Barnet girls’ cricket team are on their way to Lord’s after winning their group at the Balfour Beatty London Youth Games Indoor Cricket Cup qualifying round at Harrow Leisure Centre on Sunday.
It is the first time Barnet will have made it through to the last eight in the annual competition. The borough team saw off home side Harrow, Hillingdon and Hounslow to top Group 6 with a mighty 278 runs accrued over their three 10 over matches. They now join the other group winners: Bexley, Greenwich, Haringey, Hammersmith & Fulham, Bromley, Ealing and best runners-up Redbridge in the finals at Lord’s Indoor Cricket Ground on Sunday 6 March.
Gemma Thompson, Barnet Team Manager, said: “It’s the first time for Barnet to get to Lord’s, so it’s a fantastic achievement for the girls. They’re really excited. Half of the team had only had a couple of cricket sessions before, so they have done really well.
“We had England player Beth Morgan come down to our last session to meet all the girls who came to our trials, mainly from St Michael’s School in Barnet. We played a game with her and she handed out flyers to encourage them into local clubs.
“We had one girl, Tyla Mace, who has never played club cricket before. In each of the games, she has bowled somebody out, caught two people out and top scored in one of the games as well. She has only had a few training sessions with us.
“We will have tough competition at Lord’s. We are just chuffed to get this far and anything else would be a bonus.”
The Balfour Beatty London Youth Games is Europe’s largest annual youth sports event and enjoyed its most successful year in its 34 year history in 2010 with over 50,000 participants from 33 London borough teams taking part in 60 competitions across 30 sports.
The 2011 season covers 26 competition days through to finals weekend at the National Sports Centre, Crystal Palace, on July 2/3.
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