Durham Cricket are delighted that three members of its boys under 15s squad will represent the North of England at the prestigious Bunbury Festival.
Tom Briggs, Teddy Minto and Zac Mawdsley have been selected for the week-long festival which commences on Sunday at Loughborough University the home of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s high-performance centre.
Briggs plays his club cricket at Durham City and is a top order batter who also keeps wicket. Spinner Teddy Minto plays his club cricket at Norton and has enjoyed a fine season with the ball, picking up 42 wickets so far this term with a best of 6/6 against Durham School. Right arm quick bowler Zac Mawdsley who is part of the Durham Academy and Cumbria pathway is also representing Durham at Bunbury – with the seamer playing his club cricket at Haverigg Cricket Club.
Both Briggs, Minto and Mawdsley were part of the Durham Academy side who represented the club in Dubai during January 2024.
The famous festival is into its 37th year and its fourth in the current format as a formalised part of ECB’s Player Pathway. Trials and assessments for each region have been going on since the winter, with county coaches nominating their top players for consideration for final selection.
For many young players, the Bunbury Festival is their first chance to benchmark themselves against their peers from different parts of the country. And the process clearly pays dividends, with over 90 former Bunbury players going on to represent England, including 10 from the 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup squad.
The North will kick off the week against South & West in the T20 competition on Sunday, with the 50 over competition starting on Monday against London & East, South & West on Tuesday before rounding off the week on Friday with the T20 finals.
Durham Cricket Academy Director John Windows said: “I’m really pleased for the 2 lads from Durham selected for Bunbury this year.
“It’s a great reward for the hard work they have put in and recognition of their excellent performances at county age group and club level.
“It has been great to see their development over the last few years and I’m sure this will be another fantastic experience in their cricketing journey.”