We were blessed with good weather and out of sixteen training sessions on Friday evenings only two were cancelled due to inclement weather. All seven girls training evenings on Thursdays were unaffected.

16 girls registered for Surrey Youth Games Training. 81 juniors registered for Friday evening training but our average attendance was 45. As expected towards the end of the season numbers fell off dramatically and during high season numbers often exceeded 60. But this does reveal a trend that regular attendance is no longer the norm and this makes session planning difficult.

Our average attendance for coaches was 10 which meant an average player/coach ratio of 5.7, well within ECB requirements. Congratulations to Andrew Mayne, Simon Wells and Will Letts who all took and passed their UKCC2 level coaching course. In a weekend in Spring 2019 three parents will be going on the Coach Support Workers Course. This is designed for players and parents who wish to take a more active part in helping the coaches on Friday evenings.

During the season we played matches in the East Surrey Colts League at u9, 11, 12 & 13 levels. The girls played in the u11 ‘Smash-It’ league and represented Mole Valley in the Surrey Youth Games. Coaches reports for each team follows.

All Stars

Newdigate proudly stepped up to deliver the All Stars Training programme again this season, in conjunction with the ECB online registration system. We had a great response, with a total of 26 participants signing up, aged between 5 and 7 years. We encourage 8 year olds to join in with the next age group, where they able to take part in competitive matches against other clubs. Some of our youngsters who were All Stars last season have already now followed this pathway.
I would like to thank my assistant Activators Monjur and Annette in particular, without whom we wouldn’t be able to deliver the sessions throughout the summer. With some favourable weather we were able to deliver 12 full sessions on Friday evenings, running with ‘taster’ sessions before the official series began, and extending well beyond. We had great fun with many parents getting involved. I am very grateful for those who took part, including Mick Delaford, Mark De Vrij and Phil Letts to name but a few.
Our youngsters sprinted across the Brocus each week with their All Stars shirt and kit bags, ready to learn new games encouraging hand to eye coordination, and be introduced to some basic skills with bat and ball. Many of the regular games became firm favourites. The ethos of All Stars is to get youngsters enjoying themselves with fun games and team activities which will hopefully encourage them to continue with cricket as a sporting activity they can develop. Our aim is to help them enjoy the experience.
I know that the ECB will be asking to receive feedback from parents about the scheme, and would also be keen for any suggestions you are be prepared to share with us in addition.

Roger Bailey
All Stars Activator

Under 9s

Division 1 – Played 7, Won 1, Lost 6. Position 8th

This was a very young and inexperienced group. The main aim of the coaches was to get them used to playing matches and to understand the game. The attendance and enthusiasm at training throughout the season was excellent. We saw steady improvement throughout the group culminating in our first win against Oxted & Limpsfield. The outstanding moment was Freddie McLoughlin taking a hat-trick against Reigate Priory – all clean bowled.

John Callcut, Barry Jordan & Matt Dedes.

Under 11s

Division 2 – Played 6, Won 5, Lost 1. Position 1st

The first match of the season was against Merstham and ended in a stirling victory. A bit touch and go at one stage but some great bowling and fielding helped ensure that the advantage was wrestled back to us and we ended with a comfortable win. Everyone played an important role so well done and thank you George for stepping in to make up numbers. A vital cog in the winning formulae as always.

South Nutfield was a convincing victory with the U11 scoring just under three hundred and restricting South Nutfiled to just over 240. Great bowling all round supported by an excellent fielding display.

Having been given a bye in the first round of the cup, we came up against Chipstead in the league and despite restricting them to a reasonable total (279) our batting never really got going meaning the final pair needed 64 off the last four overs. Sadly, they could only manage 53 and so we lost by a small margin.

The quarterfinal of the cup was a rescheduled match against Reigate Priory (a Division 1 side!). Having been put into bat, we made 295 with every pair contributing a positive score. The match was very evenly balance until the last pair came to the crease. Some excellent death bowling by Leo, Rufus, Tom and George meant they only made 20 of the thirty required but lost 5 wickets in the process taking their total back down to 251. A comfortable win in the end.

Playing Caterham away on the day England played their first match in the world cup was always going to be a tough call but the stalwarts stood up to be counted and gave Caterham a sound thrashing. Some good batting gave us a reasonable total which was very well defended with some amazing fielding that left their first pair reeling, having been run out 4 times and out twice more. Well done to Henry Porter for joining us and putting in a player of the match performance. England having heard how the U11s had just triumphed, nodded the ball into the net in the final minutes to sneak a victory as well.

The cup semi-final against Lingfield was re-arranged for a Friday night at home, ensuring that the team had a grandstand type audience. Despite setting a reasonable total, a well drilled and proficient batting side chased down the runs and were careful not to give away wickets at the end, meaning they progressed through to the final.

A couple of weeks without a match did not prevent the U11s from putting on a fine performance against Wallington. Having managed to get a team of 12 together for a 24 over a side match, Newdigate batted strongly throughout their innings with George standing out with 50 runs from his four overs. Leo was only able to watch from the bowler’s end as George made short work of anything delivered at him. A strong bowling and fielding performance meant that Wallington were never really in contention and ended up 60 runs short.

Going into the last match needing only one point to win the league, did not stop the team from putting on a strong performance against Salfords. Yet again every pair performed well and added a positive score during their 4 overs. With Rufus and Tom adding 53 in the final four overs. A good total of 310 was going to be a tough target. Salfords tried hard but some fantastic fielding (5 run outs and two diving catches by Tom, one being onehanded off his own bowling) combined with strong bowling (three wickets bowled) meant that the team won league outright with yet another convincing victory.

