Club cricket - paying players

[Sillypoint]

We dont pay anyone and our first team is in division 3 - We were in with a shout of promotion towards the back end of the season and the chat on the comittee was about getting a pro in - quite a few were against it but if we went into div 2 i think it would be a neccessity. We've probably found our level in div 3 in all honesty but we are now investing more time into our junior section which has been poor over recent years so we are at least investing in the future and not journeymen.

exactly how it should be, i work with a couple of lads who play in either a Div 2 or 3 Team, they had an overseas last season, was supposed to be coaching the kids and the womens section, by all accounts never happened once, money they spent could have gone to improving facilities, especially when they said a couple of the Junior teams went the whole season with one new ball

 

[Hilly]

We dont pay anyone and our first team is in division 3 - We were in with a shout of promotion towards the back end of the season and the chat on the comittee was about getting a pro in - quite a few were against it but if we went into div 2 i think it would be a neccessity. We've probably found our level in div 3 in all honesty but we are now investing more time into our junior section which has been poor over recent years so we are at least investing in the future and not journeymen.

Div 2 here and we're just about holding on without a pro. Truth be told we probably overperformed last season, and just avoided relegation the season before. We're lucky that we have some very useful local lads who have been around the club for a number of years now. But even they were offered money by a few clubs in the off season.

Again, it comes back to priorities. We've chosen to invest in bricks and mortar, and its allowed us to become more attractive as a junior setup. Sadly that won't pay dividends for a fair few years.

 

[Sillypoint]

Div 2 here and we're just about holding on without a pro. Truth be told we probably overperformed last season, and just avoided relegation the season before. We're lucky that we have some very useful local lads who have been around the club for a number of years now. But even they were offered money by a few clubs in the off season.

Again, it comes back to priorities. We've chosen to invest in bricks and mortar, and its allowed us to become more attractive as a junior setup. Sadly that won't pay dividends for a fair few years.

be worth it in the long run though, some Clubs only seem bothered about senior cricket or bar takings, when my bairn was playing they barely had enough most weeks to get an U11's out, yet the summer before the allstars on a friday night was absolutely rammed, club liked the money for 8 weeks and the bar takings but no one at the club managed to sign any of the kids up to actually play

 

[Hilly]

be worth it in the long run though, some Clubs only seem bothered about senior cricket or bar takings, when my bairn was playing they barely had enough most weeks to get an U11's out, yet the summer before the allstars on a friday night was absolutely rammed, club liked the money for 8 weeks and the bar takings but no one at the club managed to sign any of the kids up to actually play

We hope it will but the trend of juniors not continuing onto senior cricket is always slightly worrying. Not only that, but we've also a pattern of some of the 'bigger' clubs poaching some of our junior talent too...

Long story short..... Cricket is crap!

 

[SAFC2403]

be worth it in the long run though, some Clubs only seem bothered about senior cricket or bar takings, when my bairn was playing they barely had enough most weeks to get an U11's out, yet the summer before the allstars on a friday night was absolutely rammed, club liked the money for 8 weeks and the bar takings but no one at the club managed to sign any of the kids up to actually play

At our club we put on all stars a few years ago and it has ballooned from there - we have u9's,11's, U15's and we are now seeing girls coming down to practices - my youngest tried it last year and she's absoultely obsessed with it now! Shes been badgering me all winter about when her practice sessions are starting again!!

 

[pmc13]

At our club we put on all stars a few years ago and it has ballooned from there - we have u9's,11's, U15's and we are now seeing girls coming down to practices - my youngest tried it last year and she's absoultely obsessed with it now! Shes been badgering me all winter about when her practice sessions are starting again!!

My son was a a ‘ big ‘ club

Imho Juniors was ran as a cash cow to fund first team pro

The better juniors got decent training , batting and bowling in the nets / then bunked off

So my son got no decent batting as other kids couldn’t bowl

Their league games ended up with chairman’s son playing three times a weekend - batting and bowling -

Others just made up numbers

Thankfully he left / joined a smaller club when he was old enough to
Play adult cricket

at time the club didn’t have a junior section

He’s been welcomed with open arms , played a lot of cricket

Now’s he’s older , he’s taking wickets , they’ve pushed him up the batting order to improve his batting

Which is all you want for your kids - I know he’s never going to be county standard - but sport shouldn’t be about the chairman’s son

The club has started up junior section from scratch - feed back is excellent - stating it’s better organised than his old vlub

They switched to Fridays and bar takings has soared - with the money being put into junior equipment etc

They are now running junior teams , and had kids playing in Sunday friendly games now they’ve come of age , and I’d hope to see the older lads break into second team soon

 

[Sillypoint]

The better juniors got decent training , batting and bowling in the nets / then bunked off

So my son got no decent batting as other kids couldn’t bowl

I think all clubs should invest in some kind of bowling machine, even if just one of the cheaper ones, the amount of times i see kids go into the net and in their 15 mins of batting were lucky if they had half a dozen balls there to hit. they need the repetition

