May’s Cricket News
It has been a very exciting start to the cricket season for AJ Coaching Cricket Academy with the news that we were accepted to play in the North East and Central Surrey Cricket Colts league (NEC) this summer. The Academy has initially featured three teams from under 8, under 9 and under 11 age groups with our first match commencing with the Under 11s on the 7th May against the Old Whitgiftians. Since then we have entered every game and have had some impressive results.
Below you will see a summary of all the results.
May Highlights
AJ Coaching Cricket Academy teams were scheduled to play 12 games in May and we completed ten full games. All three teams have now played at least two games.
Our U11s have had a particularly busy month. They have played two league games and two – cup games. They lost their first league game against Old Whiftgiftians but did very well to beat Roehampton cricket club in the first round of NEC knock out cup competition few weeks ago. They tasted defeat in the next round but this time they came against a very strong Spencer team. The boys are making great strides forward and I am very pleased to see them grow as a team. However they have finished the month on a high by winning their first league game against Oxted on the 28th May at King George Playing Fields in Morden, which is their home ground. Well done the U11s. Skipper Gabriel Harrington Myers, Sam Gale and Harry Overend have been the top performers for the U11 team this month.
U9s started their league season with a great win against Wimbledon on 8th May at Wimbledon Club. It was a fantastic team performance in which everyone played their part. They took 12 wickets and lost only 1 wicket when they batted. They also took 6 catches in this game!
In their second league game this month they lost to Spencer who are the reigning champions by 15 runs. This has been a very strong start to the season from the U9s who have plenty of strength and depth in the squad. Luca Hammond and Jack Harris batted very well against a very strong Spencer side in the second game.
U9s have also played in two friendly games against Bank of England and are unbeaten. Johnny Fleming and Lucas Luckin have performed very well in these matches.
U8s have been training very well and have now also played 2 friendly fixtures against Old Ruts and Wimbledon; they are playing their first league game of the season on Saturday 3rd of June against Alleyn at Burbage road in Dulwich. Good luck to the boys!
We want children at the Academy to have the opportunity to receive quality cricket coaching and play league cricket so that they can progress further and have a sense of belonging within a club. I am very grateful for the help that I have received from both my coaches and a group of volunteers who have come together to make this happen.
My motivation has been to see each player have a successful season. It’s not all about performance but it’s also about creating individuals who take ownership of their own learning. This is why we introduced the achievement cards that allow the boys to see how they are progressing. Please may I remind you that the boys need to bring these to EVERY session. All the hard work the boys have put in at the mid-week training sessions and on the Saturday is really beginning to show in the games. I would really like to congratulate the boys for their spirit and determination both on and off the cricket pitch.
2017 is an exciting time for junior cricket and the opportunity to play at club level can only continue to grow the game within the borough and ultimately enable young people to play for their county or, who knows, even their country.
I’ll end May’s news with a quote from one of my greatest heroes, Sachin Tendulkar. He said: ‘”Enjoy the game and chase your dreams! Dreams do come true!”
Gentle Reminders:
Simon Jones is visiting us on the 1st July. Please send your questions to me by the 7th June.
Midweek training commences on 5th of June.