THREE schoolchildren from Kent are among 19 of the UK's fastest young bowlers who have qualified for the NatWest Speed Challenge Final at Lord's on Saturday (12 July) and a day's coaching with an England cricketer.

Christopher Rainger, 17, from Edenbridge, Louis Conradie, 12, from Canterbury and Naomi Bygrave, 14, from Folkestone, will be competing for the title of the Fastest Young Bowlers in each of their age categories, and will be given a helping hand by England fast bowler Matthew Hoggard and England Women's captain Clare Connor.

Christopher, a pupil at Tonbridge Grammar School, and a martial arts enthusiast, is a member of Sevenoaks Vine Cricket Club, where he qualified with a bowling speed of 72.2mph.

Louis, a pupil of Barton Court Grammar School, Canterbury, and a member of St Lawrence and Highland Court Cricket Club, is also a player for Canterbury's junior sides, and also enjoys tennis and cooking, and qualified with a speed of 58mph.

Naomi has never actually played cricket, but enjoys tennis, judo and football. The Folkestone School for Girls pupils qualified during the South Africa v Zimbabwe NatWest Series match at Canterbury this summer with a speed of 49mph.

Now in its second year and with more than 5,000 children taking part this year, the NatWest Speed Challenge is a nationwide competition searching for the fastest young bowlers. The speed challenge has formed part of the NatWest Interactive Tour that has visited towns, cities, cricket clubs as well as selective matches in the NatWest Challenge and the NatWest Series between May and July this year.

At each venue they have had the opportunity to record the speed of their fastest delivery under the guidance of ECB coaches.

All the results have been displayed on www.natwest.com/cricket, enabling them to check their speed and position in the competition. The fastest four in each of the three age categories, Under 18, Under 15 and Under 12, boys and girls, qualified for the final.

Hoggard, England and Yorkshire fast bowler, will be joining the finalists on the Nursery ground at Lord's to offer them advice in their training on Friday afternoon and before the competition gets underway at 10am on Saturday.

The youngsters will have three chances to record their fastest delivery to claim the title in their age category. Hoggard and Connor will present the winners with their medal and a bat signed by all three teams competing in this year's NatWest Series.

Steve Day, Head of Brand Strategy, NatWest said, "Grassroots cricket is fundamental to the success and future of the sport and we are delighted that the NatWest Speed Challenge competition has been such a success, with over 8,000 kids taking part this year."

NatWest has invested more than £1/2 million over three years in a series of grassroots initiatives including the distribution of 800 artificial pitches and 10,000 skills balls to schools and clubs across the UK, and the new Inter Cricket programme.