The Warwickshire Cricket Board will be hosting the annual District Cricket festivals for Under 15, Under 13 and for the first time ever, Under 11 age group on 4th to 7th of June across various venues around the County.

The Festivals are a fantastic spring board for talented cricketers providing a greater number of youngsters the chance to shine. The unique set-up will be watched by some of Warwickshire's finest coaches and exceptional talent may be rewarded with a place in a County youth team.

The Festivals have gone from strength to strength over the last few years, receiving accolades from the ECB and securing a sponsorship package from Listers VW. Past players who have taken part in the Festival, have even gone on to represent England, namely Moeen Munir who has been selected to represent the current Under 15 England squad. That's not to mention several players who now appear in the Warwickshire Academy set-up and County Youth cricket.

The District Schemes success is down to the vast number of capable youngsters playing club cricket in the County. Demand for a high standard of cricket has always been apparent at Under 13 and 15 age groups but research indicated that there was a bottle neck of talented Under 11 club cricketers who's thirst for quality cricket had to be quenched. So for the first time ever the WCB host the Under 11 District Festival.

Warwickshire CCC player, Dougie Brown, is a staunch supporter of the set-up and when asked if he'd of liked to play in such a festival he said "I'd have snapped your hand off! I never played ANY form of representative cricket until I played for Scotland against Australia in 1989. I was always overlooked for all age group squads so the opportunity to play at this kind of festival would have been fantastic at that time in my career."

© Warwickshire CCC