Worcestershire CCC have had another trio of players selected from their Academy-Pathway programme for the prestigious Bunbury Cricket Festival next month.
Jack Home, Ben Clarke and Ben Clements have maintained Worcestershire’s proud tradition of having a strong representation each year at the festival, which will be staged at the National Performance Centre, Loughborough, from August 2 to 7.
Current first team batsman Jack Haynes, and promising left-arm spinner Josh Baker, who made his first-team debut against Warwickshire this week, are amongst the many Worcestershire players to have participated in the tournament.
The Bunbury festival showcases the skills of 56 of the most talented England under-15 players in the country, and Home, Clarke and Clements will represent the Midlands in the four-team competition.
More than 300 Bunburys have gone on to play first-class cricket – and over 60 have represented England.
It is another feather in the cap for Worcestershire’s Academy and Pathway coaches in developing players regarded good enough to be chosen for Bunbury’s.
Home is a member of Worcestershire’s 2020-2021 Academy intake, while Clarke and Clements are part of the Emerging Player Programme (EPP).
A pupil at Shrewsbury School, Home plays club cricket for Shifnal and is a genuine all-rounder, a top-order batsman and first change right arm medium pacer.
Clarke, a Malvern College pupil, is a left-arm orthodox slow bowler and left-handed middle-order batsman who plays for Barnards Green.
Clements is a right-arm fast bowler and lower-order batsman who plays junior cricket for Barnards Green and senior cricket for Hanley. He is a pupil at the local secondary school in Hanley.
Wilson said: “It is very pleasing to see the three young lads picked in the final 14.
“All three have performed very strongly through the regional observation process of a total of four days at Denby, Worfield and Moddershall.
“It is great to have the County represented once again.
“The fact they have been selected in this Midlands Under-15 group reflects the level of potential and how excited we are about all of them.
“With Ben Clarke and Ben Clements because of the implications of lockdown and Covid, we have limited contact time with them all winter.
“For them to have got themselves up to speed for regional cricket this summer is a hell of an achievement.”
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The Worcestershire players selected for the Bunburys in recent years have been:
2015 – Jack Haynes, Masharraf Shazad, Ewan Wilcox and Ryan Wheldon
2016 – Jack Haynes – as captain – Zain Hassan, Matt Davies and Xavier Clarke
2017 – Dan Holland, Alex Hinkley, Pete Clark and Lewis Evans
2018 – Josh Baker, Rehaan Edavalath, Henry Cullen and Joe Miszkowski
2019 – Rehaan Edavalath, Harry Cooke, Oliver Walker, Reeve Evitts
2020 – no tournament
2021 – Jack Home, Ben Clarke, Ben Clements.
