Young cricketers from Thornton Heath bowled and batted their way in to the medals table – picking up two bronzes in a national street cricket competition.

The national Tapeball finals which took place in July was sponsored by Natwest in partnership with the England and Wales cricket board.

Thornton Heath Cricket Club’s Under 12’s and Under 15’s won the London regional finals at the University of East London to earn a place amongst the best in the country at the University of Nottingham.

 Three of England’s World Cup winners Liam Plunkett, Tom Curran and Alex Hartley cheered on as over two hundred boys and girls took part  in the Chance to Shine’s National Street Cricket Finals Day, in Nottingham.

Thornton Heath under 15’s lost to eventual winners Blackburn in a closely fought semi-final which went to the last ball. The cricket club’s under 12’s also made the semi finals and were also beaten by eventual winners Dewsbury. 

Both teams won bronze medals while representing London, which reflects their hard work and commitment in what is their first major tapeball tournament, said Under 15 coach coach Harshil Trivedi

This is the first time Thornton Heath CC have fielded teams for this tournament, which is in its third year. 

Chance to Shine Street run 165  projects nationally who were all eligible to play.The U12s squad of seven was made up of two under 12s and the rest under nines. Despite their young age they put on a dominating performance at the London qualifiers, winning all their games, said Under 12 coach Prashant Sinai

Special mentions go to Omar Nota, and Captain Shailen Habib who finished as Regional (London) Champions, collecting Gold.  This gave them an opportunity to compete at the prestigious national finals in Nottingham.

The team did brilliantly, to get to the semis, however were knocked out by the eventual winners. They went on to win their 3rd place play off, collecting Bronze. 

Special mentions for Mason Rouse and Harry Sturgess for a brilliant exhibition of big hitting.

Thornton Heath CC also picked up prizes in the Surrey Cricket Foundation Awards with Ajabgul Khan  winning Young Coach of the Year and Harshil Trivedi Outstanding Contribution.