YOUNG cricket fans and budding sports journalists could win a day out to remember – and some great material for their CV – in our Match Day Reporter competition.

We’ve teamed up with Somerset County Cricket Club to offer a prize package of:

  • A pass for the winner plus tickets for three others of their choosing to one of six Somerset home games in the NatWest T20 Blast competition.
  • Media centre access
  • Post-match interview with a player
  • Match report from the game to appear in the County Gazette and on-line at somersetcountygazette.co.uk and www.somersetcountycc.co.uk 

Anyone under the age of 19 who lives in the UK is welcome to enter.

All they need to do is write a 250-word preview of Somerset’s NatWest T20 Blast season, complete the entry form on this page, and send it to us by the closing date of April 24.

Representatives of the County Gazette and Somerset County Cricket Club will judge the entries to choose the six winners. Full terms and conditions are below.

Jez Curwin, head of commercial operations at Somerset County Cricket Club, said: “It's vital that we play a part in helping to produce the cricket journalists of the future and this is the perfect opportunity to do so.

“Some of the most respected cricket broadcasters have links to Somerset County Cricket Club so we are delighted to be working with the County Gazette in the search for the next Sir Ian Botham or Vic Marks.”

Alex Cameron, editor of the County Gazette, said: “This is a great chance for a budding writer to kickstart a career in journalism by showing what they can do. The prize offers the chance to meet a player and enjoy a match in what promises to be a great season.”

HOW TO ENTER

Write a preview of Somerset County Cricket Club’s NatWest T20 Blast season, as if for publication in the Somerset County Gazette, of no more than 250 words.

Include your name, date of birth, address, email address, and a contact phone number. Entries by under-18s must also include the full name and signature of their parent/guardian.

Entries can be sent to Match Day Reporter competition, Somerset County Gazette, St James Street, Taunton, TA1 1JR.

Terms and conditions - Special Rules

1. Entrants must live in the UK.

2. Prize does not include transport, parking or any accommodation.

3. The Prize Matches are the following Somerset County Cricket Club home games in the 2014 NatWest T20 Blast: 18 May v Surrey (2.30pm); May 23 v Kent; June 6 v Glamorgan; June 13 v Hampshire; June 27 v Essex, July 25 v Middlesex. Matches start at 5.30pm unless otherwise stated.

4. Matches will be allocated to the winners by the competition organisers at random – no alternatives will be offered.

5. Winners are recommended to attend an hour before the start of the match 6. If a Prize Match is not played for any reason, including bad weather, no alternative prize or cash alternative will be offered.

7. Normal Somerset County Cricket Club ground access restrictions apply – see www.somersetcountycc.co.uk for details.

8. Prize consists of a media pass to one match from those listed above as chosen by the competition organisers; three other tickets to the same match with allocated seating; access for the winner and, if they are under 16, one adult from their party to act as chaperone, to the media centre; an interview with a Somerset County Cricket Club player nominated by the Club after the match; the match report written by the winner will be published in the Somerset County Gazette and on-line at www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk and www.somersetcountycc.co.uk

9. Entry is open to people aged under 19 on May 1 but under-18s need parental consent to enter and we reserve the right to verify the eligibility and identity of any entrant, including by means of a passport.

10. Normal Newsquest competition rules apply – click on newsquest.co.uk/terms for details.