Speldhurst Cricket Club

I was hoping that the Winter Ramblings would be able to bask in the reflected glory of an
epic victory in the Ashes. Unfortunately, by day two in Perth that was less likely than Donald
Trump writing a book on humility and social conscience. Some of the shots played by elite
batsmen would have merited an inquest by our JCS coaches if they had seen them up at the
Rec on a Saturday morning.

Feelgood factors in our national sports do make a difference to their popularity particularly
amongst young people where there are so many competing interests. I do hope the ECB
inquest into what went wrong is mindful of that.

Turning to more parochial matters the Senior Cricket section has been enjoying a period of
quiet reflection following a happy end to last season topped off by one of the more enjoyable
Annual Awards Dinners in recent times. There are stirrings afoot however, with the Saturday
league fixtures published and thoughts turning to winter nets and the new bits of equipment
that will make all the difference to performance during the coming season!

In contrast the Junior Cricket section never sleeps, and the autumn programme has now
segued into winter coaching and there is seemingly endless activity across the section as
evidenced by the note from Francis below.

The 2026 Junior Cricket season has started.

On 11 January nearly 60 young cricketers joined the first coaching sessions of the New Year in four groups covering Soft Ball, Under 11s, Under 13s and Under 15s.

The Under 12 and Under 14 Indoor League season continued after Christmas break.
In addition to the above, 10 Speldhurst young cricketers received coaching having been
selected to join the Kent Cricket Pathway. Three girls and seven boys will benefit from
additional coaching from highly qualified coaches appointed by Kent.

Looking forward to the Summer we have entered teams for the Invicta league:

At Under 15 level we have a Speldhurst team in the Tunbridge Wells Division. This is the
first time we have entered a team at this age group for a decade. At Under 13 level we have
an A team entered in the Championship Division, the first time we have played at this
standard. We also have a B team in Tunbridge Wells Division 2. This is the first time we
have entered two Under 13 teams. At Under 11 level we have a team in the Sevenoaks
Division, which we won last season.

We are continuing to grow the size of our coaching team by sending parents on ECB run
courses. We now have nearly 40 members in the coaching team.

It is a real tonic during the bleak midwinter to see the continued growth in the JCS and the
fruits of the quality coaching delivering recognition at regional and county level for our young
cricketers. I am looking forward to watching the year groups this coming season as they
progress through the club structure and those that have already made a mark in senior
cricket carry on with their development.

To those dad’s that used to ‘play a bit’ and always harboured an ambition to play alongside
the young cricketer in their family, you know you want to! If the new year resolution to get fit
didn’t have an obvious endgame how about that one?

For those that will be returning to the colours again in 2026 I hope you are well rested and
the love of cricket is rekindled. If your resolution can be to play an extra game or two this
season, it will make a big difference to the strength in depth of the club.

The Ramblings will return in the Spring ….

Regards
Mark, Chairman