Leicestershire Pathway Players Earn Bunbury And Super Fours Selection

Pathway trio Harry Brindle, Ronak Rajashekar and Jake Tarling have all earned national recognition with call-ups to the prestigious Bunbury Festival and ECB Super Fours this week.

Left arm spinner Brindle and top-order batter Rajashekar will both represent the Midlands at Bunbury, while Academy scholar Tarling will play for the North in the Super Fours competition.

Head of Talent Pathway Jigar Naik will also be involved at the Bunbury Festival for the third year in succession, working as Assistant Coach for the Midlands alongside Matt Wood.

The event, which pits the country’s most talented under 15s against one another in a regional tournament, kicks off on Wednesday (19 July) with a two-day fixture against the North at Weetwood, before both sides travel to Loughborough for a week of T20 and 50-over cricket.

The Pathway duo were selected after impressing during five trial games. Brindle finished as the third-leading wicket taker during the trial phase, taking eight wickets at 16.25, while Rajashekar was the fourth-highest run-scorer with 118 runs tallied at 59.

18-year-old Tarling began the Super Fours tournament at Loughborough University on Monday (17 July), scoring 14 as the North defeated London & East Under-18s by 25 runs during the 50-over opener.

The top-order batter will play two further 50-over fixtures on Tuesday and Thursday, before concluding the week with a double-header of T20s.

Tarling joined the Pathway last winter after a successful trial and has impressed for Leicestershire’s U18s with 328 runs at 32.80, while taking his wickets at a miserly average of 10.

Like Bunbury, the Super Fours challenges the country’s most promising 17- and 18-year-olds in a regional competition, with the likes of James Taylor, Harry Swindells and current Academy scholars Sam Wood and Alex Green having previously represented Leicestershire at the events.

Discussing his pride at the trio’s selections, Head of Talent Pathway Jigar Naik said: “It’s brilliant to see Harry and Ronak chosen for the Bunbury Festival this year.

“We’ve seen historically how high profile the event is and the talented players that get selected. To have the opportunity to showcase their talents against the best players in their age group in the country will be a great experience and invaluable to their development going forward.

“Jake has had an impressive start to his season, particularly in T20 cricket, and has since been rewarded with an Academy scholarship.

“He has the ability to take games away from the opposition and is also intelligent in the way he approaches his game. He made his second team debut this month and we look forward to seeing his continued progression.”

To follow the Bunbury Festival, click HERE. To follow the ECB Super Fours, click HERE.