John Ferneley College cricketers claim county double

The year 8 boys’ cricket team had their first success of the season when they became Leicestershire and Rutland Chance To Shine cricket champions.

And a few days later, the Melton school’s under 13 girls’ team also won their respective competition.

The girls beat Babington in the final, thanks largely to an unbeaten 70-run opening stand between Libby Perkins and Amy Helstrip who hit more boundaries in the competition than the rest of the schools put together.

Prior to that, the boys lined up in the Chance to Shine tournament, run by the scheme which promotes competitive cricket in state schools.

Ferneley opened with a comfortable 20-run win over Crown Hills, with Sam Chipman taking two wickets in two balls.

This was followed with another comprehensive result against Hamilton, by 25 runs, when Will Bestwick starred with the bat.

Pre-competition favourites Babington beat Ferneley with a leg-bye off the final ball of the game, meaning Ferneley had to win their last game against Lancaster Boys to stand any chance of making the final.

A vital knock of 15 in about 10 balls from Freddie Welch was enough to get Ferneley over the 50 mark from their seven overs and this total proved beyond the Lancaster side.

This meant a rematch with Babington in the final, and this time Ferneley were not going to leave it to the last ball, scoring a massive 87 from their seven overs.

Max Braime and Sean Thorpe both retired on 23, with Sean hitting two sixes and two fours in a last over onslaught.

A tight bowling performance, particularly from Jamie Wilson, Ethan Knott and Matthew Wright was enough to give Ferneley a big win by 40 runs.

Ferneley will represent the county in the Midlands final, with the winners there progressing to the national finals at Lord’s.