“The Dubai trip was a fantastic experience for the players. We played some excellent cricket on good pitches at fabulous grounds.
“The tournament was played under floodlights and Durham Junior Academy triumphed against Desert Cubs in the final at the Emirates Sevens Grounds to bring home the Nissan Gulf Cup for only the second time a Durham team has done so in eight attempts.
“The two teams in the final were the two best teams in the competition and were very evenly matched. Desert Cubs beat Durham in their group match comfortably and therefore, Durham knew that they had to up their game in the Final in order to bring home the trophy.
“Durham put together their best fielding and bowling performance of the trip by bowling Desert Cubs out for 131. In reply Durham got off to a shaky start losing captain Jack Burnham, Ben Whitehead and Nathan Wright early, leaving the team battling to stay in the game at 11 for 3. However, Dan Anderson (16), Paul Brathwaite (40), Jack Hardy (34 not out) and Greg Patterson (18 not out) fought back well and managed to get Durham across the line with some excellent batting for players of this age.
“Durham’s Has Singh received the bowler of the tournament award for his 8 wickets at 7.38 and Ben Whitehead won player of the tournament for his all round contribution of 5 wickets and 93 runs.
“Aside from the cricket, the tournament sponsors were very generous in arranging some fantastic opportunities for the boys. We managed to fit in a day on the Desert Safari where the boys had the opportunity to do some quad biking and witness some local customs, including belly dancing. The boys were also treated to dinner at the Atlantis 7* hotel on the palm by Mr Sunhil Ibrahim Abdulla who sponsors the Young Talents Cricket Academy
“The trip was a huge success and thanks must be given to Young Talents Cricket Academy for organizing such a marvellous festival of cricket, to the Ramada continental in Ajman for their hospitality in accommodating us on the trip, to the Emirates Sevens Grounds for hosting the festival with brilliant facilities and finally to to Ebac and the Durham Youth Trust for their support in funding the trip.”
Download the Gulf Cup Report here Gulf Cup report 2012