Local league cricket

SAFC2403 said:
Be interested to read how 2nd team cricket should change.

Especially as it should be seen as a breeding ground for juniors to eventually play 1st team cricket.
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For me, 2nd team cricket is ideally there to serve 3 purposes, in priority order:
1. Develop up and coming cricketers into future established 1st teamers
2. Have players "in form" ready to step into the 1st team when they are missing players
3. Provide cricket for players where 2nd team cricket is their level (including players maybe dropping down from the 1st team)

I think a lot of responsibility for keeping 2nd team cricket going comes down to the teams themselves. At my club we have a mixture of players from all 3 categories above. Talented young lads who hope to move on to the 1st team, lads coming down from 1st team as younger lads take their place, and genuine 2nd teamers. An issue we had over the years was with captains not involving all lads in the game. Players would open the batting and bowling, younger lads could bat 9 and not bowl, etc. We have nwo took an approach of picking the 2nd team based on the above priorities, then managing the game to ensure as many players are participating as possible. We have all rounders who have to take more of a back seat in one of the disciplines to prevent players making up the numbers.

Don't get me wrong we are lucky to have enough players to be able to do this, but morale seems very high, and whilst we may be 1 or 2 places lower in the league than we could have been, we have lads ready to step in the 1s when needed, and youngsters getting plenty of game time. Players in the 3rd team are keen to step in when needed knowing they will get a chance, and the whole place feels much more positive.

Looking at teams in our league/area that struggle, the common denominator seems to be that 3 or 4 players dominate all of the disciplines. There is no way that as am 18 year old lad trying to make my way, that I would stand at fine leg/mid off all day, not bowling, batting 10.

minty said:
To spread the limited players around I wouldn't allow clubs to have junior B teams. This would force parents to go to other clubs where their youngster has a better chance of being selected.

I would also stop clubs entering 3 Saturday teams. Bloody joke where some clubs barely manage 1 team yet others can field 3.

This has been the best summer in years weather wise and it has had a positive impact on kids turning up to play. Along with the All Stars which I think will boost numbers in years to come, hopefully clubs have a fighting chance now to survive
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I see your point, but I know at our club, many of our players would only ever play for their hometown club, with their mates. We have 2 3rd teams on a Sunday, and have flirted with multiple teams in different age groups over the years. Most of these lads wouldn't really bother themselves to go 4 or 5 miles along the road for a game with people they don't really know that well. Many of our players come along simply because their mates are already playing.
 
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Carteron said:
For me, 2nd team cricket is ideally there to serve 3 purposes, in priority order:
1. Develop up and coming cricketers into future established 1st teamers
2. Have players "in form" ready to step into the 1st team when they are missing players
3. Provide cricket for players where 2nd team cricket is their level (including players maybe dropping down from the 1st team)

I think a lot of responsibility for keeping 2nd team cricket going comes down to the teams themselves. At my club we have a mixture of players from all 3 categories above. Talented young lads who hope to move on to the 1st team, lads coming down from 1st team as younger lads take their place, and genuine 2nd teamers. An issue we had over the years was with captains not involving all lads in the game. Players would open the batting and bowling, younger lads could bat 9 and not bowl, etc. We have nwo took an approach of picking the 2nd team based on the above priorities, then managing the game to ensure as many players are participating as possible. We have all rounders who have to take more of a back seat in one of the disciplines to prevent players making up the numbers.

Don't get me wrong we are lucky to have enough players to be able to do this, but morale seems very high, and whilst we may be 1 or 2 places lower in the league than we could have been, we have lads ready to step in the 1s when needed, and youngsters getting plenty of game time. Players in the 3rd team are keen to step in when needed knowing they will get a chance, and the whole place feels much more positive.

Looking at teams in our league/area that struggle, the common denominator seems to be that 3 or 4 players dominate all of the disciplines. There is no way that as am 18 year old lad trying to make my way, that I would stand at fine leg/mid off all day, not bowling, batting 10.



