Kirkburton's arrival in the last four for the traditional finals day at the home of Yorkshire cricket was remarkable in itself – they were the first middle school to reach that stage of the competition in its 13-year history.

For them to take the title by the narrowest of margins – they triumphed against St Aidan's from Harrogate in a final in which the scores finished level so Kirkburton won by virtue of having lost fewer wickets – was a marvellous testimony to the young cricketers and the staff at the school. Kirkburton Middle has 480 pupils – St Aidan's has 1,400 – and of those only 70 are in the under-13 Year Nine group so the scenes of jubilation when George Burrell and Bradley Bond scampered the last single to level the score were understandable.

Rarely can a group of boys of such tender age found the will to fight their way back into a game which had seemed to have slipped from them.

St Aidan's went to Headingley with an impressive game-plan and the personnel to make it work, as they showed in the semi-final when they batted down the order then starved Ilkley GS of the freedom to attack at key stages of their innings and progressed to the final by just five runs.

They began the final in the same way, again batting consistently with their captain Ben Finder setting a fine example, going in first and contributing 20 valuable runs, stating his intent with a sweet drive for four off the last ball of Josh Scott's first over.

George Barton looked to follow his lead, off-driving James Burke's opening delivery to the boundary but two balls later he nicked to Jonathan Hoyle behind the stumps and St Aidan's hopes of a significant opening stand were ended. Worse was soon to follow, Nick Kimber being caught by Scott at long leg hooking Burke.

Finder's aggression brought him four fours but when he tried to drive Burrell he managed only to sky the ball towards mid-wicket where three fielders converged, Luke Jackson holding his nerve and the catch.

Nick Hare had a belligerent few minutes and had reached a threatening 15 when the Burke-Hoyle alliance struck again.

Matt Goodson kept up the tempo of the Harrogate school's innings with a couple of fluent boundaries, but again Kirkburton hit back, Jake Turner stopping them in the tracks with a double wicket maiden, bowling Jordan Taylor with his first delivery then repeating the strike two balls later to get rid of Gareth Bass.

Goodson's cameo came to an end when he was bowled by the persistent Burrell but a late flurry by Simon Williams, who put on 22 for the last wicket with Luke Shermer, allowed St Aidan's to set a target of 104 to win.

That was the cue for the second – and perhaps most impressive – part of St Aidan's masterplan to swing into place.

Their opening pair Kimber and Finder, bowling at a decent pace, restricted Kirkburton to just 22 runs in the opening eight overs of the innings and with their fielding reaching the highest standard, the required rate was soon more than six an over.

Arran Taylor was snapped up at gully by Ross MacDonald to give Kimber an early success which the bowler followed up by sprawling forward to take a return catch to dismiss Ryan Clarke, pictured right, then Finder was too straight and quick for Luke Jackson.

Hoyle, a wicket-keeper and batsman of promise who has played senior cricket with Almondbury in the Huddersfield League, steadied Kirkburton for a while and Tom Halton promised much, as he had in the semi-final, before he tried to pull left-arm wrist-spinner Luke Shermer and played on.

At that stage the game looked lost for Kirkburton – they needed 40 with five overs remaining and they lost another wicket when Hoyle was well caught by Gareth Bass at short third man off Williams.

Scott had been quietly playing to his own agenda, taking singles when they were there then hitting the ball hard when he saw anything short and he looked set for the duration but when Bass bowled Burke the game took another turn towards St Aidan's.

Burrell hammered a flat six to square leg to indicate that there was fight left yet in Kirkburton and the pressure reached a crescendo as Williams began the last over of the innings with the Huddersfield boys needing nine runs to win.

Williams was determined to keep the ball away from the leg side – Burrell had already shown he could reach the short boundary – but in trying to find a line outside off-stump he bowled two successive wides and the target was suddenly feasible. Scott was run out going for an impossible single, then there was an overthrow and Burrell and Bradley Bond held their nerve to run the two singles which left the sides breathless and level.

It was a match neither side deserved to lose and a credit to all concerned.

Yorkshire's chief executive Stewart Regan presented the trophies and hold-alls of cricket equipment to the four squads of youngsters who had provided an unforgettable day's entertainment with acknowledgment, too, to the umpires, Harold Todd, Stan Johnson, Alan Smith and David Havercraft, without whom the Challenge finals could not have gone ahead.


