Home side Bath among West Country quartet in Portman U15 Regional Semi-Finals

The Under 15 teams from Bath CC (Somerset), Cheltenham CC (Gloucestershire), Corfe Mullen CC (Dorset), and Hursley Park CC (Hampshire) have won through to compete in the Regional Semi-finals of the Portman Building Society U15 National Club Championship on Wednesday 13th August.

The matches will be in the popular format of 20 overs per side with a maximum of 4 overs per bowler.

From a record entry of 1603 clubs from England, Scotland and Wales at the start of the 2003 season, the four teams' young players first played well to become County Champions of their respective counties and then won through the next stage of the competition to reach the last 16.

They will now be battling to qualify for one of the four places in the National Semi-finals which take place in Bournemouth on the morning of Wednesday 27th August. The National Final will take place in the afternoon.

Nasser Hussain (England and Essex) is a keen supporter of the championship which was initiated by the Lord's Taverners in 1972 and is administered by the England & Wales Cricket Board. Nasser himself participated in his youth and said it was a real stepping stone for his personal development.

Current England players James Anderson, Richard Johnson and Anthony McGrath are among others whose names stand out among the thousands of past competitors. Not to mention that of Andrew Flintoff who smashed a massive 234 not out in 20 overs when he competed in 1993!

The championship sponsors, the Portman Building Society, will ensure that the team that succeeds in beating all the opposition at York will have a day to remember on August 27th, with key figures from the game - including Nasser Hussain and Angus Fraser - expected to be among the spectators.

Robert Sharpe, Chief Executive of the Portman Building Society, strongly believes that it is important to support youth sport at grass roots level and is proud that the society is investing in the future of cricket.