounder Kiran Chakraborty impressed with the ball taking 4-22 with his off-spin before the in-form Milo Ayres (Brislington) top-scored with a clean-hitting 54.

Having won the toss Clifton got away to a very good start through Sissodiya and Meadows.

Sissodiya in particular was severe on the young Gloucestershire bowlers who over-pitched on a number of occasions.

However, once Sissodiya was caught at long on going for a maximum, the Gloucestershire bowlers settled into a better rhythm and asked a few more questions of the Clifton players.

Backed up with some good catching and ground fielding the Gloucestershire spinners made the batsmen work hard for their runs and wickets fell at regular intervals. Chakraborty in particular was rewarded for his work with four wickets from seven overs.

Lewis Shean (Bedminster) also impressed with two stumpings and an excellent all-round display behind the stumps.

In reply Ayres punished anything off line and did not allow the Clifton openers to settle.

His stroke play was of the highest quality and the hosts never quite found the answers to the onslaught.

However, with the score on 73 Ayres drove one to mid-off and was caught for a very good 54. Harry Hankins (Bath) carried on where Ayres had left off, by striking the ball strongly from the off.

His 26 featured shots all around the ground before he fell LBW to the off-spin of Griffith. It was left to Matt Brewer (19 not out) (Bristol) and Chad Trainor (22 not out) (Frocester) to knock off the runs and record a good win.

Under 17 coach Tim Hancock said: “It was really nice to give an outing to some players who we haven’t seen as much of this summer and I think those players did really well.

“Once the bowlers got that first wicket they settled down and I thought the spinners in particular did really well.

“If there was one area to work on it is just having a bit more patience as a group and working hard to exert pressure from both ends.

“Some of our batters are playing with a lot of confidence at the moment and that is good to see. Milo at the top of the order has been excellent in this respect and his energy and range of shots has given others the confidence to play with great freedom.”

Gloucestershire Under 14 Boys v Devon Under 14 Boys (at Colston’s School)
ECB Under 14 County Cup – Group 3
Gloucestershire 123 all out (37 overs)
Devon 124-6 (25 overs)
Devon won by 4 wickets

Gloucestershire under-14 boys suffered a third straight defeat in the ECB County Cup as they went down to a four-wicket defeat to Devon at Colston’s School.

On a difficult pitch the hosts were bowled out for 123 and despite taking six wickets they were unable to prevent Devon reaching their target with 25 overs to spare.

Earlier, Gloucestershire won the toss and chose to bat in the hope of getting the best from a dry wicket. But they were put on the back foot in the second over when Michael Burger (Parkend) played too early at a ball that held up in the pitch at midwicket.

Will Naish (15) (Frocester) and Owen Lingard (6) (Winterbourne) batted patiently to help their side recover to 26-1. But one ball after depositing opening bowler Dylan Hirst over his head for six he was bowled attempting the same thing.

From here Gloucestershire collapsed to 54-7 as the middle order was undone by some tight bowling and a failure to react to the ball keeping a little low on occasion. Hirst took 3-15 from his six overs backed up by spinner Jack Ford who went on to take 4-29.

In response Gloucestershire skipper Freddie Merritt (Lechlade) played a captain’s innings, digging in and showing grit and sound judgement for a fighting 33.

He was supported by a breezy 23 from Oliver Wood (Cirencester) and a solid 11 not out from Sam Swingwood (Monmouth). These contributions pushed Gloucestershire over the 100 mark before they were eventually bowled out for 123.

In reply Gloucestershire opened with Naish and left-arm spinner Max Shepherd (Bourton Vale) and the pair kept it tight early on, going for just eight in the first four overs of the Devon reply. The fifth over brought three consecutive fours for Josh Farley before Naish struck back with the last ball of his over to clean bowl James Tyson (5) and make it 25-1.

Shepherd continued to bowl economically but at the other end the Gloucestershire seamers offered too many loose deliveries which were seized upon by Farley and Joe De Gay. The Devon pair added 42 for the second wicket in just six overs as the game looked to be getting away from the home side.

The introduction of off-spinner Amith James (Cheltenham) and leg-spinner Swingwood brought back some control and a breakthrough as Swingwood had De Gay well caught by Fuzael Ahmed (Bristol YMCA) at midwicket for 33.

Finding considerable turn in both directions, Swingwood (4-25) offered his side some hope as he picked up a further three wickets. He was well-supported by James who picked up a well-deserved wicket in a spell of 1-24 from six overs.

