This season, the Sussex Cricket Board launched two new club competitions; the ECB Under-19 T20 and the Newbery Sunday Development League.
The ECB Under-19 T20 competition was designed to mirror the professional NatWest T20 Blast competition, giving the players the ownership to plan, organise and create their own T20 Blast atmosphere at their home fixtures.
12 clubs from across the County entered into this seasons ECB U19T20 competition, playing in three localised mini-leagues with the winners of each being invited to a County Final.
On Sunday 12th September, Hastings & St Leonards Priory Young Guns, Findon Horses and Chippingdale Megalodons all took part in a Finals Day at Horntye Park, Hastings. The event saw the three teams playing off in a round robin competition with Hastings & St Leonards Priory Young Guns being crowned as County Champions, and Chippingdale Megalodons claiming the runners up spot.
Jacob Smith of Seaford Storm gave his own thoughts on the competition, “The format was lots of fun for everyone involved. From the coloured clothing and the pink ball to the music and announcements, each game created an atmosphere that made for special club events and brought the club together. It was a great opportunity to be involved this year and we hope it continues for many more to come”
Sussex batsman Chris Nash said of the new T20 Blast Competition, “T20 Finals Day is a highlight of anyone’s career, to go to a Finals Day and win shows you can handle the pressure and skills of T20 cricket. To be able to experience that at Under-19 level is a great stepping stone to professional cricket and will expose the players to a level of pressure they won’t have experienced before.”
The Newbery Sunday Development League was designed to bridge the gap between junior and senior cricket. Each team had to contain a minimum of four players under 18 with a further two under 21. This enables young players over the traditional ‘colts’ ages to play in competitive league matches with and against adults.
Nine teams from across the County (Three Bridges, Brighton & Hove, Portslade, Ifield, Mayfield, Haywards Heath, Worthing, Seaford and Billingshurst) entered into the competition playing each other once with Three Bridges CC winning the competition for the first time.
Matt Atkins from Ifield CC, who played in this season's competition gave his views on the competition said, “The league was great for giving our exciting youth prospects a chance to take a lead in competitive cricket, in an excellent 40 over format.
"The games were that bit more exciting than standard friendly XI cricket; there was more to play for and the coloured ball and stumps gave it that bit more excitement and in a way the games felt a little closer to the professional game."
Gary Wallis-Tayler from the Sussex Cricket Board said, “This competition has proved to be a huge success with plenty of positive feedback. It gives younger players the perfect platform to go on and play regular adult cricket in the future. The aim going forward is to grow this competition further so that smaller, localised leagues will run across the county from 2016.”
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