Darlington Cricket Club Under-11s had the benefit of John Camburn's vast experience when he held a coaching clinic for 16 specially selected young cricketers recently.

Camburn captained Darlington and was an opening bat for Durham in the 1960s and 70s and was one of the first coaches to take the sport to Holland. He has coached all over the world and has always been a well respected coach.

He coached the youngsters last week and despite the heat, everyone put a lot of effort into learning the finer points of all aspects of the game and each boy was given personal tips on how their game could be improved.

The boys played three matches during the week, narrowly losing an exciting encounter in the North Yorkshire Junior cricket league to Barnard Castle by 12 runs. They also played a match between next year's boys and the lads who will be moving up to under-13 level next season.

It looks well for next season as the younger boys won by four runs.

David Earle took a hat-trick for the leavers team while James Dobson and Stan Clitheroe each took three wickets for the younger boys. There was impressive batting from all the younger boys and on the leavers side, Tom Dell, Jamie Williamson and Abdul Malik shone.

The week culminated in the very first Dobson/Romaines Challenge Shield match contested by Darlington and Bishop Auckland over 37 overs a side. Each player who participated in the match was awarded a medal and a certificate to commemorate the occasion.

Darlington won by 80 runs but the overall winner was cricket itself. The boys from both teams played the game in a true sporting spirit on a blisteringly hot afternoon and brought much joy to the many spectators watching. Next year the challenge match will be played at Bishop's Kingsway ground.

Presentations were made by the boys to John Camburn to thank him for a very enjoyable and educational week.

Club groundsman, David Bentley who gave the boys a talk on cricket wicket preparation and care for the ground was also given a presentation to thank him for all his work for the boys over the season.