Rain once again scuppered much of the July District Festival but despite the weather 16 matches were played and some fine performances were turned in by players across the age groups.

The Under 10s Festival hung in the balance after the May week and finished closer than any other age group- Winchester ended coming out on top by virtue of having taken more wickets than the New Forest side. North Hampshire’s Brendon Parvess retained the Festival high score with his 88 not out on Day One of May Week. Forester Will Logsdon 4 for 21 was the best return over the two weeks.

Winchester were also victorious in the U11 Festival. Pete Boyles side retained the top spot despite faltering against North Hampshire on the Tuesday of July week. Tom Redhead (North) excelled with the bat throughout scoring over 40 no less than three times, he also recorded the festival high score with his 95 not out against the New Forest in May. Ben Barber’s (Winchester) best bowling of 4 for 2 was challenged in July by Rav Sriharan (4-10) but remained the top figures of the Festival.

The U12s Festival was dominated by a professional North Hampshire side who were rarely troubled by their opponents. North Hampshire’s bowling attack excelled throughout removing sides for 66, 127, 43 and 59 and but it was South East’s Ben Jackson who had the best bowling having taken 5 fo 18 against the New Forest in May week. It was South East’s Luke Cornish who retained the high score with his 67 against Winchester on Day 2 in May.

Alton Cricket Club played host to the U13s Festival and was affected more by the rain than the other grounds, it is testament to the efforts of the grounds team that they managed to get a game on, on the Tuesday of July Week, which resulted in big changes in the overall standings. New Forest finished up champions rising from third to first after hammering South East by 6 wickets.  South East’s Seb Brixton (5-25) and Winchester’s Jack Stanley (85) turned in the top performances over the two weeks.

South East Hampshire won the U15s Festival emphatically; the side had a 100% record through their four matches and dropped just three bonus points. Portsmouth & Southsea players Joe Colings-Wells (116) and Sam Berridge (5-40) recorded the top performances over the two weeks.

Throughout the age groups 3 hundreds and 21 fifties were recorded; an impressive total in 38 games, many of which were played on fairly wet pitches as a result of the inclement weather.

Thanks to the groundstaff, the officials and the coaches for making the festivals possible.