Drives me mad lazy kids too, team the bairn played in had one lad who would always rock up and net first or 2nd then just mess about afterwards and not bowl to the other kids, he eventually even pushed the teams WK out to take his place, and im 100% convinced it was because he couldnt be arsed to be in the field, team was worse off for it as he was a canny bowler

 

[pmc13]

I think all clubs should invest in some kind of bowling machine, even if just one of the cheaper ones, the amount of times i see kids go into the net and in their 15 mins of batting were lucky if they had half a dozen balls there to hit. they need the repetition

Drives me mad lazy kids too, team the bairn played in had one lad who would always rock up and net first or 2nd then just mess about afterwards and not bowl to the other kids, he eventually even pushed the teams WK out to take his place, and im 100% convinced it was because he couldnt be arsed to be in the field, team was worse off for it as he was a canny bowler

Agree

As you can set speed to what ever and it means juniors can practice their technique


Sad but true

I bought a b by all machine for coaching field hockey keepers

The kids love it

Max speed approx 40mph

It’s even more fun with no keeper kit one !!

Son fired 1-2 balls at me when we first got it

Nearly took my head off

 

[SAFC2403]

My son was a a ‘ big ‘ club

Imho Juniors was ran as a cash cow to fund first team pro

The better juniors got decent training , batting and bowling in the nets / then bunked off

So my son got no decent batting as other kids couldn’t bowl

Their league games ended up with chairman’s son playing three times a weekend - batting and bowling -

Others just made up numbers

Thankfully he left / joined a smaller club when he was old enough to
Play adult cricket

at time the club didn’t have a junior section

He’s been welcomed with open arms , played a lot of cricket

Now’s he’s older , he’s taking wickets , they’ve pushed him up the batting order to improve his batting

Which is all you want for your kids - I know he’s never going to be county standard - but sport shouldn’t be about the chairman’s son

The club has started up junior section from scratch - feed back is excellent - stating it’s better organised than his old vlub

They switched to Fridays and bar takings has soared - with the money being put into junior equipment etc

They are now running junior teams , and had kids playing in Sunday friendly games now they’ve come of age , and I’d hope to see the older lads break into second team soon

See a lot of NEPL junior sections are rammed with kids who don’t play. What’s the point apart from the prestige of your kid being at a “big club”. Be interested to see what percentage of NEPL juniors ever make it to first team level hearing in mind all the paid players. Bet it’s fairly small.

 

[pmc13]

See a lot of NEPL junior sections are rammed with kids who don’t play. What’s the point apart from the prestige of your kid being at a “big club”. Be interested to see what percentage of NEPL juniors ever make it to first team level hearing in mind all the paid players. Bet it’s fairly small.

Hi

He went to the ‘ bigger club’ as it has a link to his school , and a number of his age group were there

We found it very very clique , and he d joined too late - as he’d been playing tennis at a high standard - but wanted to play cricket

I appreciate he’s a bog standard lower league player -

The wiki was something else - greased lightening behind stumps and good with bat and ball - another lad was a very good batsman - this lad got verbals off an adult for dropping a catch for goodness sake !!!

My gripe was the cluque where 3-4 lads were given all the opportunity to play and others were put on boundary

3-4 don’t play

My son moved , and flourished at that level

He’s had 5-6 chances of hat tricks , had two 5’s last season , best being 6

Scored a 50 not out , carrying his bat

He’s helped with All Stars - and current club is seeing the benefit

They will NEVER challenge his old one

Be like RCA challenging Sunderland , North Shields to Newcastle

But

They are encouraging juniors to play - no coach or player is paid


I’ve coached in my sport for 20 + years

We all fight for players against Footy …. So I don’t care how poor a kid is initially - we have to nurture them to learn to love our sport - and to keep them of the X box

 

[Eggman]

Drives me mad lazy kids too, team the bairn played in had one lad who would always rock up and net first or 2nd then just mess about afterwards and not bowl to the other kids, he eventually even pushed the teams WK out to take his place, and im 100% convinced it was because he couldnt be arsed to be in the field, team was worse off for it as he was a canny bowler

Sounds like a kid who did the rounds at Marsden, Boldon, Ryhope, in the mid 2000s.

Never developed as he couldn’t harness his natural ability with common sense and hard work

 

[Rip Van Fish]

I'm sorry but that's rubbish. The standard of local cricket now compared to 40 years back is shite. There are people being paid who wouldn't get into 2nd teams years back.

I started playing TSL cricket in 1986. I fail to see how current set up is good. But absolutely each to their own.

I agree with you mate
The league I played in - South Yorkshire CL now has a premier division devoid of much quality
It’s all the same players that were playing in it 15 years ago and more
Ian Swallow still batting at 4 for Elsecar and Fozzy same at Treeton - 61 and 55 them two.
Would have been 2nd teamers by now in my day

 

[PallionLad]

We dont pay anyone and our first team is in division 3 - We were in with a shout of promotion towards the back end of the season and the chat on the comittee was about getting a pro in - quite a few were against it but if we went into div 2 i think it would be a neccessity. We've probably found our level in div 3 in all honesty but we are now investing more time into our junior section which has been poor over recent years so we are at least investing in the future and not journeymen.

