The cadets premier division was won for the third successive year by Middlesex who took the title from former winners Sussex by two points and it was the two southern based counties who made all the running in the division played over one weekend at the Triangle, Burgess Hill in West Sussex.
Both counties were unbeaten in their first four matches on Saturday and also their first match on Sunday and it was not until the sixth round out of seven that the two counties faced each other with the title up for grabs as they faced each other in a high noon shoot out.
Middlesex took the first two sets which saw Igor Morais beat Jack Bennett in four and Vincent Stacey record a thrilling five game victory over Michael Rutherford 10-12 11-7 8-11 11-8 11-6.
Emma Torkington got Sussex on the board with a three game win over Eda Aydin and Helshan Weerasinghe then levelled the match score as he also won in three games against Tyrone Wells.
Tin Tin Ho put the reigning champions ahead once again with a three game win over Lois Peake and it was Stacey who recorded his second victory of the match when he came through a hard fought four gamer against Jack Bennett despite a first game reversal 7-11 14-12 12-10 12-10 as Middlesex now lead 4-2.
Sussex once again hit back and took the next two sets as firstly Peake beat Aydin 7-11 11-9 11-7 11-4 and in the next set, the top two ranked cadet boys in the country faced each other and after five thrilling games it was the second ranked player Weerasinghe who just nicked the verdict over Morais 11-3 6-11 11-7 9-11 12-10 to once again bring the sides level after eight rubbers.
The ever dependable Tin Tin eased the nerves for Middlesex with a three game win over Torkington in the penultimate set and it the final encounter of the match it was Wells who complete victory for Middlesex with an 11-6 11-7 11-13 11-6 victory over Rutherford to complete a fine 6-4 victory for Middlesex.
With one hand on the tile only a disaster in their final game could prevent Middlesex from a threepeat and they were not going to let that happen as they overwhelmed third placed Glamorgan 9-1 to retain the title they had so gloriously won over the last two seasons.
A new venue of Burgess Hill staged this season event after a lobby of southern based counties for the event to be moved further south which proved a fair request but the venue received mixed comments and with two southern based counties making an exit from this division, next seasons venue may well see a return to Draycott.
Due to working commitments of organiser Barry Snowden, county championships committee deputy referee Margot Fraser stepped up and ran the weekend excellently on behalf of the county championships committee and her organisation of this event has received many complementary comments
Cadets Premier Division
2010/2011
Final Table
MIDDLESEX 7 7 0 0 59 11 14
SUSSEX 7 6 0 1 55 15 12
GLAMORGAN 7 4 1 2 38 32 9
WORCESTERSHIRE 7 3 1 3 32 38 7
YORKSHIRE 7 1 3 3 30 40 5
KENT 7 2 1 4 27 43 5
SURREY 7 2 1 4 26 44 4
WARWICKSHIRE 7 0 0 7 13 57 0
By Barry Snowden