THE Sir John Colfox Academy travelled to Birmingham to compete in the national finals of the Chance to Compete tournament.

Secondary schools from across the country had battled it out across the previous summer for a place in the final, with the under-13 boys' squad playing at Edgbaston in an effort to claim the title of .

All teams were provided a full Chance to Shine kit, with their names and numbers printed on the shirts, and played on the main pitch at Edgbaston, with their scores being projected on the electronic scoreboards around the ground.

The teams played a straight semi-final/final format.

In the semi-final, Colfox came up against a good Canterbury Academy side, who batted well to post a high score in the seven overs.

Some good batting from Ethan Robertson allowed the Dorset side to bat through the overs, but unfortunately not enough runs were scored to take us into the final.

This meant Colfox were in the third/fourth place play-off against Sale Grammar School.

A good bowling performance by Harry Burwood in resulted in him taking a couple of wickets and keeping Sale’s score down to a gettable total.

The team went in with confidence, yet despite a bright opening score from Euan Pollock and Ethan Robertson, once again the total proved just out of reach.

However, despite the two losses the day proved a memorable experience playing on a Test match ground.

As an additional bonus former England cricketer and Chance to Shine ambassador James Taylor visited to provide inspiration.