The team played extremely well throughout the season as a joint U10 and U11 side with the honours of player of the match going to a different person virtually every game. Wickets were shared out amongst the bowlers and runs constantly flowed from the bats of Tom, George, Henry, Rufus and Tommy. Many of the boys played for the U12 or U13 throughout the season and did not look out of place, often finding themselves amongst the top scorers or leading wicket takers in a game. A great performance from a side that has real potential for the future. Well done to all the boys and girl that played!…. Angus Harper

Andrew Mayne, Evette Burton and Angus Harper

Under 12s

Division 1 – Played 8, Won 5, Lost 2, Opposition Conceded 1. Position 2nd

Lost in the semi-final of the league cup to Oxted & Limpsfield

Under 13s

Division 1 – Played 10. Won 7, Lost 1, Abandoned 1, Conceded 1, Position 3rd

League Cup – Lost in the semi-final to Sutton Challengers

Simon Wells, Caroline Clark, Lee Brien and Simon Holt.

In 2018 we entered the ESCL u12 and u13 leagues and also league cups at both age groups.

Whilst we had no u13 players we had the quality and depth of squad to enter a team up a year and it gave us the opportunity to give all players plenty of game time. We think it showed in the way players have developed this year. The players have shown good improvement with both our bowling and batting and there have been some great individual and team contributions. However it’s the improvement in fielding that particularly stands out.
Energy, when fielding, is so important to be successful in the game and there were times this season where opposition were almost suffocated by our speed and accuracy. We really
supported our bowlers which built a great team spirit and the results showed.
A very successful season, 3 rd in the league and only 4 points (one win) behind eventual winners Oxted & Limpsfield. We were competitive against all the sides in the division losing just the 1 game to Horley. We had some dominant performances; bowling out
Reigate for 41 runs and Chipstead for 29 and beating a strong Lingfield side by 9 wickets.
Our bowling has improved significantly as a team with some strong performances from Tim, George and Thomas, Henry and Anna. Our batting was anchored by Oliver and Thomas. Thomas finished with 189 runs and Oliver had his best season to date scoring 161
runs. We took numerous catches and run outs as well as being positive and supportive in the field.
We had a great cup run with superb performances against Horley and Oxted & Limpsfield before losing out to a strong Sutton Challengers side who went on the lift the cup.
We are very lucky to have such a strong, talented group of players who compliment each other well as at team. We are also very lucky to have such great support from all the parents, with special mention to Sarah for providing teas and food at all home games. All
your help really does make a big difference and shines light on the club. Let’s keep it going.
We will be in touch with arrangements for next year in due course but we do plan to hold winter nets and it would be useful if you could indicate interest and preferred day. We would look to do this for 6-8 weeks towards the start of the new season. Once I know interest and preferences I will make arrangements and get back to you.
Simon Wells

Under 11s Girls

Sixteen girls signed up for training for the Surrey Youth Games. The squad was selected to represent Mole Valley and played matches against Guildford, Elmbridge, Runnymede and Epsom & Ewell 1.

The girls showcased an improved performance and came out claiming 3rd position at the group level. The Girls were placed in the stronger group, beat Guildford in a very tense match, defeated Elmbridge quite easily, lost a close match against Runneymede and got beaten by Epsom & Ewell 1 team. The girls had a great day of Cricket festival and enjoyed the day thoroughly.

We also entered the team into the Under 11s Surrey ‘Smash-It’ League. We played at Reigate Priory and lost to their first team but had a good win against their second team.

The girls played vs Spencer CC, Surrey – Girls Under 11 on 17th June at Newdigate; Spencer won the toss and elected to bat. It was a close match where the NCC girls U11 lost by 30 runs as the Spencer girls fielding and catching proved the difference between two teams.

On Sunday 1st July, NCC hosted Spencer CC Girls U11 and Blackheath CC Girls U11. The opposition teams beat NCC Girls U11 in both the matches; some of NCC players showed their skill with the bowling restricting the strong oppositions in lower scores, however, because of the absence of some regular players, the batting department did not rise in this occasion.

Sunday 15th July NCC Girls played against Cranleigh CC Girls U11 and Oxted & Limpsfield CC Girls U11 at Cranleigh. The Girls beat a very strong Cranleigh team in a close finish match, thanks to some very tight bowling and sharp fielding from the girls. However, the heat of the day was too much for the girls as they grew tired and lost against Oxted & Limpsfield CC on a narrow margin.

Overall, the NCC Girls U11 shown some good bowling performances and some improvements on the batting in the SMASH-IT league matches. It is expected that with continued support and practice, the girls will make a strong squad for Newdigate Girls in the future. The standout performers throughout are Erica, Maria, Frankie, Muntaha and Millie. Thanks to a very supportive group of parents who helped hosting two events as well as provide all logistics support.

Monjur Elahi & John Callcut

Monjur Elahi, Will Letts, Andrew Major, Evette Burton and John Callcut

Chance to Shine

Since its inception the Chance to Shine scheme has provided cricket to over 4 million boys and girls. I do five sessions for year 1 and five sessions for year 2 at Newdigate Infants School. I also did a session at Surrey Hills School in Westcott. This is the first pathway for young people to join the club’s junior section.

John Callcut

Dorking Schools’ Kwik Cricket Competition.

Once again we hosted the boys and girls Dorking Schools’ Kwik Cricket Competition. Lot’s of good cricket was played on both days. The boys was won by a very strong St. Pauls side and North Downs won the girls competition.

Junior Awards Presentation

We held a Junior Cricket Day on the 9th September. In the morning the u9s played the u11s and in the afternoon the u13s took on the coaches. This was followed by a barbecue and then the awards began. Full details and pictures can be seen under ‘Awards since 1993’.

John Callcut