This summer has seen the welcome return of Primary School Competitions which culminated in the mixed and girls finals at the Topsham University Ground on 23rd June. The new Countdown Cricket format, linked to Dynamos Cricket and The Hundred, proved a great success and entries across the county were the best for years.
Whimple Cricket Club was the venue for the East Devon Regional round in what was a busy day of cricket. The mixed event had 27 teams on the day resulting in a rotation based format to ensure as many games were played as possible. Seaton and Stoke Hill ended up on top, with Woodbury taking 3rd place and progressing to finals day due to Seaton being unable to attend. Stoke Hill also had success in the 8-team girls event, this time being joined by St Mary’s (Axminister) in advancing to the County Finals.
The South round took place at South Devon Cricket Club with 13 teams entering the mixed event and 6 teams entering the Girls event. After a fun day with lots of matches played Oldway & Sherwell Valley progressed from the mixed competition with Oldway and Trinity school topping the Girls competitions.
North of the county North Devon Cricket Club hosted the Mixed and Girls competitions. The 18 teams in the mixed event manged three games each before the rain came and - after runs scored were calculated - St Margaret’s and Marwood progressed. The weather was kinder at the girls event where Caen & Woolacombe finished in the top two.
The West Devon regional round got underway at Plympton Cricket Club on the reserve day of Friday 10th June. Eight teams took part in the mixed competition with just a couple in the girls.
Vicky Reeve, Club and Community Coach for West Devon said “It was amazing to run my first competition and thanks to Warren at Plympton Cricket Club for his help in hosting us. The smiles on the children were great to see and there was lots of positive feedback from both staff and pupils.”
Bickleigh Down and Oreston moved on to represent the West at finals day with Boringdon flying the flag for the girls.
OCRA ran their traditional Dartmoor Cup rounds in Mid/West Devon with rounds at Whitchurch, Chagford, Hatherleigh and Lewdown. Whitchurch and Horrabridge finished top in the girls competition with Whitchurch and Tavistock topping the mixed. Unfortunately, neither Whitchurch or Tavi could attend so Okehampton progressed for the girls in third place.
The County Finals brought together teams that had progressed from the 5 regional rounds in the North, East, South, West & the Dartmoor area for the chance to compete to become the county champions.
Mixed Finals – St Margarets, Marwood, Oldway, Sherwell Valley, Stoke Hill, Woodbury, Oreston and Bickleigh Down
Girls Finals – Woolacombe, Caen, Oldway, Trinity, St Mary's Axminster, Stoke Hill, King's School, Boringdon, Okehampton and Horrabridge
The format for finals day consisted of two groups in each competition with 3 matches for each team. In the Mixed event the two group winners were both from East Devon with Stoke Hill and Woodbury going unbeaten. In a tightly contested final, that came down to the final deliveries of the last over, Woodbury managed to come out on top by the smallest margin. A fantastic game worthy of the county final.
In the girls event Oldway from South Devon and Caen from North Devon were the table toppers. It was another tightly competed game but, in the end, the Oldway girls proved the stronger and were crowned worthy champions.
A huge thank you to all the grounds that were kind enough to host the regional rounds as well as all the schools for taking part and the teachers who helped with umpiring in the group games.
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Mixed Winners - Woodbury C of E Primary School |
Girls Winners - Oldway Primary School |
