Great Eccleston's young batsman James Thistlethwaite has won the Moore and Smalley sponsored Palace Shield player of the month award for April/May.

The 17-year-old, from Poulton, scored 275 runs in the first six league games of the season to receive the award.

James is the latest generation of the Thistlethwaite family to play for Great Eccleston Cricket Club.

His great-grandfather played for the club, his brother Will currently plays in the first with him and their father, Ed, is one of the very few players to have scored 200 in a single innings in the Palace Shield's long league history.

Great Eccleston's club secretary, David Walker, said: "James won the award for his outstanding batting performances. Although a couple of players scored more runs up to the end of May, James was only 16 for the early part of the season so the panel decided that his record for someone so young deserved special recognition."

James received gift vouchers from David Walker, who is also a tax manager at Moore and Smalley Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors.