Finding the Best Cricket Club

Finding the right cricket club is an important step for any young player. Clubs vary enormously in size, facilities, traditions and atmosphere, so personal choice is important.

The best clubs also have a development system that promotes cricketing skills and most importantly, cricketing confidence. These have several ingredients.

The Cricket Ground

Good playing surfaces are a must for building confidence. This includes the wickets and outfields used for matches and for practice.

Good practice facilities are also vital. Look for a club with access to good standard cricket nets, either at its own ground or nearby.

The outfield can be used for fielding practice or junior training routines, but regular net practice is essential for all players to develop their skills. This is the place that players can benefit most from coaching and learn from their mistakes. Match practice is good, but net practice makes perfect.

Cricket Development

The best clubs have a cricket development system, involving a fully qualified coach or coaches. In the UK, these qualifications range from Coaching Assistant, through Cricket Coach, Head Coach and Master Coach. Club cricket usually features the first two of these. Net practice must be supervised by a Cricket Coach or a more senior grade, so check this out while you’re choosing a club.

The health and safety culture at a cricket club is vital. Coaching qualifications include training in First Aid and child protection. Any club with a junior section should also have a child welfare officer.

Child protection identifies risks to young people and vulnerable adults, and ensures that they are safe in any environment, including cricket. So, make sure that the club you choose has these issues covered.

The Chance to Play

The opportunity to play in matches is also vital. Some juniors will enjoy training for its own sake, but most will want to put what they’ve learned into practice. However, though a club may field teams on Saturdays, Sundays and midweek, these can be dominated by adults.

So, a good junior programme is also essential, to cover a wide range of age groups. Regular league matches or friendly fixtures are the key; cup games are fun, but there are no more games if your side gets knocked out.

The clubs with the best facilities are also likely to be the strongest teams in the area, with high quality players at all levels. In these cases, be aware that there can be strong competition for team places.

This is especially important especially if juniors are keen to play in as many matches as possible. So, ask the captain or coach exactly what opportunities there are for playing in a team.

The X Factor

Of course, once you’ve considered all of these issues and asked all the right questions, there’s also the “X factor”. Will you and your junior cricketer enjoy being part of the club? Many cricket grounds are beautiful, all have their own character, but does it feel right for you? The only way to find out is to spend some time there before you decide.

Finding a Club

If you don’t know where to find a good cricket club, there are lots of online resources to help you. Some national associations provide a searchable database, for example the ECB Play-Cricket network will help you find a club in the UK. Cricket Australia's Club Finder tool gives listings of cricket clubs in Australia, and Wisden Cricinfo provides a listing of cricket leagues and associations in the USA.

Alternatively, the sports pages of your local newspaper are often a goldmine of information about local cricket. Many papers provide a full results service for the local cricket matches that were played the previous weekend, and will give you a feel for which clubs are in your area.

An unusual option is to try Advanced Network Training Services, who provide lots of useful cricket info, including worldwide listings of national associations and clubs. If you can’t find a local cricket club, take advice from the national association on where to look next.

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