This has been a highly successful year with record numbers of players and coaches. We had two training nights rained off and a couple of bitterly cold sessions, but on other evenings we have had balmy, sunny weather.

We had 103 registrations and the highest turnout was on the 4th July when 87 players attended training. The average attendance for players was 62 and for coaches was 13 which enabled us to have a ratio of 4.77 players per coach. With ratios like this coaching is a pleasure rather than a chore. Our players have also benefited and we have had seven youngsters playing at county district level. The teams also performed very well as you will see from the following reports.

So thank you to all our coaches, to Annette Jordan our Club Welfare fficer and to Krisztina and Richard for running the bar on training and match nights. Testament to the success of the junior section is that on a Saturday as many as twenty two players have come through the system.

Our 2011 coaches were:

Under 9s – Barry Jordan (Coaching Manager and Match Manager) , John Callcut, Simon Havard and Stephen Kehl.

Under 11s – Paul Griffiths (Coaching Manager), Mike Quigley (Match MAnager u10s)

Under 13s – Dev Patel (Coaching and Match Manager u13s), John Callcut (Match Manager u12s), Craig Jones, Charlie Major and Ben Crook.

Under 15s – Richard Callcut (Coaching and Match Manager) and Ross Hamilton

Additional coaching support was provided by Andrew Major, Andy Meads, JAck Bowley, Hiten Patel, Matt Clarke, Paul Bettesworth, Chris Ball and Nigel Spreadbury.

Schools Cricket

Once again I ran courses during the spring and summer terms at Newdigate Infants School and the Weald Primary School. I was indebted to Gary Edwards and Dave Venn from Capel CC who assisted every week at the Weald. The course for Newdigate was hampered by rain and we lost two sessions out of six. Following an initiative from Mole Valley District Council, Paul Griffiths and myself completed an eight week course for Y5 & Y6 girls at St. PAul’s, The Weald, St. Martin’s, St. John’s and North Downs Primary Schools. Over 80 girls attended. This was followed by a three week course at Newdigate which was attended by up to 20 girls. The keen girls then joined the club and came to Monday night sessions. Nigel Spreadbury joined the team and assisted at these sessions. As a result of this training the girls participated in the Surrey Youth Games at the Sports Park in Guildford. Representing Mole Valley they won an exciting final and became the only Mole Valley team at any sport to win gold. We then entered the Surrey u11 Girls Club Festival as Newdigate. They came 5th out of 9 at Epsom CC but at the second tournament at Horsley & Send CC we entered two teams. Our A team won all their matches and then beat the previous winners, Spencer CC, in an exciting final to become champions. In May we hosted the Dorking and District Schools Kwik Cricket competition and it was great to see over 120 boys and girls playing in four concurrent matches all over the Brocus.

(The victorious u11 Newdigate girls team)

County Cricket

Eight boys were selected for the Russell Haigh Bursary and attended a six weeks course at the Surrey Cricket Centre at the beginning of the year. Surrey is determined that no boyor girl should escape the system and as a result we are invited to put forward good cricketers, who are not in the current County set-up, up for assessment . This year we have nominated six players at various age levels – so good luck to them.

As part of our contract as a Focus club we have to make our ground available for at least four County events. This year we hosted a day long u10 and u11 training session and two u10 County matches in which Surrey played Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. The third match against Sussex was rained off. It was good to see so many spectators lining the pitch and receive nice comments about our ground, facilities and hospitality.

(Surrey vs Hertfordshire u 10)

We get regular invites from the County to attend various events and Ross Hamilton and myself went to a fascinating training session at the Surrey Cricket Centre where we witnessed the elite 14-17 year old players going through their paces. Dev Patel and myself also attended a bowling seminar at Reigate Priory. Andrew Major, myself, Paul and Sarah Griffiths and Ian and Stephen Kehl attended the OSCAs ceremony at the Oval. Stephen had been nominated as Young Volunteer of the Year but was not successful this year.

Craig Jones, Stephen Kehl and Annette and Barry Jordan will be attending UKCC1 courses this winter and I would urge all coaches to update their qualifications and stay up to date with modern training techniques.

We entered teams in the East Surrey Colts League at under 9, 10, 12, 12 and 15 levels and an under 17 team in the Dennis Jacobs Surrey Cup. Here is a round-up pf their progress during the season.

Under 9s – 9th

Newdigate u9s season started with a squad of twenty players, sixteen of whom had never played cricket. From the start they all showed willingness and commitment to learn. Out of the ten games played they lost eight, won one and drew one. Apart from one game against Merstham, who won the league having four Surrey players on their side, we only lost by 8-10 runs in each game. They showed improvement in every game. To their credit, they played in the true spirit of the game even when they lost. The support and encouragement of the parents every week helped to make all the hard work worthwhile and ”’i am very grateful for their enthusiam. Next season I am sure we will improve, although we lose a number of players who move up. The future of Newdigate looks good seeing the potential of all these young players. Finally, I would like to thank all the people who have helped make this season so enjoyable, without their help and support the youngsters would not have had this opportunity. I look forward to next season with great optimism.

