Friday 25 February and Friday 4 March saw the annual Yorkshire County Age Group Dinners return to Headingley Stadium for the first time in 28 months. Well over 400 players, parents and family members attended the evenings in the fabulous Howard Suite, joined by our County Age Group coaches, managers and young Yorkshire stars Will Luxton and Matthew Revis.
One of the highlights of both nights was the speeches, with some fantastic speeches given by a player from each squad, as follows:
U15 – Jack Redshaw
U14 – Will Bennison
U13 – Hector Hamill
U12 Phoenix – Louie Wilson
U12 Tykes – Alex Strain
U11 Phoenix – Ashwin Krishnan
U11 Tykes – Jack Sharkey
U10 Phoenix – Harrison Zakrzewski
U10 Tykes – Rowan Smith
As well as the usual awards for each age group, the players were given a special surprise this year, with every player to represent Yorkshire awarded their very own Yorkshire Cap for the age group by Will Luxton and Matthew Revis. The awards themselves showcased a wealth of promise in the Yorkshire junior ranks, with 2021 award winners as follows:
U18 Batter of the year – Will Luxton
U18 Bowler of the year – Clarke Doughney
U18 Fielder of the year – Alex Kaye
U18 Most promising player – Will Luxton
U16 Player of the year – Noah Kelly
U10-15 Outstanding player across all age groups – Will Bennison
U15 Batter of the year – Sabir Mahmood
U15 Bowler of the year – Joshua Hen-Boisen
U15 Fielder of the year – Ewan Whittaker
U15 All Rounder of the year – Jawad Akhtar
U15 Performance of the year – Noah Kelly – 107 not out off 138 balls vs Durham at York
U15 Most improved – Harvey Round
U15 Best Bunbury – Noah Kelly – 86 off 126 balls vs South & West
U14 Batter of the year – Tom Fraine
U14 Bowler of the year – Alex Wade
U14 Fielder of the year – Owen Smith
U14 All Rounder of the year – Ed Burch
U14 Performance of the year – Will Bennison – 192 vs Warwickshire
U14 Most improved – Matthew Firbank
U14 Player of the year – Will Bennison
U13 Batter of the year – Aarush Shinde
U13 Bowler of the year – Mack Hall
U13 Fielder of the year – Connor Sanderson
U13 All Rounder of the year – Monty Jackson
U13 Performance of the year – Arjun Sumanth – 8-22 against Cumbria
U12 Batter of the year – Ben Squires
U12 Bowler of the year – Evan Chapman
U12 Fielder of the year – William Grainger
U12 All Rounder of the year – Alex Strain
U12 Performance of the year – Louie Wilson (54) and William Grainger (59) v Tykes at Methley CC. Came together at 22-3 and put on 129 runs to seal a Phoenix win by 3 wickets.
U11 Batter of the year – Oliver Shepherd
U11 Bowler of the year – Neev Joshi
U11 Fielder of the year – Safiullah Abrar
U11 All Rounder of the year – Ashwin Krishnan
U11 Performance of the year – Safiullah Abrar – Two 5-fers in two days, including one on his birthday!
U10 Batter of the year – Rowan Smith
U10 Bowler of the year – Freddie Long
U10 Fielder of the year – Ted Holland
U10 All Rounder of the year – George Lamb
U10 Performance of the year – Jack Kettleborough – A very positive 51 retired opening the batting in a T20.
Yorkshire Cricket is grateful to Jonathan Doidge as MC, Paul Butterfield for the photography, our speakers Will Luxton and Matthew Revis and Tracy Buckley for her amazing work in helping to organise the events.
Thanks to the umpires, scorers and clubs that support and provide for the County Age Group system year after year. Perhaps the biggest thank you goes to the parents and family, who work so hard and put in so much time in support of our young stars. We know they couldn’t do it without you. And finally, thanks to all our players for their dedication and drive to represent Yorkshire with pride. They truly are a credit to Yorkshire and they should all be very proud of that.