But despite the pair’s best efforts, the total always looked at least 30 runs short and Devon cruised home in the 24th over with six wickets remaining.

2017 Primary School Kwik Cricket Finals

Elmlea and Henleaze junior schools have been crowned 2017 Gloucestershire Primary School Kwik Cricket champions.

Elmlea – from Westbury-on-Trym – took home the open title while Henleaze were victors in the girls’ competition.

The two schools came out on top after playing against the winners of other district festivals at the annual finals day at Cheltenham College.

Elmlea – who won the 2016 year three and four county cup – triumphed after beating Bishop’s Cleeve in the final while Henleaze defeated Cam Everlands who finished as runners-up for the second successive year.

Both Elmlea and Henlaze will now go on to represent Gloucestershire in the south west regional final at Clifton College on July 13.

Finals day featured nearly 200 children from 19 schools and Gloucestershire Cricket Board projects and programmes manager Chris Munden said he hoped the day would live in the memory of all of those who took part.

He said: “It was a fantastic day with some excellent cricket on show. Our congratulations go not just to Elmlea and Henleaze who were deserving winners but to all the schools who took part.

“We hope that by giving the children a chance to play competitive cricket at a young age – especially in a wonderful setting like Cheltenham College – it will inspire them to continue to play the game as they grow up.”

District Cricket

Gloucester and the Forest of Dean Under 11s v Bristol Under 11s (at Corse and Staunton CC)
Gloucester and the Forest of Dean 82 all out (19.4 overs)
Bristol 83-2 (13.3 overs)
Bristol won by eight wickets

Charlie Wenham took an incredible five wickets for one run to help Bristol under-11s beat Gloucester and the Forest of Dean (GFOD) by eight wickets.

Having won the toss and elected to bat, GFOD got off to a good start with the opening pair of Oliver Workman (20) (Tewkesbury) and Seb Pascoe (20) (Kingsholm) adding 41 for the first wicket.

But with the Bristol District’s bowlers struggling to make a breakthrough captain Laurie Wilson (Bristol YMCA) threw the ball to Wenham.

Bowling straight and quickly, he removed both openers in quick succession before removing the next two in double-quick time.

With their tails up the Bristol bowlers now had more enthusiasm in the testing conditions and with wickets tumbling the home team were reduced to 66-7 and eventually all out for 82 off 19 overs.

Wilson (2-0) claimed the last two wickets but Wenham was the star of the show after blowing away the top order.

In response, the Bristol opening pair of Wilson and Louis Nancekivell put on 41 for the first wicket when Wilson (13) was out LBW.

Nancekivell (17) was struggling with a bruised heel and retired hurt leaving Joe Randoph (19 not out) (Lansdown) and Ben Byas (11 not out) (Twyford House) to secure a deserved win in the 14th over.

Stroud and South Gloucestershire Under 11s v Bristol Under 11s (at Chalford CC)
Cheltenham and Cotswolds 123 all out (29.4 overs)
Stroud and South Gloucestershire 79 all out (25.4 overs)
Cheltenham and Cotswolds won by 44 runs

Cheltenham and Cotswolds (C&C) under-11s’ Tom Unsworth finished with impressive figures of 4-20 after helping his side to a convincing 44-run win over Stroud and South Gloucestershire (SSG).

He took the first three wickets to fall as SSG were bowled out for 79 in pursuit of 124 for victory.

Earlier the visitors won the toss and elected to bat but lost early wickets as both Ben Rivers (Bradley Stoke) and Max Buckingham (Carsons and Mangotsfield) got breakthroughs.

Tight bowling and impressive catching meant wickets continually fell with eight different bowlers taking wickets for SSG.

But an important ninth-wicket stand of 29 between James O’Brien (21) (Dumbleton) and Ben Gillespie (5 not out) helped the visitors reach a total that had looked out of reach for much of the innings.

In reply SSG started well with openers Max Richards (12) (Winterbourne) and Freddie Ridge (20) (Chalford) adding 32 for the first wicket.

But the spin of Unsworth proved too much for many SSG batsmen. Apart from Rivers who finished 21 not out no other SSG batsman managed double figures as C&C bowled a consistently tight line and took their chances when they came.

The home side were eventually bowled out for 79 in the 26th over with Patrick Mullin (2-4) (Cirencester) and Reuben Lombard (2-10) (Dumbleton) taking two apiece.