THE next generation of young Herefordshire cricketers enjoyed themselves in the sun at the county Kwik cricket championships at Luctonians.

Nine primary school teams fought their way through to the finals day from a starting entry of 71 schools and the winners of two pools, Kingsland and Ashperton, met in the final.

This proved a closely-run thing as, with two balls to go, Ashperton required a single run to pass the Kingsland total. But a wicket fell from the penultimate ball and that effectively decided the title in the north Herefordshire school's favour.

Both schools, however, will go on to represent the county in West Midlands regional finals at Colwall on July 6 when schools from Shropshire, Warwickshire, Stafford-shire and Worcestershire will also be taking part.

In the Herefordshire finals at Luctonians, Pencombe finished in third place and Holmer in fourth.

"It was a fantastic day," said cricket development officer Steve Williams. "It turned into a nail-biting final and the event was a testament to all the hard work that teachers, parents and coaches have put in."