ILKLEY Grammar School’s under-13 cricketers were pipped in their bid to retain the Yorkshire Indoor Cricket County Championships.

They had emphatic wins in the league stage against Hull (103-54), Sheffield (137- 54) and Huddersfield (114-56) to set up a semi-final against York.

Ilkley dominated their opponents from the outset, dismissing them for just 63 to cruise into a final where their opponents were Richmond, the side they beat in the 2014 final.

Richmond under performed last year to hand victory on a plate to Ilkley. On this occasion the roles were reversed as Richmond’s total of 101 proved too much for the holders to overcome as they failed to recover from a poor start and eventually stuttered to a disappointing 81 all out.

Outstanding all-round performances throughout came from Matthew Revis, Alex Bentley, and Max Rogers and intelligent batting and wicketkeeping from Adam Haw were the highlights of the day.

This, together with significant contributions from bowlers Freddie Smart and Finlay Tunney, supported in the field by Cameron Hawdon, Ryan Stockley and Lawrence Stephens, amounted to a fine effort from the IGS squad as they ended the season a creditable second out of 102 entries.