I see your point, but I know at our club, many of our players would only ever play for their hometown club, with their mates. We have 2 3rd teams on a Sunday, and have flirted with multiple teams in different age groups over the years. Most of these lads wouldn't really bother themselves to go 4 or 5 miles along the road for a game with people they don't really know that well. Many of our players come along simply because their mates are already playing.
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I see your point about playing with mates but kids at a younger age say under 11's wouldn't get a game at a club who may have 20 plus juniors at that age group. If they played elsewhere they would have developed friendships to take them through to senior cricket. I'm not on about lads moving on at the age of 18 here

It's a hard one as places like Hetton Lyons and chester le street are thriving and good luck to them as they put a lot of effort in, but the wider impact means clubs around them are missing out. If I lived in Hetton and wanted my child to play cricket I would take them to the place that offered best coaching, however if I was informed they had a full squad I would likely try elsewhere as I would be wanting him to play

Two third teams is a joke as well when we have clubs who can't field a 2nd team in the North East. We will end up with about 30 strong clubs in the North East with the rest folding like a pack of cards. I'd rather look at the majority of club than the minority rather so something needs to be done to help cricket survive. This isn't the clubs in question fault and more to do with the DCB and various leagues.
 
Keen juniors should enter a type of grade cricket from age q
13 . The better established clubs should be designated as development clubs . Kids are then allocated according to level , so for example if one is flying he goes to Lyons as a bat and will play second team batting top 5.
Carteron said:
For me, 2nd team cricket is ideally there to serve 3 purposes, in priority order:
1. Develop up and coming cricketers into future established 1st teamers
2. Have players "in form" ready to step into the 1st team when they are missing players
3. Provide cricket for players where 2nd team cricket is their level (including players maybe dropping down from the 1st team)

I think a lot of responsibility for keeping 2nd team cricket going comes down to the teams themselves. At my club we have a mixture of players from all 3 categories above. Talented young lads who hope to move on to the 1st team, lads coming down from 1st team as younger lads take their place, and genuine 2nd teamers. An issue we had over the years was with captains not involving all lads in the game. Players would open the batting and bowling, younger lads could bat 9 and not bowl, etc. We have nwo took an approach of picking the 2nd team based on the above priorities, then managing the game to ensure as many players are participating as possible. We have all rounders who have to take more of a back seat in one of the disciplines to prevent players making up the numbers.

Don't get me wrong we are lucky to have enough players to be able to do this, but morale seems very high, and whilst we may be 1 or 2 places lower in the league than we could have been, we have lads ready to step in the 1s when needed, and youngsters getting plenty of game time. Players in the 3rd team are keen to step in when needed knowing they will get a chance, and the whole place feels much more positive.

Looking at teams in our league/area that struggle, the common denominator seems to be that 3 or 4 players dominate all of the disciplines. There is no way that as am 18 year old lad trying to make my way, that I would stand at fine leg/mid off all day, not bowling, batting 10.



I see your point, but I know at our club, many of our players would only ever play for their hometown club, with their mates. We have 2 3rd teams on a Sunday, and have flirted with multiple teams in different age groups over the years. Most of these lads wouldn't really bother themselves to go 4 or 5 miles along the road for a game with people they don't really know that well. Many of our players come along simply because their mates are already playing.
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I would agree with all that but would go 213 as priority order a very strong 3rd team and under 18 league should primarily push the young uns on . With second team exposure of course but they should be on pure merit to get the ball in 2nds if it's a strong side . Makes them strive .
 
minty said:
I see your point about playing with mates but kids at a younger age say under 11's wouldn't get a game at a club who may have 20 plus juniors at that age group. If they played elsewhere they would have developed friendships to take them through to senior cricket. I'm not on about lads moving on at the age of 18 here

