It seems rather odd to be writing this at the beginning of April and we have already
concluded the first round of County Championship cricket. Despite the dry and sometimes
warm weather we have enjoyed in the last few weeks it still feels slightly premature!
Nevertheless, there are stirrings even in our small corner of the cricketing world and we are
turning our thoughts to the season ahead. The Senior Cricket section nets have commenced
although the build up of attendance has been leisurely thus far. The timing of Easter this
year has proved unhelpful, but I would urge everyone to try and make the most of the
opportunity to practice as the first matches have a habit of creeping up rather quickly.
I will shortly be posting the Development Plan review and update on Spond and hope that
you will take the time to read it and if you have any comments then please respond or
contact me directly at flemington@aol.com. As I mentioned previously, across the club as a
whole we made very good progress across both our near and longer-term goals.
Invariably as a sports club there is a primary focus on how we perform and within the Senior
Cricket section we didn’t succeed in our ambitions for last season. That said there was
plenty of encouragement to be had particularly from amongst our young cricketers and with
another year of experience and growth we look forward to seeing the older cohort making
contributions in senior cricket this season.
Ben Brandt and Chris Pannell continue as the captains of the two league teams and I hope
they will both find their roles slightly easier than the last campaign. It is down to all of the
senior cricketers to do their best to support the skippers both in terms of availability and on
the pitch when called upon.
The seamless transition from winter coaching to outdoor activities for the young cricketers is
upon us and it will be wonderful to see the skills learnt over the last six moths put into
practice out on the grass again.
Francis Booth, our Head of Junior Cricket has provided the following update and if you do
have the opportunity to see our young cricketers in action, I would highly recommend it.
There is some exceptional talent in the ranks.
“The Winter season is over (last coaching session on 30 March) but the Summer season has arrived (first coaching session 11 April).
The 12 months a year season for Junior Cricket now seems to be taken for granted but it wouldn’t be possible without a small group of parents.
The Senior Coaches group has 10 members, all of whom are parents, who set the tone for every coaching session and every match.
Coaching young cricketers from the age of 4 to 16 is incredibly satisfying as you see even very young cricketers learn cricket, and life, skills at an astonishing rate.
It is also very hard work to ensure the sessions are well planned and adequate support coaches are available to give proper encouragement and advice to players.
Our first Girls Cricket group started informally during the Winter but is now part of the Saturday morning timetable. We have 20 girls registered from Year 3 to Year 6. Across three Summer sessions, one indoors and two outdoors, 11 girls attended at least once even though the sessions took place during the school Easter holiday period.
If you haven’t done so before, please come along for a bacon roll and coffee or tea and admire both the skill of the players and the enthusiasm of the coaches leading the sessions. By mid-May when the All Stars Under 7 group starts you would be able to see the whole of the Rec being being enjoyed by close to 100 young cricketers playing a game they are learning to love – a truly wonderful sight to see”
Senior cricket returns, weather permitting on the 26th April so just a couple of weeks to find
your kit in the attic and at the very least do some meaningful stretching – many a hamstring
has been tweaked at the Rec in April! If you wish to leave it until the eleventh hour there is a
pavilion tidy on the morning of the 26th when energetic sweeping and cleaning will be
available!
Regards
Mark Flemington, Chair
Speldhurst Cricket Club 