John Ferneley College cricketers through to regional finals

Cricketers from John Ferneley College will represent Leicestershire and Rutland after being crowned the best in the county last week.
John Ferneley under 15s will head to Birmingham for the regional finals aiming to win through to Lords EMN-160707-152719002John Ferneley under 15s will head to Birmingham for the regional finals aiming to win through to Lords EMN-160707-152719002
John Ferneley under 15s will head to Birmingham for the regional finals aiming to win through to Lords EMN-160707-152719002

The college’s under 15s team will travel to Moseley for the regional finals after winning their age group at the Leicestershire Finals of Chance to Compete.

Victory there in Birmingham would earn a once-in-a-lifetime chance to play at the home of cricket, Lord’s, in the national finals.

The college almost made it a famous double after their under 13s side also won through to the county finals of the eight-a-side competition before losing in the final.

John Ferneley College under 13s were one game away from joining their schoolmates at the regional finals EMN-160707-152706002John Ferneley College under 13s were one game away from joining their schoolmates at the regional finals EMN-160707-152706002
John Ferneley College under 13s were one game away from joining their schoolmates at the regional finals EMN-160707-152706002

The under 15s struggled with the format early on and lost their opening game against Crown Hills on the penultimate ball.

Gallagher Plowman then moved up the order to form a strong opening partnership with Charlie Hirst, giving the team a solid base for the 
remainder of the tournament.

The next two games brought comfortable wins against South Charnwood and Babington, Jack Denton taking his first-ever wicket in competitive cricket against the Charnwood team.

Both games saw strong performances in the field, with wicketkeeper James Rowell playing a vital role.

John Ferneley College under 13s were one game away from joining their schoolmates at the regional finals EMN-160707-152706002John Ferneley College under 13s were one game away from joining their schoolmates at the regional finals EMN-160707-152706002
John Ferneley College under 13s were one game away from joining their schoolmates at the regional finals EMN-160707-152706002

Crown Hills were their opponents in the final and this time Plowman led the team to a score of 67 off their 42 balls.

The fielding was again exceptional, and Denton took his second wicket to seal a comfortable win by 12 runs.

The under 13s also struggled with the format at the start and lost their first game by eight wickets to a tough Lancaster School side.

Against the much-fancied Babington side, it seemed Ferneley were on their way out when their opponents posted 40 from their 28 balls.

But Harvey Stokes and Callum Hull shared an unbroken partnership of 41 to clinch victory.

Ferneley needed to avoid defeat in their last game to reach the final, but this looked unlikely when Ferneley scored only 30 off 28 balls.

The outcome came down to the last over, bowled by Mollie Ellis, and with the scores level going to the final ball, she took a brilliant caught and bowled to tie the game and cement Ferneley’s progress.

Facing Lancaster again, Ferneley did perform better with the bat, scoring 50 off 42 balls, but it was not enough as Lancaster ran out winners by nine wickets.

Other members of the team were Maddie Wrath, Logan Mackie, Ollie Nash, Ollie Skinner and Sam Hyde.

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