Wisden City Cup 2012 Twitter

Twenty20 Cricket for Inner Cities (16-25 year olds)

Shahzad Wins Year
with MCC YCs

Zain Shahzad

Zain Shahzad has been selected as the second
Wisden City Cup player to join MCC Young Cricketers and become a professional.

Shahzad, aged 20, comes from east London and has played for London Tigers in the WCC competition, bowling at a brisk pace and batting down the order.

It was in the 2012 match between MCC Young Cricketers and the Wisden City Cup Combined XI that Shahzad first impressed MCC Head Coach Mark Alleyne.

Bowling quickly down the slope at Grace Road in last year’s 20-over match, Shahzad pegged MCC YCs back at the start of their innings, and reduced them to 17 for three with the help of Diyapan Paul, who bowled his offbreaks up the slope.

Paul, 18, won the contract last year to become the MCC Young Cricketer, but Shahzad made a big enough impression to be monitored this season – even though he had injury problems and played only one WCC game - and to be offered the contract for 2013 by Mark Alleyne.

Paul, meanwhile, did so well in his first year at Lord’s that he has been offered a six-month extension to take him through until the end of the 2013 season.

And more WCC players are due to attend the next MCC trials at Lord’s in early December.

 

 

Sunday 16th September

at Leicestershire County Cricket Club

LEICESTER v SURREY

LEICESTER THE BEST!

London South 115-9
Leicester 116-8 (19.3 overs)

Leicester the winning team

Leicester won by two wickets in the last over to win the second WCC inter-city cup final. It was exactly the same result as last year when they beat London North/Middlesex, but this time they beat London South/Surrey.

On a Grace Road pitch that had something for everyone, London South were pegged back by Leicester's three spinners, with the offspin of Nil Patel and J Ghandi outstanding. The visitors' total of 115-9 owed much to their keeper/bat J Patterson who hit 46 not out.

Leicester stumbled to 28-4 against the whippy pace of Asif Muhammadi, originally from Afghanistan, who took 3-19, while Patterson made four dismissals behind the stumps.

A partnership of 49 between Zain Mir and N Rana took Leicester to 92-5 before three more wickets fell, but Rana's 35 took Leicester to victory with 3 balls and 2 wickets to spare.

Winners with Shiv Thakor
The Winners with Shiv Thakor


***

MCC Young Cricketers
v
WCC Combined XI

MCC YC beat WCC XI by 73 runs
MCC 183 - 4
WCC XI 110 - 6

In the match between MCC Young Cricketers and the WCC Combined XI, the professionals proved too good. Last year MCC YCs won by only eight runs but this time they won comfortably by 73 runs.

MCC YCs scored 183-4 from their 20 overs. Their early acceleration came from the lefthanded Will Root, younger brother of Yorkshire's Joe, who hit 33 from 24 balls with several reverse-sweeps. Big hitting from Hose and Southgate rammed home their advantage.

In reply Sunny Patel hit some fine coverdrives and made the highest score of the day, 49 off 44 balls with eight fours. He had earlier bowled three overs of leftarm spin to take 1-24.

Patel, from Leicester, shared a stand of 65 with Akash Patel of Luton, who also kept wicket for the WCC Combined XI. But the required rate rose to become impossible and wickets fell to the legspin of Andy Clarke and the offspin of Diyapan Paul, the first WCC player to be chosen as a MCC YC - and who has been contracted already for a second year.

 

 

THE WINNERS OF THE
COUNTY GAMES

Leicester

Picture to come

Jigar Naik Trophy won by
Barclays Eagles

*

London North/Middlesex

Reg Scarlett Trophy won by
Wilf's Flyers

*

London South/Surrey

Alex Tudor Trophy won by
Wandsworth Rams

*

Luton

Monty Panesar Trophy won by
Hurricanes