Pangbourne & Whitchurch Juniors Cricket Club

This article first appeared in The Bulletin of Whitchurch on Thames, September 2013.  See www.whitchurchonthames.com.

We are a junior cricket club that have started in 2012, our aim was to get local children playing grass roots cricket in their area and to make sure we promote the longevity of two adult clubs that have been around for almost 150 years each. We wanted to run our junior section in a different way to other clubs and keep the numbers of players in our age groups down so we drive quality over quantity, to make sure everyone has the chance to play cricket whatever their age or ability and most importantly to have FUN!

How are we doing so far and does the strategy work? Well this year we have entered 4 teams in the Berkshire Youth Cricket League at Under 9, Under 11, under 13 and under 15 age groups and 1 team entered into the Oxfordshire Under 13’s league. All teams in the Berkshire Leagues have finished as division champions (Under 9’s Joint top) Which is a fantastic effort and something we are very proud of as a club. Our Under 13’s made it through to the Semi Final of the County Cup and our Under 15’s have just been crowned Berkshire County Champions in division 2 by winning the final against Wokingham on the 1st September.

We believe it’s about getting the players playing in cricket matches, this year we have played 53 games and this does not include our practice matches on a Saturday morning or extra tournaments we have entered.

We are not a club that focuses on winning cricket matches, we focus on having fun and working hard and as a by product of this we have been very successful. This is not just because we have good teams, it’s because we teach the players it is more than 11 individuals in a game of cricket, it’s about working together as a team as that’s what makes you successful at cricket and life.

We have also the distinction of being one of the highest qualified coach to player ratio clubs in Berkshire with current training session running to a 1 to 4/5 coach to player ratio, we feel as a club that if you want to develop all players we feel you need to be in groups that enable you to
develop everyone’s talent to the highest ability they can achieve.  If you would like more information on how to support us or how to join our family run cricket club please contact Jim Wheeler (Chairman) 07810880810 or Stephen Rushton (Vice Chairman) 07904029697 or
please visit our website on Play Cricket to see our values and approach.