Cup run comes to an end

Sunday saw our excellent run in the ECB Royal London Championship sadly come to an end at Northern Cricket Club, but it has been a great experience for the whole squad. While it was disappointing to go out at the quarter final stage, especially in a game that we knew we got ourselves into a decent position in, it has been a run which has very much whetted the appetite for us, and we now want to make a real good effort over the next few weeks to try to win the Nottinghamshire Premier League.

On Saturday, we took another big step towards that aim with a good win away at Welbeck.  It was another comprehensive performance which provides an indicator that we are building some momentum. Having been through a few title run-ins with my hockey teams, what is crucial at this stage is that we take each game as it comes and not look too far ahead. There is no doubt that this week’s opponents Radcliffe-on-Trent will be another difficult hurdle to overcome, as they proved when they beat us earlier in the season.

The key to our success so far this season has most definitely been our strength in depth, with 13 players competitively vying for a place in the starting 11 each week. It is never an easy thing keeping 13 good players happy, but so far our management team have done a fine job balancing selection and rewarding those who are performing well. It is very difficult to go and win competitions when you only have 9 or 10 decent players as it makes you vulnerable when people inevitably are unavailable at points during the season. So as we push hard across these final few weeks, it will be important that we continue to use that depth in the right way each week.

In the next week down at Kimberley we turn our attention to developing the next generation of 1^st XI cricketers as we run our Ashes Cricket Camp. It is all very well having a strong  1^st XI level, but if you then do not invest in developing your young players, it can mean that any success can be short lived. We must continue to strive to be at the forefront of youth development, and it is by organising camps like this, run by our young 1^st XI players, that the next generation can start to see what they need to be able to make it through. There are still some places left on the course so if you are interested visit our website for more details. I look forward to seeing a big crowd down at the 2bm Private Ground for this Saturday’s vital league match. Come on Kimberley!