Alasdair Green reports from the final of the Harvey Norman Junior School's Championship 2007. We are expecting to be sent some photos and the scorecard in the near future.

The final of the inaugural 4-school Harvey Norman Junior Schools' Championship was held at Valburga on 19 June 2007. Taking part were semi-final winners OS Smlednik and OS Polje, with the format being a maximum of 12 overs a side.

Batting first, Polje eventually finished with what looked to be a reasonably competitive 54 from their 12 overs. The innings was characterised by big hitting, with both the fielding and running between the wickets being fast and furious.

Smlednik got off to a troubled start in reply, with two good stumpings in the fourth over putting Polje in charge. Commendably straight line-and-length bowling learned in coaching sessions run in his spare time by Mark Oman was reaping dividends.

However, good partnerships for the third and fourth wickets with a succession of balls being hit off middle stump to the leg side put Smlednik in control, and they overhauled the target with a couple of overs to spare. Thus OS Smlednik, coached admirably by Steve Mayland, are our first champions.

As a note for the future, both sides found the transition to full-scale outdoor cricket played on a full-length 22-yard pitch challenging. None of the players had any previous experience of this, all their cricket having been played in sports' halls. There's a strong case to be made for having a shorter stump-to-stump distance to allow the kids to adjust.

That said, the quality of the cricket played was remarkable. The event was an outstanding success, and we'd emphasise that the participants and sports teachers from each school showed abundant enthusiasm for and commitment to cricket.

To sum up, the schools' programme in Slovenia goes from strength to strength.