Scoreboard

St Aidan's

B Finder c Jackson b Burrell 20

G Barton c Hoyle b Burke 4

N Kimber c Scott b Burke 2

N Hare c Hoyle b Burke 15

J Taylor b Turner 9

M Goodson b Burrell 14

G Bass b Turner 0

R MacDonald c Scott b Burrell 0

S Thompson v Scott b Burke 15

S Williams b Bond 7

L Shermer not out 0

Extras 17

Total (all out) 103

Fall: 8, 13, 30, 54, 60, 60, 69, 81, 103

Bowling: Scott 4-0-16-0; Burke 3.2-0-16-4; Burrell 4-0-25-3; Bond 3-0-23-1; Turner 4-1-18-2.

Kirkburton

R Clarke c and b Kimber 11

A Taylor c MacDonald b Kimber 1

J Hoyle c Bass b Williams 22

L Jackson b Finder 0

T Halton b Shermer 8

J Scott run out 32

J Burke b Bass 0

G Burrell not out 10

B Bond not out 1

Extras 18

Total (7 wkts) 103

Fall: 7, 21, 22, 41, 75, 81, 101

Bowling: Kimber 4-1-9-2; Finder 4-1-11-1; Shermer 2-0-13-1; Hare 4-0-20-0; Williams 4-0-21-1; Bass 2-0-20-0. Kirkburton won by virtue of having lost fewer wickets.


Semi-Finals


Ilkley fall agonisingly short


GOOD all-round cricket earned St Aidan's their place in the final when they kept calm under pressure in their semi-final and edged past Ilkley GS who were five runs short of victory when their overs expired.

When George Ross and George Gamble were together, Ilkley appeared to have every chance of overhauling St Aidan's 83 all out, Ross in particular looking an accomplished stroke-player, including one huge six in his 27, following his impressive four-over spell of spin bowling in which he claimed four wickets for just 12 runs.

But when he fell, adjudged caught behind to the thinnest of edges, Ilkley's nerves began to fray and although Gamble kept the scoreboard ticking along the crucial blow came when he was superbly caught by Nick Hare off the bowling of Jordan Taylor.

When Ben Crossley was caught by Ross MacDonald at backward point, slashing at Simon Williams, the game was over with six balls remaining.

St Aidan's had been more consistent in their innings, four of their batsmen reaching double figures. Openers Ben Finder and George Barton gave them a good start, putting on 27 for the first wicket before both fell for 14, Finder falling to the first delivery from Dominic Grimes.

Hare signalled his intentions by crashing Grimes through the covers for a splendid boundary and had settled well to the task of driving St Aidan's forward when he was unluckily run out for 15.

Williams spiced up the tail with a sharp 11, including one two superb fours and shared a crucial last-wicket partnership of 15 with Luke Shermer which, in the end, was the difference between two sides whose out-fielding was of the highest standard.

Scorecard

St Aidan's

B Finder c and b Grimes 14

G Barton b Ross 14

N Kimber c Gamble b Ross 5

J Taylor b Ross 3

N Hare run out 15

M Goodson c Ayre b Grimes 1

G Bass lbw Ross 0

R McDonald lbw Moulton 1

S Thompson lbw Moulton 6

S Williams b Brown 11

L Shermer not out 2

Extras 11

Total (all out) 83

Fall: 27, 32, 36, 45, 50, 56, 57, 67, 68

Bowling: Brown 3.1-25-1; Moulton 4-0-17-2; Grimes 4-0-17-2; Ross 4-0-12-4; Gamble 3-0-10-0

Ilkley GS

G Ross c Goodson b Hare 27

D Grimes c Thompson b Kimber 5

W Spivey lbw Finder 6

G Gamble c Hare b Taylor 21

M Webb b Taylor 6

B Crossley c MacDonald b Williams 2

E Brown not out 0

O Moulton not out 0

Extras 11

Total (for 6 wkts) 78

Fall: 15, 24, 55, 70,

Bowling: Kimber 4-0-13-0; Finder 4-1-9-2; Hare 4-0-17-1; Shermer 3-0-13-0; Bass 2-0-12-0; Taylor 2-0-7-2; Williams 1-0-2-1.

St Aidan's won by five runs.


