Monday 24th June saw the county finals of the Wiltshire ASDA Kwik Cricket competition take place at Trowbridge Cricket Club. There were two county final competitions taking place, one for the year 6 mixed competition and one for the year 6 girls competition. These finals were the culmination of several cluster competitions that have taken place around the county during the past month. In the mixed competition, 21 schools participated whilst in the girls competition there were 10 schools, all of which had qualified from their respective cluster festivals.

The early part of the day saw these schools compete in group stages to try and qualify for the semi- finals. In the girls competition, the four qualifying schools were Bellefield, Kings Lodge, Paxcroft and Downton. In the first semi-final Bellefield defeated Kings Lodge by 17 runs whilst in the second semi- final the margin was similar with Downton beating Paxcroft by 19 runs. This set up a final between Bellefield and Downton which proved to be a thriller. The eventual winners were Bellefield, from Trowbridge, who with a score of 242 defeated Downton by just 2 runs. A wicket or boundary either way could have swayed the result in a different favour. Congratulations to Bellefield who now go on to represent Wiltshire at the National South finals on 16th July.

In the mixed competition, the four semi-finalists following the group stages were Corsham, Redlands, Malmesbury and St Katharine’s. Corsham played Redlands in the first semi-final and a close encounter saw Corsham beat Redlands by 5 runs. In the second semi-final it was another close game but eventually Malmesbury lost too many wickets resulting in them losing by 19 runs to St Katharine’s. The final between Corsham and St Katharine’s ebbed and flowed but the eventual winners were St Katharine’s, Marlborough, who scored 270 against Corsham’s 257. They too will go on to represent Wiltshire in the National finals on 16th July which take place at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton.

Well done to all schools that reached the county final stage of the competition. Special thanks must go to Trowbridge Cricket Club for hosting the day and to the pupils from St Augustines Secondary School who umpired and scored throughout the day. Also, thanks to ASDA for their continued support of the competition and for providing refreshments during the county finals.