Two primary schools from York have won a place in the North Yorkshire area final of the Drax Cup 2011, the biggest cricket competition for the under-nines age group in the country.

English Martyrs’ Primary School came first in a four-way tournament against local schools – Poppleton Road Primary School, St Paul’s CE Primary School and Archbishop of York’s CE Junior School – hosted by York Cricket Club in mid-May.

On the same day Dunnington Primary School also topped local schools in a six-way tournament at Dunnington CC.

English Martyrs’, who reached the finals in 2009, and Dunnington will now face schools from across the region at the area finals on Thursday, June 23, which are to be held at Dunnington CC.

The Drax Cup, now in its fifth year, is sponsored by Drax Power Limited and organised by Yorkshire County Cricket Club in conjunction with the Yorkshire Cricket Board and Yorkshire Schools’ Cricket Association.

Yorkshire CC captain Andrew Gale is an ambassador for the Drax Cup 2011 along with Katherine Brunt, the Yorkshire and England player.

The finals will be at Headingley on Sunday, July 3, prior to Yorkshire’s Friends Life t20 Cup tie against Notts.