It's a hard one as places like Hetton Lyons and chester le street are thriving and good luck to them as they put a lot of effort in, but the wider impact means clubs around them are missing out. If I lived in Hetton and wanted my child to play cricket I would take them to the place that offered best coaching, however if I was informed they had a full squad I would likely try elsewhere as I would be wanting him to play

Two third teams is a joke as well when we have clubs who can't field a 2nd team in the North East. We will end up with about 30 strong clubs in the North East with the rest folding like a pack of cards. I'd rather look at the majority of club than the minority rather so something needs to be done to help cricket survive. This isn't the clubs in question fault and more to do with the DCB and various leagues.
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We do actually encourage our more talented 3rd teamers to go and play 2nd team cricket in other leagues, if they want to do so. The majority of the time however they play a game or 2 and end up losing interest as they just like playing with their pals. Granted these lads probably dont have the drive to go on into 2nd and 1st team cricket, but at least by having 2 third teams we are making sure they get a game. I am almost certain that by us only have 1 3rd team, we would see these lads just pack in and have a few beers watching the 3rd team we have left, as opposed to going somewhere else for a game.
 
Carteron said:
For me, 2nd team cricket is ideally there to serve 3 purposes, in priority order:
1. Develop up and coming cricketers into future established 1st teamers
2. Have players "in form" ready to step into the 1st team when they are missing players
3. Provide cricket for players where 2nd team cricket is their level (including players maybe dropping down from the 1st team)

I think a lot of responsibility for keeping 2nd team cricket going comes down to the teams themselves. At my club we have a mixture of players from all 3 categories above. Talented young lads who hope to move on to the 1st team, lads coming down from 1st team as younger lads take their place, and genuine 2nd teamers. An issue we had over the years was with captains not involving all lads in the game. Players would open the batting and bowling, younger lads could bat 9 and not bowl, etc. We have nwo took an approach of picking the 2nd team based on the above priorities, then managing the game to ensure as many players are participating as possible. We have all rounders who have to take more of a back seat in one of the disciplines to prevent players making up the numbers.

Don't get me wrong we are lucky to have enough players to be able to do this, but morale seems very high, and whilst we may be 1 or 2 places lower in the league than we could have been, we have lads ready to step in the 1s when needed, and youngsters getting plenty of game time. Players in the 3rd team are keen to step in when needed knowing they will get a chance, and the whole place feels much more positive.

Looking at teams in our league/area that struggle, the common denominator seems to be that 3 or 4 players dominate all of the disciplines. There is no way that as am 18 year old lad trying to make my way, that I would stand at fine leg/mid off all day, not bowling, batting 10.



I see your point, but I know at our club, many of our players would only ever play for their hometown club, with their mates. We have 2 3rd teams on a Sunday, and have flirted with multiple teams in different age groups over the years. Most of these lads wouldn't really bother themselves to go 4 or 5 miles along the road for a game with people they don't really know that well. Many of our players come along simply because their mates are already playing.
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As much as I see your point entirely, I think a lot of it is irrevalant, of course teams want the correct balance in their second team, but the plain fact is yes you are right you are lucky to have enough players.

However a hell load of teams are simply struggling to get 11 players out never mind trying to get the balance right!

I don't think that's because other players have not been given a chance it's simply because they is not enough players interested in cricket full stop.
 
SAFC2403 said:
Be interested to read how 2nd team cricket should change.

Especially as it should be seen as a breeding ground for juniors to eventually play 1st team cricket.
Click to expand...
Some of the leagues are playing less overs in the lower divisions now mate. (40 overs).
Personally I think we should be looking at 35 overs per side at that level with 7 overs max per bowler.
A 1pm start would ensure a 5.30pm finish.
 
