Harlands school cricketers are kings of Sussex

After securing comfortable wins in two previous qualifying tournaments, the team arrived at Sussex CCC’s academy ground in Blackstone, full of confidence.

This confidence was soon put to the test in the group stage, but thanks to some powerful boundary hitting from Freddie Fairhall and Dylan Carter and tight bowling from Will Ratcliff, Thomas Gibbon, Oscar Bryant and Sophia Speight, Harlands progressed to the knock-out stages.

Sussex League clash - West Chiltington v Findon - in pictures.

A semi-final success against Southwater Junior Academy, who were as strong as ever, set up a final against fellow Mid-Sussex school Lindfield.

In the final, incredibly tight bowling from the Harlands team in the closing overs of Lindfield’s innings, which included two wickets in the final over of the innings from Charlie Morris, meant that Lindfield were only able to post a low total.

In a tense second innings, the Harlands batters managed to keep their cool and significant contributions from Ben Simmonds and Jake Lashbrook ensured they reached their victory target in the final over.

Dave Simmonds, the team’s coach, said: “Each and every member of the team is a committed young cricketer, who works hard all year round on their game. It was fantastic to see that the children’s hard work allowed them to achieve success together."