Barry Jordan

(Under 9s)

Under 10s – 2nd

Our effervescen u10 colts squad for 2011 had a very successful year on the cricket pitch. As a large group of 17 boys, training and matches were always interesting and enthusiastically approached which resulted in several notable team achievements mixed in amongst many individual highs. We led our subdivision of the ESCL u10 table at the conclusion of the season but were relegated to second place due only to a single loss away to Horley CC in early June. Hewever, we formally secured overall third position in the ESCL u10 competition after comfortably accounting for Lingfield in the 3rd place play-off. Additionally we made the semi-finals of the Cup competition only to agonisingly fail by one run (again to Horley) at home.

The critical move to hard ball cricket and the accompanying adjustment for protective equipment ws clearly successful and all players negotiated that significant step well. Often at this level of colts cricket the art of batting is often the part of the game which seems to progress more rapidly. We saw this in several opponents’ line-ups during the year boasting strong batsmen, and whilst Newdigate’s batting was on the whole very good, it was the depth of our bowling ability backed up by excellent fielding which made us difficult to beat. Pleasingly also a ‘never say die’ attitude seems to have taken root amongst this group of young cricketers boding well for the future. Newdomers to colts cricket. Henry Lucas and Lucas Woolley stood out particularly with their wonderful fast medium bowling this season and several times were largely responsible for extracting wins. Morgan Hamilton and Jack Duncan continued their skilled progression with both bat and ball whilst other consistently good all round performers were Joshua Loach, Sam Perrin and Oliver Quigley, the latter duo forming an excellent opening pairing. Add in the impressive seasons from rookies, Arjun Bahra, Josh Oram (both hat-trick heroes), Joseph Haynes, Adam Moon and Luke Shopland alongside the experience of George Wood (now a wicketkeeper) and William Goudie from their previous seasons and one quickly understands how difficult a task it became to leave out players come Saturday morning. Later additions Rory Kinlock and Adam Bower added wonderful enthusiasm and talent to the squad. The role of captain throughout the year was shared around although Jack Duncan revelled in the role whenever he was asked. Additionally we were often blessed with good weather for most training and match days making enjoyment rather easy to those watching. The experienced guidance of our cricket coach, Paul Griffiths whom I know thoroughly enjoyed the season further improved our training with these colts in his constant quest to introduce new skills and making the young players think about their overall game. I can happily report also that apart from those two losses this season we defeated Capel twice and Tadworth in other friendlies arranged and I believe a winning mentality conducted in the finest Newdigate fair play traditions is now the club’s reward. In short a wonderful fun group of young cricketers who will I’m sure progress furthr in their upcoming u11 season.

Mike Quigley

(Under 10s)

Under 12s – 1st

This talented team had a tremendous year under the mature captaincy of the enthusiastic George Warne. They only lost one league game and that was to Lingfield on a cold and damp evening and thoroughly desrved to become champions. They also stormed to the cup final and played their old rivals Southern Rail & Kenley at the Croygas Ground at Wallington. Although they had comfortably beaten them in the league, they were out performed by a very disciplined Kenley team, and simply conceded far too many extras. They played as a team throughout, all supporting each other, but special mention must be made of Finn Osborne and George Warne who came first and second in the overall league averages and the all-round batting and bowling skills of the improving Oliver Turner and Joe Teague. I was particularly impressed with the desire to improve from so many players and it was not unusual to see Jacob Moon, Jack Butler, Tom Quigley and the Finn twins working at their game in the nets and James Bennett, Frankie Shipton and Oakley Wheeler all came for extra training during the summer holidays. As champions the side represented the East Surrey Colts League in the county finals at Sunbury Cricket Club at the end of August. First they had to play against a powerful Wimbledon side and could have had them struggling early on but in the end they were soundly beaten. They then lost to Leatherhead in much closer encounter and Sutton went on to be champions. I was very proud to see Newdigate competing against the best junior teams in the county.

John Callcut

(Under 12s)