Hoyle hits cruise control


GIVEN the perfect start, Kirkburton cruised to victory in their semi-final against Driffield, winning with six wickets to spare thanks in the main to an excellent innings of 29 by wicket-keeper batsman Jonathan Hoyle.

Having won the toss and asked Driffield to bat first, Kirkburton struck with the fourth delivery of Josh Scott's first over, Hoyle taking the first of his two catches. The introduction of George Burrell, with his gentle swing, had Driffield sliding further into the mire, Hoyle taking his second catch then having Simon Walgate well held by Ryan Clarke.

Driffield were adrift at 14-3 but their innings was held together by a stand of 49 between Robert Atkin and Jake Parker. With inaccurate bowling providing a significant contribution – there were 22 extras in the innings – the pair looked settled until they went in quick succession, Atkin misjudging the line against Bradley Bond then Parker failing to a misunderstanding and being run out. From 63-3 Driffield subsided to 72 all out.

The East Yorkshire school enjoyed an early success when Kirkburton replied, Arran Turner pushing a catch to Jamie Greveson at mid-off from the first delivery of Atkin's first over but their nerves were settled when Ryan Clarke and Hoyle stroked boundaries.

Greveson removed Clarke with a delivery which turned and Luke Jackson was run out without scoring but three superb-struck boundaries from Tom Halton provided the support Hoyle needed.

When Matthew Richardson held the catch which consigned Walton to the pavilion Josh Scott provided the final partner for Hoyle, who won the game with a crashing square drive for four off Walgate and Kirkburton were in the final.

Scorecard

Driffield

S Morris c Hoyle b Scott 0

J Greveson c Hoyle b Burrell 6

S Walgate c Clarke b Burrell 3

R Atkin b Bond 17

J Parker run out 18

R Turner b Burke 0

M Richardson b Bond 1

J Myers b Burke 0

P Jennings b Bond 2

D Marshall not out 2

J Barnes b Scott 1

Extras 22

Total (all out) 72

Fall: 0, 13, 14, 63, 63, 64, 65, 69, 69,

Bowling: Scott 3.1-0-7-2; Burke 4-0-8-3; Bond 4-1-16-2; Burrell 4-0-15-2; Turner 3-0-12-0; Jackson 1-0-11-0.

Kirkburton

R Clarke b Greveson 14

A Turner v Greveson b Atkin 1

J Hoyle not out 29

L Jackson run out 0

T Halton c Richardson b Atkin 14

J Scott not out 4

Extras 11

Total (4 wkts) 74

Fall: 15, 30, 30, 56,

Bowling: Morris 4-0-14-0; Walgate 2.3-0-23-0; Atkin 4-1-13-2; Greveson 4-0-12-1; Parker 1-0-10-0.

Kirkburton won by six wickets


Third place play-off


A REMARKABLE innings of 69 by George Ross, which included four sixes and six fours, earned Ilkley victory in the match to decide third and fourth places, eclipsing an impressive 48 by Jamie Greveson for Driffield which had enabled the East Yorkshire side to set a challenging target.

Greveson monopolised his side's innings, reaching 34 out of their first 50, timing the ball superbly before he was trapped leg before by Ross, whose all-round talents have already been spotted by the Yorkshire Under-15 selectors.

Sam Morris had been largely the sleeping partner but when Greveson went he took over the responsibility for building on their opening stand of 73, but just as he was looking to accelerate he was cruelly run out and Driffield's hopes of setting a target above six an over faded.

Chasing 106, Ilkley were soon in cruise mode when the left-handed Ross blasted two sixes and four inside the first six balls he received, punishing anything down the leg side. He reached his half-century with a four off Robert Atkin and looked set to see his side home but a poor stroke at a straight delivery left him plumb and gave Atkin consolation.

Ilkley were almost there and Will Spivey saw them home with a flourish, smashing the final boundary to earn his side a deserved third place.

Scorecard

Driffield

S Morris run out 28

J Greveson lbw Ross 48

S Walgate b Gamble 3

R Atkin b Brown 1

J Parker not out 0

P Jennings run out 1

Extras 25

Total (5 wkts) 105

Fall: 73, 93, 93, 103, 105

Ilkley

G Ross b Atkin 69

D Grimes c and b Walgate 1

W Spivey not out 24

G Gamble lbw Morris 0

M Webb not out 2

Extras 11

Total (3 wkts) 107

Fall: 26, 92, 93.

Ilkley won by seven wickets.