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Nottinghamshire Cricket Board Under 17s have been recognised by Nottinghamshire County Council as the Junior Sports Team of the Year.

The team, made up of the county's most promising young players and featuring seven members of the Nottinghamshire Academy, won the ECB 2-day competition, cricket's equivalent of the FA Youth Cup.

"This group of players is as good a junior team as I have worked with in Nottinghamshire and remaining unbeaten in the 2-day competition is a huge achievement for all of them," said Nottinghamshire's Academy Director Chris Tolley.

"There are some very talented players in the group with the likes of Simon Webster, Anuj Dal, and Simon Walton forcing their way into the England Development Programme setup."

The team also featured Academy player Luke Wood, the Nottinghamshire Premier League's leading wicket taker in a Cuckney side that won the title last season. He and several others are held in high regard in an Academy setup that continues to provide players for Nottinghamshire's professional squad.

Sam Kelsall, Sam Wood and Brett Hutton are the most recent additions to the professional ranks with the likes of Samit Patel and Jake Ball already established in the squad.

"Producing professional players is the culmination of a lot of hard work from the players themselves and a team of coaches but nothing is down to chance," said Tolley.

"Even when players sign their first pro deal there is still a big step to be made to command a place in the team and that's about grasping opportunities when they are presented and continuing to develop."


Nottinghamshire's Community and Development team also had an eye on the awards with the Adopt a Wicket and Disability Cricket programmes nominated for Sporting Project of the Year.

The Under 17s beat Nottinghamshire schools Oak Tree Primary and Jesse Gray Primary to triumph in their category.