Darlington and District League play 40 overs in all divisions and, after playing a longer format all my life, I've found it fine. Long enough to have a proper game and short enough to be home by 7.30, starting at 2.00.
 
minty said:
I see your point about playing with mates but kids at a younger age say under 11's wouldn't get a game at a club who may have 20 plus juniors at that age group. If they played elsewhere they would have developed friendships to take them through to senior cricket. I'm not on about lads moving on at the age of 18 here

It's a hard one as places like Hetton Lyons and chester le street are thriving and good luck to them as they put a lot of effort in, but the wider impact means clubs around them are missing out. If I lived in Hetton and wanted my child to play cricket I would take them to the place that offered best coaching, however if I was informed they had a full squad I would likely try elsewhere as I would be wanting him to play

Two third teams is a joke as well when we have clubs who can't field a 2nd team in the North East. We will end up with about 30 strong clubs in the North East with the rest folding like a pack of cards. I'd rather look at the majority of club than the minority rather so something needs to be done to help cricket survive. This isn't the clubs in question fault and more to do with the DCB and various leagues.
Click to expand...

The increasing number of clubs with two Sunday teams is great for North East Cricket imo.

If they were banned the numbers going to other clubs would be negligible. At ours the extra side has enabled more 13 year olds to play regularly and by and large they are loving their senior cricket.

I've said it on here before but I'd make some sort of junior set up a compulsory part of membership of the top leagues by, say, 2020.
 
NorthCountryBoy said:
The increasing number of clubs with two Sunday teams is great for North East Cricket imo.

If they were banned the numbers going to other clubs would be negligible. At ours the extra side has enabled more 13 year olds to play regularly and by and large they are loving their senior cricket.

I've said it on here before but I'd make some sort of junior set up a compulsory part of membership of the top leagues by, say, 2020.
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Once again it's not the set up thafs the problem it's the interest, making it compulsory with just mean less clubs.
 
It is already compulsory to have a junior set up to be a member of the NEPL. May well be wrong here, but going from memory I believe you need to field a minimum of 3 junior teams from the 4 age groups (11s, 13s, 15s and 18s).
 
Think the all stars programme has been a huge success. However I would bring something into place to promote 11-15 year old cricket, as that is where it is suffering most. Good to see A lot of kids getting to see the fun of cricket instead of being brought up and pressured into playing football.

Best years weather so far. Haven’t had a single game called off. So far ....

Only thing that has been a pain in the backside is the DCL Committee pissing about as usual chopping and changing fixtures. Might get done by Christmas.

But on a whole for cricket, in the north east. So far so good this year.
 
NorthCountryBoy said:
The increasing number of clubs with two Sunday teams is great for North East Cricket imo.

If they were banned the numbers going to other clubs would be negligible. At ours the extra side has enabled more 13 year olds to play regularly and by and large they are loving their senior cricket.

I've said it on here before but I'd make some sort of junior set up a compulsory part of membership of the top leagues by, say, 2020.
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I see your point and we can't afford to lose many more juniors so it's great they are playing. It sort of helps with what I am saying though, other clubs in the area are struggling to field 2nd and 3rd teams yet others can cancel field a additional teams. I would rather the numbers were balanced out so that more clubs could ensure the it could field 3rd teams etc.

The majority of clubs out a huge effort into coaching and junior cricket and the All Stars hopefully will provide more interest in years to come when they are old enough for hard ball cricket.

I do worry we will end up with more Seaman Harbours in the years to come who have junior sides but can't get a team out on a Saturday so have no choice but to drop 3 divisions where 2nd teams aren't compulsory. Young kids don't want to play on a Saturday and would rather play on a Sunday where it's a shorter game and everyone gets a more of a chance.
 
NorthCountryBoy said:
I disagree. I think it might kick some arses into gear. The clubs will shed teams/ fold if they don't do it anyway.

Obviously not an appropriate rule for the NEDL.
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Fair enough mate, we have to agree to disagree, I totally get your point, but don't think enough interest from kids even if clubs do put a lot more effort into it.

I certainly would not want to see clubs who have been running for years and years not allowed to enter or be in leagues ,simply because kids nowadays are to dam lasy to get of their ipads or PlayStations!!

