Worcestershire CCC players have lent their support to the second staging of the Worcestershire and Herefordshire NatWest Under-19 Club T20 competition which gets underway this weekend.
Thirteen teams will be taking part – including inaugral winners Bromyard – and the four groups will be named after different Worcestershire CCC players.
They will comprise of the Moeen Ali Division, Daryl Mitchell Division, Ross Whiteley Division and Jack Shantry Division and come under the umbrella of the Worcestershire Cricket Board Limited (WCBL).
The winners of the four groups will go through to a finals day on a date and venue to be confirmed in the near future.
The first two groups will be in action on June 12 at Worcester Nomads and Brockhampton respectively with the remaining two being staged on June 19 at Halesowen and Bromsgrove.
All the games will be played with pink balls and several of the teams will be wearing coloured clothing as in the style of first class counties in the NatWest T20 Blast.
WCBL Cricket Development Director Tom Hill said: "It is a national competition which piggybanks the T20 Blast. This is the second year and we've got 13 teams who have entered – three groups of three and one group of four.
"It is the first time, thanks to the Worcestershire players, that we are naming divisions after them which provides some added value to the players taking part.
"A really exciting part about this competition is it is the first time these young players have run their own cricket.
"They will source any sponsors they've got, they will be sorting out the guard of honours, food for the opposition, dug-outs, music, introducing the captains, literally whatever they want, to make the match day experience as positive as possible for everyone.
"It will get them used to volunteer work which is so crucial to the running of club cricket at all levels.
"For example, Pershore are organising a marquee and organising a Daryl Mitchell benefit event on the same day.
"Bromsgrove are planning inviting all the fathers down on Fathers Day and having a bit of a 'lads and dads' theme to the day."
The groups consist of:
June 12 – Daryl Mitchell Division (at Worcester Nomads) – Bransford Bears, Ombersley, Pershore.
June 12 – Jack Shantry Division (at Brockhampton) – Brockhampton, Colwall, Bromyard, Burghill and Tillington.
June 19 – Moeen Ali Division (at Halesowen) – Halesowen, Oldswinsford, Stourbridge.
June 19 – Ross Whiteley Division (at Bromsgrove) – Bromsgrove, Redditch, Kidderminster.
The final will be played at Kidderminster CC on September 11.
