Brightside Ground to host Glos U19 Club T20 Finals
15 August 2016
Bristol Buccaneers are hoping-to-make it back to Gloucestershire Under 19 Club T20 titles after making it through to the 2016 Finals Day at the Brightside Ground on August 21.
Last year’s champions (pictured) face Thornbury Thunder in the semi-finals while Cirencester Centurions and Frocester Foxes complete the last four line-up.
Supported by Pegler Yorkshire, the competition – which seeks to recreate the razzamatazz of the NatWest T20 Blast- has been a big hit, with four more clubs taking part than in last season’s inaugural tournament.
The teams all wear coloured clothing, play with a pink ball and can win bonus points for match-day atmosphere with music, barbecues and club events a feature of most games.
The Gloucestershire competition was split into four groups based on geographical location, with the draw made by Glos professionals Liam Norwell and Craig Miles.
2015 semi-finalists Hatherley Hurricanes triumphed in North Group A ahead of Cheltenham Chiefs but both sides lost in the quarter finals. The Hurricanes suffered a 10 wicket defeat to North Group B runners-up Frocester Foxes while the Chiefs were beaten by North B table-toppers Cirencester by seven wickets.
It was a similar story on the South side of the competition with both semi-finalists coming from the same group. Thornbury Thunder won South Group A before coming out on top of a close encounter with Bedminster Bashers by just nine runs. Group B South runners-up Bashers had only qualified for the quarters on net run rate from both Bristol West Indies Phoenix and Cam. The other semi-final saw South A’s second-placed side Bristol overcome Group B winners and competition new-boys Downend Lions by 126 runs.
The first semi-final (Foxes v Centurions) will take place at 10.30am with the Buccaneers v Thunder following at 1.45pm. The final will then get underway at around 5.15pm.
Gloucestershire Cricket Board community coach and tournament organiser Scott Tremain said: “It has been another fantastic competition and finals day promises to be a great day of cricket.
“Having it at the Brightside Ground, Bristol – home of Gloucestershire Cricket – makes it a really special day and an experience the players will never forget.
“It has been great to see the competition grow this year and like last season it has been superb to see the players and clubs embrace it by matching their on-field efforts with some superb off-field events.”
The Gloucestershire competition’s current topscorer is Cam’s Jake Dolbear whose 190 runs is the sixth highest in the country. Just behind him in both the county and national standings is Hawkesbury Heat’s Ollie Morris with 186.
Cirencester Centurion’s allrounder Jono Jamieson-Black is the leading wicket-taker with 11 at 6.73 (the joint 9th most nationally). His brother Jamie has proved one of the safest pairs of hands in the competition with four catches – level with Chiefs’ Noah Cooper-Llanes and Bashers’ George Drissell.
The best one-off bowling performance came from Bristol West Indies and Phoenix paceman Duval Pierre with 6-19.
Buccaneers wicketkeeper Tristan De Beer has enjoyed an incredible tournament with 14 dismissals including 11 stumpings – the most dismissals of any ‘keeper in the country.
For all the stats and scores from the competition go to http://ecbu19clubt20.play-cricket.com/website/websites/view_tournament?i...
