Nalisha Patel wins NatWest Pro Bowling Competition

Stuart Broad, Katherine Brunt, Nalisha Patel, Steven Finn

Nalisha Patel, Lancashire Girls U13 cricketer recently won the NatWest Pro Bowling competition in the U12 Girls category. Nalisha plays her club cricket at Horwich CC and was first selected to play for Lancashire at the U11 level.

NatWest Pro Bowling seeks out the most talented bowlers from around the country by using cutting edge technology to measure the speed and accuracy of their bowling. Each player is given three balls to record their best delivery, with points measured on pace and accuracy using NatWest's innovative sensor mat technology, positioned inside inflatable nets. Real-time feedback is provided on deliveries including pitch, movement and speed, a unique code to enter on natwest.com/cricket was also provided to see their position on the national leader board.

Nalisha entered the competition earlier in the cricket season this year and at the end of the season the top 4 adults, boys and girls from each age category were invited to attend a special training session hosted by some of England’s star players before competing in a final to determine the national champion.

Tony Potter (Lancashire U13 Girls Head Coach) commented: “I am very pleased for Nalisha on winning the NatWest Pro Bowling competition at the U12 Girls category. She has performed well as an all rounder for the county squad this season and I’m hopeful she will continue to develop as a cricketer.”

Lord’s, the home of cricket, played host to the 2010 NatWest Pro Bowling Final on the 16th October 2010. After beating over 3,000 people to reach the finals, the competition’s top entered bowlers in each age category were keen to get underway and find out who would win the coveted titles.

The day started with a welcome from the legendary former England captain Michael Vaughan, before the finalists were put through their paces by a team of official ECB coaches.

Following the warm-up the finalists were given a unique opportunity to draw inspiration from England fast bowlers Stuart Broad, Steve Finn and Katherine Brunt, in a special net session with the England stars providing hints and tips to help them perfect their techniques.

Every bowler likes to test themselves against the best and that’s exactly what our finalists did as they were given a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to bowl at Michael Vaughan. At first it seemed our finalists might be too much for the legendary player as Aqeel Rafiq, 17, from Essex took his middle stump with the first delivery of the session, but the former star soon proved to be a challenging opponent.

With the finalists in top shape and ready to get underway, the finals began and after a closely fought contest the scores were counted and the winners announced, before all of the participants received a medal from the England players.

Full results of winners and runners ups are available at: NatWest Pro Bowling Competition results.

The Lancashire Cricket Board would like to congratulate Nalisha for winning the U12 Girls category and wish her every success in her future cricketing challenges.