County Week 2023 

LTA's Summer County Cup event – commonly known as ‘County Week’ – is possibly the oldest tennis event on the domestic calendar, dating back as far as 1895. 

44 counties across the nation are divided into groups based on their results of the previous year’s event with Group 1 being the ‘premier league’. Teams compete against each other over a week to see which team comes out as champions.  How did our Cheshire teams do?

Ladies - Group 2 (Nottingham) 

Team: Vicky McNeight (Capt), Jemma Cave, Rhona Cook, Aimee Kaye, Phoebe Mitchell, Ashira Murray, Abi Redman, Katie Thornewill, & Elena Asgill-Whalley 

A team that was missing some of the players who had played in recent years, was not helped by the loss of Phoebe Mitchell to injury on the second day.  Despite this setback the team produced some fighting performances culminating in a remarkable comeback in a relegation battle with Norfolk on the last day. The loss of the first 3 rubbers gave the team a mountain to climb, however they pulled it back to 4 - 2 before the final round of matches. The players rose to the challenge of needing to win the 3 matches. All went to final set tie breaks with each pair winning by the smallest of margins.  A remarkable comeback ensuring they remain in Group 2 next year. 

Results: 

Day 1: v Avon Won 5 - 4 

Day 2: v Kent Lost 6 - 3 

Day 3: v Middlesex Lost 6 - 3 

Day 4: v Yorkshire Lost 6 - 3 

Day 5: v Norfolk Won 5 - 4 

Men - Group 4 (Ilkley) 

Team: Matt Chadwick (Capt), Llewellyn Bevan, Lewis Denton, Matt Earnshaw, Alex Grocott, Oli Hague, Adam Jones, Alfie King, Pedro Ocana 

A squad which included two junior players making their debut proved to be a very successful mix  of youth and experience in what turned out to be an unforgettable few days. Defeating a strong Hampshire team on the first day proved to be a big confidence boost for the team and especially for Oli Hague and Alfie King who won all 3 rubbers including saving match points in one match which proved decisive.  Two further good wins meant the team were on 3 wins out of 3 and therefore needed just one more win to secure promotion. Local NW rivals Lancashire were next opponents who were also undefeated. No surprise this proved to be a hard fought very close matches and the outcome of the match eventually came down to the two undefeated pairs in each team (with 11 wins out of 11) playing each other. The unbeaten Cheshire pair of Oli Hague & Alfie King had surprised everyone with some outstanding performances found themselves a set & 4 - 2 down but somehow managed to break back and then take the second set. The outcome of the match came down to a final set tie breaker and despite finding themselves 6 -3 down managed to turn it round and take it 10 - 7!

So a memorable win and Cheshire assured of promotion.

The final day saw the team finish with another win guaranteeing they were promoted as Champions; however, the highlight of the day was Oli & Alfie managing to win all three matches yet again to become members of the LTA’s 15 out of 15 Club. An amazing achievement acknowledged by all players from the other teams who stopped playing when it happened and gave the boys a round of applause. They certainly made history, as LTA records going back over a hundred years show only one Cheshire doubles pair have ever managed to win 15 out of 15 matches at County Week and no junior pair has ever achieved this either in Cheshire or any other county. 

Day 1: v Hampshire Won 5 - 4 

Day 2: v Durham & Cleveland Won 6 - 3 

Day 3: v Dorset Won 9 - 0 

Day 4: Lancashire Won 5 - 4 

Day 5: Lincolnshire Won 7 - 2 

Promoted to Group 3 as Champions