Our 1sts are in div2 and 2nds in div4. For first time in a while we have felt the pressure for paying for players. They have come all round the NE of late, some class players too. But asking way too much. I'm glad me mate the new Secretary has decided that the little funds we have should be spent on infrastructure rather than players.

Hopefully this stand will keep the club afloat for years. Tbf it's attracted some mint players too. We look canny this season. Abeit the season hasn't really started like.

Haway Wearmouth Yav CC

Div 2 here and we're just about holding on without a pro. Truth be told we probably overperformed last season, and just avoided relegation the season before. We're lucky that we have some very useful local lads who have been around the club for a number of years now. But even they were offered money by a few clubs in the off season.

Again, it comes back to priorities. We've chosen to invest in bricks and mortar, and its allowed us to become more attractive as a junior setup. Sadly that won't pay dividends for a fair few years.

Best way mate. Its all about the younguns. Thankfully our junior teams are looking healthy and decent too.

Unfortunately bricks and mortar cost loads. That's why we are indebted to kind donations such as Peterlee CC selling us their old covers for peanuts. Very kind of them.

 

[PallionLad]

Big thanks to Murton CC for donating their two old sightscreens to Wearmouth Yav CC. Very nice of them. Great set of lads.

 

[SuperK]

Big thanks to Murton CC for donating their two old sightscreens to Wearmouth Yav CC. Very nice of them. Great set of lads.

That’s really good to hear and all the best to YAV in 2024. Well done Murton too.

 

[Dash riprock]

My son was a a ‘ big ‘ club

Imho Juniors was ran as a cash cow to fund first team pro

The better juniors got decent training , batting and bowling in the nets / then bunked off

So my son got no decent batting as other kids couldn’t bowl

Their league games ended up with chairman’s son playing three times a weekend - batting and bowling -

Others just made up numbers

Thankfully he left / joined a smaller club when he was old enough to
Play adult cricket

at time the club didn’t have a junior section

He’s been welcomed with open arms , played a lot of cricket

Now’s he’s older , he’s taking wickets , they’ve pushed him up the batting order to improve his batting

Which is all you want for your kids - I know he’s never going to be county standard - but sport shouldn’t be about the chairman’s son

The club has started up junior section from scratch - feed back is excellent - stating it’s better organised than his old vlub

They switched to Fridays and bar takings has soared - with the money being put into junior equipment etc

They are now running junior teams , and had kids playing in Sunday friendly games now they’ve come of age , and I’d hope to see the older lads break into second team soon

Doesnt only happen at " big clubs " . My kids were at a smaller team but where the coaching was decent . Didnt stop the coaches son being played as a bat, spinner and eventually keeper in order to find a role for him in the county set up . Only reason they never tried him as a pacer was he was too fat and lazy ( ultimately went nowhere and failed into seconds at the " big club " he was placed at ) .
He took the gloves off my young un at under 12's which was a shame as hes got all the attributes of a top keeper , brave, chirpy and hands like lightening . My other lad turned to keeping late and has the fastest hands ive ever seen, always coming near top WK dismissals at very decent standard despite being self trained .
Not bitter really as both mine ultimately were undaunted , moved to big clubs in mid teens and have played Premier anyway . Without doubt it was despite a background of nepotism though .
Glad your young un has found his level.

 

[SuperK]

Doesnt only happen at " big clubs " . My kids were at a smaller team but where the coaching was decent . Didnt stop the coaches son being played as a bat, spinner and eventually keeper in order to find a role for him in the county set up . Only reason they never tried him as a pacer was he was too fat and lazy ( ultimately went nowhere and failed into seconds at the " big club " he was placed at ) .
He took the gloves off my young un at under 12's which was a shame as hes got all the attributes of a top keeper , brave, chirpy and hands like lightening . My other lad turned to keeping late and has the fastest hands ive ever seen, always coming near top WK dismissals at very decent standard despite being self trained .
Not bitter really as both mine ultimately were undaunted , moved to big clubs in mid teens and have played Premier anyway . Without doubt it was despite a background of nepotism though .
Glad your young un has found his level.

I’m really sorry to hear this story as I hate to see enthusiastic talent being overtaken by other parents pushing their kids. Yes we all want the best for our children but everyone at a young level deserves a chance. All I hope is your sons stay in the game…as it’s a wonderful game. The only addition I would make to your post is the attributes of a top keeper above everything else is ‘to miss nothing’ !

 

[Dash riprock]

I’m really sorry to hear this story as I hate to see enthusiastic talent being overtaken by other parents pushing their kids. Yes we all want the best for our children but everyone at a young level deserves a chance. All I hope is your sons stay in the game…as it’s a wonderful game. The only addition I would make to your post is the attributes of a top keeper above everything else is ‘to miss nothing’ !

Theyre both late 30s now so indeed they "stayed in the game" and took the pitch with test match players along the way, so good enough . More than can be said for the useless lump with cement in his gloves and boots that was hot housed.