WINS against Dorset and Cornwall competition have secured a place for the Hatherleigh team in the MCC 'Spirit of Cricket' U13 national club championship finals

At the regional finals held at Bournemouth Sports Club Hatherleigh CC U13s did Devon proud as they beat opposition from Dorset and Cornwall to take a big step towards being recognised at the best U13 side in the country. They now move onto the finals of the U13s national club championship - to be played at Oakham School, Rutland, between August 5-8 - where they will hope to beat teams from other regions. It is a 20 over competition and the winning captain will lift the Ken Barrington Cup.

The talented side beat Broadstone in the final of the South West regional competition by 21 runs. Hatherleigh scored 94-6 with Billy Searle retiring after top-scoring with 31. Captain Luke Reynolds also scored 29. In response Broadstone could only manage 73, with Reynolds capping off a superb all-round performance with 4-10 and his namesake Clare chipping in with 3-6 off just 1.4 overs.

Hatherleigh got through to the final by beating Penzance CC of Cornwall by 32 runs while Broadstone triumphed over Cheddar. Hatherleigh's win was even more remarkable for the fact that coach Charles Inniss only had nine U13s and four U12 players to choose from.

It was an eventful day for the U13s, who are managed by Charles Inniss and have played together since 9 under the captaincy of Luke Reynolds.

Hatherleigh president Brian Jones said: 'It's great to see the team spirit of these children. Would anyone believe that little Hatherleigh would get to such a prestigious final. Can you imagine playing the likes of some of the bigger cities?'

John Stephenson, MCC's head of cricket said: 'Congratulations to Hatherleigh – it is a fantastic achievement to get down to the last eight from 1,800 teams nationwide, and all their players made important contributions. It requires great dedication and talent from both players and coaches, and they can look forward to what should be a fantastic celebration of fun, fair and hard cricket at Oakham.'