SOPHIE Luff has captained one of the side’s competing in the Under 19 Women’s ARCH Trophy tournament to victory.

The 19-year-old from Lympsham jetted off to Abu Dhabi and Dubai last week to lead the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) side through three group stages against Durham, Devon and Essex before beating Sussex by 18 runs in the final.

Top-order batter Luff was not required to bat in the first match but hit 10 against Devon and then starred in the win against Essex hitting an unbeaten 42 as the team posted a mammoth 248-1 from their 40 overs.

In the final, which was played at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Luff hit 19 out of the MCC’s total of 150-6 and the team managed to restrict Sussex to 132 all to spark off the celebrations.

She said the highlight of the week-long trip was lifting the trophy at the end.

She added: “It was a great experience, it was challenging at time but we had a good team.

“We dominated the group stages but the final was a lot tougher and showed given how close the scores were.”

The eight-day tournament saw teams from Devon, Durham, Essex, Lancashire, Scotland, Sussex and Wales.

Luff is no stranger to the international cricketing circuit after representing England Women Under 19s in their two Twenty20 matches against Pakistan last season.

She now hopes to be picked for the England Academy squad who will set off on a two-week tour of Sri Lanka on Saturday.

Keep following her progress in the Weekly News.