The Festival began on a superb note when Greg Drewery (U12s) scored his maiden century when he amassed 126 not out in the first match against Leeds Junior Cricket League. Stephen Croft (U11s) also made a valuable contribution to the team when his 8 overs of leg spin produced figures of 3-30 as East Yorkshire recorded a comfortable victory.

The second match against Sheffield JCL saw East Yorkshire reduced to 44 for 4 and the prospect of progressing further in the tournament looked bleak until Eddie Salmon (U13s) added 161 with his captain Will Rhodes (Cottingham) and East Yorkshire closed on 205-4 with Will on 116 no and Eddie on 61 no.

Sheffield’s opening batsmen seemed unfazed by the total as they added 121 for the first wicket. With 10 overs remaining, nine wickets in hand and only 52 runs needed for victory they appeared to have the match well under control. At this point, Greg produced a tremendously accurate spell of four overs for only five runs and when Stephen captured the critical wicket of Sheffield’s remaining free-scoring opener the rest of the team collapsed to 181 all out.

The third (and final) group stage match saw East Yorkshire run through Doncaster JCL’s batting line-up as they dismissed them for only 77 runs. Greg and Will Rhodes saw the team through to victory for a clean sweep of victories in the group stage.

As winners of their group, East Yorkshire were scheduled to play Barnsley JCL in the semi-final. Rain, a far too familiar feature of the cricket season this year, meant no play was possible so the place in the final was decided by a bowl-out. Greg was one of five players selected from the East Yorkshire team to bowl two deliveries at a wicket. As tension mounted, East Yorkshire secured their place in the final with a victory by four strikes to three.

The final at Cleckheaton CC brought East Yorkshire face-to-face with their counterparts from North Yorkshire. Another overnight deluge made batting conditions very difficult and East Yorkshire struggled to what appeared to be an insufficient total of 119 for 8 in 40 overs. With such a small total to chase, North Yorkshire remained favourites to win but accurate leg spin from Stephen Croft (2-23 in 8 overs) created pressure and when it came to the final over, North Yorkshire’s last pair were at the wicket and 8 runs were needed for victory. Singles conceded from the first two deliveries kept tensions high which was replaced by unrestrained East Yorkshire joy when Greg Drewery’s third delivery clattered the middle stump and East Yorkshire claimed victory by 5 runs.

This was only East Yorkshire’s third victory in this competition and was a tremendous testament to the whole team’s determination as they fought back from unpromising situations in four out of their five matches.