Berkshire Cricket Foundation

It was a hugely busy summer half term for the Berkshire Cricket Foundation but also a hugely successful one!

And two of the highlights of the week were the successes of our MCC Foundation Hub Teams and our Chance to Shine Street Projects.

Wednesday May 31st saw the BCF hosting hosting the 2023 South Central regional Chance to Shine Street tournaments in Slough. Teams from Street projects in Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire joined teams from the Berkshire Street projects in Maidenhead, Reading and Slough to fight it out for a place at the National Finals Day in the summer holidays.

Herschel Grammar School hosted the U12 tournament and a high level of competition throughout the day saw the talented side from Buckinghamshire just pip Berkshire's Langley Project to make it through to the finals, with a special extra treat for the players as Southern Brave and South East Stars Leg Spinner Danielle Gregory on hand to give out the prizes.

Down the road at the Singh Sabha Sports Centre it was the U15 tournament and again a fantastic level of competition between teams from across the South Central region, but after some hard fought games across the day it was the U15's from the Langley Project who followed in the footsteps of Slough teams from years gone by to make it through to the National Finals Day in the summer holidays. We can't wait to see how they get on and hopefully can go one step further and be crowned National Champions!

Roll on Thursday and it was the turn of our MCC Hub sides to take centre stage with both our Reading Girls and Boys U16 teams in Regional Finals Day action.

The girls team took on their Taunton counterparts in the first semi final at Slough CC and after a fine bowling display limited their opponents to just 72 the Reading Hub took little tie in chasing down their victory target in just 12.5 overs for a comprehensive 10 wicket win. Gabi Jones leading the way with 37* and Katie Finucane picking up 3-17. On to the final against the Guilford Hub and it was heartbreak for the girls as after setting a competitive 115-6 for their 20 overs led by a brilliant 50 from Jess Dsouza the Guilford side got home by just one wicket with two balls to spare despite 4 more wickets for Katie Finucane and progressed to the Southern finals day next month. A huge well done to all involved and special thanks to Slough CC for hosting the day.

The Reading Boys U16's having beat Guildford last week and Slough the week before progressed to the “Central & South West Region” Finals day. They were joined by Oxford, Bristol & Brighton taking on Brighton in the first semi finali. Winning the toss the Reading captain, Eshan, decided to bat first, a powerful display saw us post a daunting 204 with Pritam Dara (Wargrave) taking the first over for 20. 42 from Josh (Stratfield Turgis), 50 from Savir (Yateley) and a 20 ball 39 from Jihan (Theale & Tilehurst) being the main contributions. In reply Brighton got off to a strong start and at the 10 over mark were well in the game. A fantastic spell of 4 overs 3 for 16 from Will Powell took the game beyond Brighton’s reach and we ran out winners by 66 runs.

In the other semi final, Bristol comfortably beat Oxford setting up a final against Reading. Again after winning the toss Reading decided to bat first. This time a more measured start but an emphatic finish to the innings saw us reach 183. Another contribution from Josh, this time scoring 51. A late surge from Jake Wilson (Boyne Hill) and Jihan also being key contributions. In reply Bristol got off to a slow start with Ben Bridge (Peppard) and Achint Rajeev (Wargrave) setting the tone early. Groves and Warren at 3 and 4 built a strong partnership to get them back into game with both getting 50s, but with the rate creeping up to 11 and 12 some tight bowling from Pritam and Ben saw us close out the game winning by 11 runs.

All in all a fantastic day with the South final to played at Harrow school on the 2nd of July and as always a massive thank you to Bristol and Brighton and even bigger thanks to Reading CC for hosting us.