Durham Cricket are delighted that three members of the boys under 15s squad will represent the North of England at the prestigious Bunbury Festival.
Charlie Coulthard, Joseph Davies and Sebastian Hughes-Pinan 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.
Charlie Coulthard who plays his club cricket at Willington has scored 352 runs for Durham under-15s so far this summer with a best of 66 against Nottinghamshire at East Midlands festival in June. Joseph Davies who also plays for Willington has 493 runs for Durham under-15s this summer with a top score of 105 against Cumbria in the county cup. Chester Le Street Cricket Club’s Sebastian Hughes-Pinan has 20 wickets for the under-15s with a best of 2/3 against Cumbria, while he has also contributed with the bat scoring 207 runs.
The famous festival is into its 34th year and its second 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 Thursday before rounding off the week on Friday with the T20 finals.
Durham Cricket Lead Performance Coach for Academy and Pathway, James Lowe said: “I’m really pleased for the 3 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 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.
“The U15 age group is a strong group, we also have 3 players on the reserve list for Bunbury and others in the squad who have put in very strong performances this year which is exciting for us going forward.”