Howzat! Ruby bowls over former England cricket captains at commentary event

A Halifax youngster is celebrating after coming joint-top of a prestigious cricket commentary competition - rubbing shoulders with England captains past and present whilst doing so.
LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 23:  Alastair Cook of England and Michael Vaughan present the winners their trophy, Ruby Beaumont aged 10 from Halifax and Fred Teasdale, 10 from London during the final of Yorkshire Tea Young Cricket Commentator of the Year Finals at The Kia Oval on June 23, 2016 in London, England.  (Photo by Tom Shaw/Getty Images)LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 23:  Alastair Cook of England and Michael Vaughan present the winners their trophy, Ruby Beaumont aged 10 from Halifax and Fred Teasdale, 10 from London during the final of Yorkshire Tea Young Cricket Commentator of the Year Finals at The Kia Oval on June 23, 2016 in London, England.  (Photo by Tom Shaw/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 23: Alastair Cook of England and Michael Vaughan present the winners their trophy, Ruby Beaumont aged 10 from Halifax and Fred Teasdale, 10 from London during the final of Yorkshire Tea Young Cricket Commentator of the Year Finals at The Kia Oval on June 23, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Tom Shaw/Getty Images)

Ruby Beaumont won plenty of plaudits for her skills behind the microphone during the Yorkshire Tea Young Cricket Commentator competition.

The ten-year-old got to meet former skipper-turned-pundit Michael Vaughan and current captain Alastair Cook during the event at the Kia Oval.

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The pair judged the final of the which they had helped launch for cricket charity Chance to Shine in early May.

Five other youngsters travelled to the event alongside Ruby, including fellow Halifax cricket fan Billy Marsh, also aged ten.

The competition was open to children aged seven to 14.

At the final, the budding commentators performed a live commentary of a pre-chosen England cricket clip in front of the judging panel.

Cook and Vaughan were impressed with the passion, creativity and humour of the youngsters.

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They commended all the finalists and, after much deliberation, were ultimately unable to choose between joint-winners Fred Teasdale, from London, and Ruby.

The victorious duo both commentated on Ben Stokes’ stunning catch at Trent Bridge off Stuart Broad’s bowling to dismiss Adam Voges at last year’s Ashes.

Ruby had Cook and Vaughan in stitches after describing Stokes as a ‘Venus fly trap’.

Vaughan said: “The children were enthusiastic, informative, got the moment, they produced some wonderful stats, a bit of humour – pretty much everything you need in a commentator.”

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Fred and Ruby have won an opportunity to join Vaughan and the BBC Test Match Special Team in the commentary box during an England Test match this summer and an all-star ‘Yorkshire Tea20’ cricket match in September.

Ling Bob Primary School student Ruby said: “It was a really fun day out of school.

“At first, I was nervous because I didn’t want to mess up, but I didn’t. I can’t wait to be part of the TMS and talkSPORT teams later this summer.”