This year we had 88 registrations which was slightly down on last season. We had seventeen training sessions from the 20th April till the 16th August and the weather was kind as we did not lose a single evening due to rain. We were well supported by our coaches and had an average ratio of under 5 juniors per coach which is well within the Focus Club requirements. Nearly a third of the players are from the village.

(Opening Training Session – 20th April 2010)

We conducted ‘introduction to cricket courses’ during the summer term at Newdigate Infants School, the Weald Junior School and St. John’s Community School in Dorking. It has been gratifying to see that quite a number of our new intake of under 9s had attended the course at Newdigate school.

In August a number of boys attended the ‘hallowed turf’ courses at the Oval and on a wet evening Richard Hall came down from Surrey and gave a fascinating session on seam bowling and spin bowling. We provided the ‘models’ and coaches from all over the county attended.

(Richard Hall going through the finer points of seam bowling)

As part of our contract as a Focus Club we have to make our ground available to Surrey on three occasions. This year we hosted two under 10 training sessions and the Surrey vs. Buckinghamshire under 10s county match. There were good crowds attending so it was quite a showcase for the club.

The proposed trip to the Oval to see Surrey vs. Worcester on the 1st September did not go ahead due to lack of support and we were disappointed that the Centurion Cricket Academy from Mumbai was unable to come due to the unfortunate accident of their organiser, Mahesh Hatkar. Thankfully he is now well and hopefully we will see them next year.

Congratulations to all those players who represented Surrey District at various age groups and to Harry Ramsey who played two matches for Surrey under 15s. This September the club has recommended 12 players to Surrey for assessment.

We entered one under 9 side and two under 11 sides in the Capel 6-a-Side tournament. Although we didn’t pick up any prizes (one of the under 11 teams came very close) it was a great day and brilliantly organised by Capel CC.

(Capel 6-a-Side Competition for under 9s and 11s)

This year we entered teams in the East Surrey Colts League at under 9, 11, 12, 13 and 15 levels and again we entered the Surrey Trust Development League in which six players have to be under 18 with four under 16. Paul Griffiths umpired all these matches for which we were very grateful and Ruky Wickremesinghe captained and organised the teams. We also entered an under 17 team in the Dennis Jacobs Cup. Although we lost in the first round we had a terrific match against Reigate Priory when skipper, Matt Clarke nearly caused an upset with some spectacular stroke-play.

(Under 17s team in the Dennis Jacobs Cup)

Under 9s

Last year this team did not win a single game but this year we saw an enormous improvement in their all round skills. Throughout the summer training sessions they were all very attentive as they learnt the basic skills of batting, bowling and fielding in a course structured to ensure that the skills were absorbed in an enjoyable way. The side had good wins over Woodmansterne and Lingfield and ended up joint 6th out of 9 teams. The Duncan boys even made the headlines in the paper!

(Under 9s at Reigate Priory)

Under 11s

Match Manager, Mike Quigley was delighted with his teams performance in 2010. In the league they came 6th out of 12 teams and won 6 matches and tied an exciting game against Merstham. They reached the cup final but lost to Southern Rail and Kenley with a weakened side. Nevertheless they battled hard and do not look too disappointed in this picture.

(Under 11s after losing to Southern Rail & Kenley in the Cup Final)

Under 12s

We recognised that as this was such a big group a lot of boys would not be getting many matches so we entered an under 12 team knowing that it would be boosted by under 11 players. Andrew Major managed the side and it was a credit to everyone’s enthusiasm that the side finished 10th out of 15 sides and as it was so tight in the middle another win would have put them up several places.

(Under 12s with their coach, Andrew Major)

Under 13s

At the beginning of the season Dev Patel was worried that this side would struggle to compete at this level. In the event they ended up in joint 6th place along with Merstham and Lingfield. He was pleased to report that a number of players had shown enormous improvement and their commitment to the team was excellent.

Under 15s

We expected great things from this team and it was really a case of so near yet so far. The season got off to a bad start when they lost their first match and were knocked out of the cup. Then came a run of seven consecutive wins which saw them playing Woodmansterne for the title. After a desperately exciting match we were just pipped in the dying moments of the game and then to add salt in to the wound Southern Rail and Kenley crept into second place on run rate. None of this can take away the fact that this team played some great cricket and it is really good to see that a number of players from this team have moved up to senior cricket and successfully scored runs and taken wickets.

(Under 15s with their match manager, Richard Callcut)

Surrey Trust Development League

Once again Ruky Wickremesinghe’s side did the club proud. Every team plays in the Surrey Championship so we are pitched against some of the best teams in the county, but we managed to come 5th out of eight teams on 16 points. Alleyn & Honor Oak came 2nd on just 18 points so if we had won at Chessington, and possibly Addiscombe we could have come second to a very powerful Ashtead team. The whole team can be very proud of their achievements at this level.

It would have been impossible to have conducted such a comprehensive programme without the dedication of our band of coaches. So I would like to mention them all – Dev Patel, Andrew Major, Paul Bettesworth, Craig Jones, Chris Ball, Mike Quigley, Andy Meads, Ruky Wickremesinghe, Richard Callcut, Barry Jordan, Paul Griffiths, Charlie Major, Hiten Patel, Ross Hamilton, Roger Bailey, Simon Harvard and Jon Pritchard…. and of course our Club Welfare Officer, Annette Jordan who ensures that our CRBs are up to date and that we all attend the necessary courses.

John Callcut – September 2010