Under 13s – 3rd

Normally I have difficulty remembering where to start for my end of season report for the u13 age group after a long season. But this year I have no such difficulties. Considering we only had seven u13s registered I had to make up the rest of the side using u12s, as a result I was not sure just how the season would pan out. But I am pleased to say that we held our own. Not bad considering we played at least five u12s throughout the season. What was refreshing to see, and I expect nothing less, was the boy’s enthusiasm and team ethics to play for each other even in a lost cause. I remember playing our first match at Merstham which was very cold and I could not wait for the match to finish but all of you die-hards braved the weather elements and carried on s if it was the middle of summer. In that match we got beaten very badly and I thought we would be lucky to win any matches this year. But credit goes to all of you who raised your games for the remaining matches in what was to become a very good season for us. We ended up in third place just one point behind the joint leaders Merstham and Caterham. I don’t like to mention names but I think on this occasion they deserve a mention due to their commitment and hardwork throughout the season. So let me start with Oli Turner. After the first match when he got smashed out of the ground, he impressed me with his work ethic and dedication in the nets that resulted in him being called up for the adults side late in the season. Secondly I would like to thank George Warne for making my coaching job such a joy from the way he smiles as well s his willingness to learn and his infectious enthusiasm for the love of not only cricket but othr sports in general. On one occasion I could sense that he was upset at being given out wrongly (LBW) but he did not complain. That takes some doing when you consider that adults are always complaining that they were wrongly given out. Thirdly, I would like to mention the commitment and dedication that Andrew Kehl brings to the u13 team. My captain for the past two years, Andrew epitomises the ethos of the club. He prefers to play for his club side in preference to the county district side where he would otherwise be playing a higher standard of cricket. Fourthly, I would like to mention Archie Ramsey. Archie as I am sure he would agree is not blessed with the same cricketing attributes as his brothr Harry. But what sets Archie apart from the others is his perseverance and tenacity to overcome obstacles placed in front of him and I am sure this strength will hold him in good stead for the future. Well done Archie. Fifth person I would like to mention is Finn Osborne. Finn in my view is a perfectionist. He is not satisfied with just learning the game of cricket. He wants to fine tune the skills to the best of his ability and is not satisfied until he does. As for Charlie Wyllie Well I think all the coaches and adults in the club know his character. His tenacity to chase lost causes in the field is legendary. As for Frankie Shipton? The boy cannot get enough cricket. He needs to watch out that he does not forget to cover himself up on hot days at the expense of his unquenching enthusiasm for the game. Some of the others I would like to mention who I think deserve praise are OAkley Wheeler, Toby Perrin and Tobias Barnett who have improved their cricket immensely this season. And finally well done to everybody and look forward to seeing you all next season and in the winter nets in February.

Dev Patel

(Under 13s)

Under 15 – 4th

We lost in the first round of the cup and lost early matches mainly due a number of players being unable, therefore 2011 was something of an up & down season after last year’s strong league tilt. A number of our more powerful players moved up to adult cricket and those filling the one to four batting births and opening bowling positions needed to ‘step up to the plate’. This the boys did with mixed results but always with enthusiasm, good team spirit, fun and no little skill. Individually, the pick of the batting came from Tom Ball, a quiet but dedicated player (who also successfully represented the Club 1st XI first wicket down) albeit our captain Jack Wyllie performed consistently if not prolifically, Harry Ramsey attacked the bowling to good effect & Cameron Osborne had his moments.

While Harry & Tom also bowled consistently for us our ‘most improved bowler’ was Alex Miller who proved very difficult to ‘get away’ and picked up regular wickets for his efforts.

We fielded well if not spectacularly – a special mention to Dan Goddard, whom when advised that his chances would be limited fought on with steely courage.

Ross Hamilton

Under 17

This team played in the Dennis Jacobs Surrey Cup and had remarkable wins against Epsom and Lingfield before losing to a powerful Reigate Priory team in the semi-final. In this game they fielded and bowled magnificently and restricted Priory to a below par 97. In reply wickets kept falling at the wrong time, but with four overs left the target was obtainable by scoring a run a ball. The former Capel player, Luke Drage, bowled beautifully and took five wickets leaving Newdigate 16 runs short. This team did the club proud.

(Under 17s)

Surrey Trust Development League.

The season of 2011 was a bit of a disappointment given the fact the previous two seasons we competed very hard and finished in the top half of the league. But 2011 we managed to win only 1 game against Lingfield and were outplayed by a few other stronger oppositions in the rest of the matches. Still the 6 matches played gave the skipper an opportunity to give plenty of youngsters a game or two to showcase their talents. Even though we lost 5 matches that we played the team still kept the morale high and turned up with the hunger to learn a thing or two from the stronger oppositions that they played against.

On the batting front young Thomas Ball finished the season with 196 runs including 2 fifties and an average of nearly 39. His innings of 56* when he carried his bat against Leatherhead will always be remembered by him and his team mates for the class he showed against a very strong bowling attack. For the bowlers Stephen Kehl and Jack Bowley bowled their heart out in all the matches even though the stats do not back their efforts.

Many thanks to all the parents who helped out with the transport and turning up to watch the young lads perform and improve their talents. We are looking forward to a much better and improved season in 2012 and with the new leadership of Stephen Kehl the guys are all ready to put the disappointing season of 2011 behind them and move on to a successful campaign.

The season ended on a high when our u12s were invited to be guard of honour at the 20/20 England vs. West Indies match at the Oval on the 25th September. On the same day, on the Brocus, the juniors played against the coaches and chased down a total of 249 with three overs to spare. Jack Wyllie, Alex Southon, Thomas Ball and the Kehl brothers all starring with the bat.

(Newdigate Juniors at the Oval)

John Callcut – Junior Co-Ordinator.