Glynde and Beddingham is a hotbed in Sussex youth cricket.

The village under-14s team, which lifted the Sussex Junior Cricket Festival Bowl after a week-long tournament, boast seven county players among their ranks.

That is not a bad pooling of young talent from a population of around 500 people.

Youth manager Andrew Lusted believes the club has one of the strongest village set-ups in the county, where youngsters play the game from an early age.

He revealed: "Nearly all the side that won the Bowl have been playing together since they were seven. They've bonded well and I think the number of players that get county recognition is a tribute to the strength of cricket in the two villages."

Sam Adams (Sussex under-14s), Dominic Harris, Joe Adams, Robert Mouland, Robert Williams (all Sussex under-13s) and Gemma Fingerneissl (Sussex Ladies under-14s) have all been regulars this summer for county sides.

Jake Williams and Ross Blackford have also received recognition by being selected for the combined East and West Sussex Under-13s squad.

Lusted added: "They learn from each other and many of the children have older relatives who play for the club. We do seem to produce good young players. We have six qualified coaches and they take a dozen children each for sessions. It seems to work well and in total we have 12 county players at the club, three of which are girls."

Glynde emerged from a tough qualifying group, which included Eastbourne, Newick and Hellingly. The competition had four groups, the three others comprising six teams each. The two best group winners met in the final and it was Three Bridges who joined them in the tournament's climax.

All the matches were played over four-and-a-half hours each, with declarations, except the final, which was contested as a 40-over game.

Three Bridges were bowled out for 77, thanks mainly to the 5-22 from county captain Dominic Harris, and Glynde got the runs with seven wickets to spare.

Robert Mouland, 13, who hit a century for Sussex under-13s against Kent recently, was one of the main contributors with the bat.

He said: "I was pleased to do well, but it was mainly a team effort. We batted, bowled and fielded extremely well. It was our best all-round performance of the week.

"The competition was great fun and it brought everyone close together because we were playing every day last week until Sunday."

The under-14s festival included a shield competition, held for teams of a slightly lower standard than those who entered the bowl.

Eastergate won the final against Ifield after successfully chasing 122 with six wickets intact to complete a hat-trick of festival wins in successive seasons. The same team had won the shield in 1998 and the bowl last summer Victor Manley had taken 3-7 and with the bat Alex Robinson (36) and Ben Clilverd (40 not out) shared in a first wicket partnership of 77 in 17 overs.

Manager Dave Robinson said: "Most of the boys are young enough to play in the under-13s. They rose to the challenge magnificently and it's a lovely achievement to win silverware three years on the trot."

Ben Clilverd, 13, was man of the match in the final at Glynde and Beddingham after his fine unbeaten 40. He said: "We worked hard, pitched in and got on with our jobs. It was a good team effort and we couldn't believe we won the competition, because there were some good teams up against us."

Festival secretary David Brownrigg said: "The festival for all age groups continues to prove popular. Two thirds of all clubs in Sussex enter teams, which is a terrific turnout."