Liverpool reach Finals of U15s National Championship

The talented young players from Liverpool Cricket Club won the Northern Regional Finals of the Portman Building Society National U15 Club Championship at York - and are now one of just four teams left in the tournament from an original entry of 1603.

In their Regional Semi-final, the Notts county champions Ellerslie batted first and posted an impressive 147 for 3 at the end of their 20 overs - James Hollingsworth ending with an unbeaten 72.

Yorkshire's Ryan Sidebottom leads the presentations

This looked a hard act to follow but the Liverpool lads kept cool and in an exciting match for the spectators, they reached 151 for four with an over to spare. Skipper Daniel Jackson was top scorer with his 65.

In the Regional Final, Liverpool were up against the Yorkshire U15 champions Wath, who batted first. The Lancashire boys got off to a good start when Wath's opener Robbie James was out for a duck , bowled by John Jackson, but skipper Matthew Hayes went on to reach 34 before being caught by Owen Jones off the bowling of Daniel Jackson. Another good batting performance came from Ryan Burrows (38) and Wath ended on 103 for six.

As it turned, Liverpool reached their target quite comfortably, winning by seven wickets with 11 balls to spare, although the spectators were kept guessing for some time. Liverpool's 104 for three included a score of 38 from captain Daniel Jackson and 30 from Michael Jackson.

Yorkshire's Ryan Sidebottom assisted with the prize presentations and ECB official John Pearson and match summariser Ian Dews congratulated Liverpool on their performance, wishing them well in their next match.

The National Semi-finals and Final will be played at Bournemouth Sports Ground on Wednesday 27th August. The Semi-finals will start at 10.30 am with the two winners contesting the National Final at 2.15 pm in which First Class umpire Roy Palmer will be standing.

John Carr, Director of Cricket Operations at the England and Wales Cricket Board which administers the tournament said: "It's a great achievement to get to this stage. The U15's Finals Day is always a great event and in the past we've seen some excellent cricket and some close finishes."

A number of well-known past and present cricketers will be at Bournemouth to watch the young players in action - including Nasser Hussain, who played in this championship himself in his youth. Nasser says: "We all know that grassroots development is vital for the future of the game and this competition plays an important role in producing the next generation of players. The Portman Building Society is playing a key role by supporting the championship."