Imo for what it is worth and have banged this drum for a while, clubs in this day and age need more support and less mandatory criteria not more!
 
It's strange to hear the above because as a club (Hunwick) we seem to be going from strength to strength. We have a strong junior setup which has an U-11's, U-13's, U15's and U18's (we have also started a 'tots' side which we're doing now and again to keep our allstars involved with the club).

The senior setup is also strong. All players made a commitment last year that if we decided to enter the DCL - that they needed to make themselves available as much as possible, and although we've had a few missing at times and we're yet to hit holiday season, we're quite happy to be sitting mid table as this point in the season. Not bad for a club of local lads without a professional.

It's also strange to hear the above issues about 2nd team cricket, because our 2nds are also performing well with a mixture of up and coming juniors and seniors and are currently sitting 3rd.
 
Hilly said:
It's strange to hear the above because as a club (Hunwick) we seem to be going from strength to strength. We have a strong junior setup which has an U-11's, U-13's, U15's and U18's (we have also started a 'tots' side which we're doing now and again to keep our allstars involved with the club).

The senior setup is also strong. All players made a commitment last year that if we decided to enter the DCL - that they needed to make themselves available as much as possible, and although we've had a few missing at times and we're yet to hit holiday season, we're quite happy to be sitting mid table as this point in the season. Not bad for a club of local lads without a professional.

It's also strange to hear the above issues about 2nd team cricket, because our 2nds are also performing well with a mixture of up and coming juniors and seniors and are currently sitting 3rd.
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I think some clubs are thriving and it's great to here how well Hunwick are doing. For every club that is doing well there is probably 3 who are struggling by. For example established clubs such as Bolton fielded 9 players on Sunday. Burnmoor have been fielding 2nd teams with 7 and 8 players at times. I have no doubt their will be games conceded once the football season kicks in and there are clashes with Sunderland/ Boro or Newcastle.

We have 4 teams in the Durham league who have no junior set up at all....how can they possibly sustain 2 / 3 senior teams in years to come??? They will have no choice to drop down the leagues or try and get thier juniors going again but the competition is harder as my comments above outline

There is no magic answer to this but clubs need to be encouraged to work together as we need each other to survive somehow
 
NorthCountryBoy said:
The increasing number of clubs with two Sunday teams is great for North East Cricket imo.

If they were banned the numbers going to other clubs would be negligible. At ours the extra side has enabled more 13 year olds to play regularly and by and large they are loving their senior cricket.

I've said it on here before but I'd make some sort of junior set up a compulsory part of membership of the top leagues by, say, 2020.
Click to expand...
It is compulsory in S Yorkshire league for any sides playing in the top three divisions

minty said:
I think some clubs are thriving and it's great to here how well Hunwick are doing. For every club that is doing well there is probably 3 who are struggling by. For example established clubs such as Bolton fielded 9 players on Sunday. Burnmoor have been fielding 2nd teams with 7 and 8 players at times. I have no doubt their will be games conceded once the football season kicks in and there are clashes with Sunderland/ Boro or Newcastle.

We have 4 teams in the Durham league who have no junior set up at all....how can they possibly sustain 2 / 3 senior teams in years to come??? They will have no choice to drop down the leagues or try and get thier juniors going again but the competition is harder as my comments above outline

There is no magic answer to this but clubs need to be encouraged to work together as we need each other to survive somehow
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Read an article a few months ago which said that 30% of teams ( not clubs) will cease to exist in the next 10-15 years.
That's countrywide btw
 
Rip Van Fish said:
It is compulsory in S Yorkshire league for any sides playing in the top three divisions


Read an article a few months ago which said that 30% of teams ( not clubs) will cease to exist in the next 10-15 years.
That's countrywide btw
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I can well believe that. I fully expect 2 more teams to fold in the Darlington and District League this year, so down from 31 to 29. There were 36 in 2015.
 
Ageing trundler said:
I can well believe that. I fully expect 2 more teams to fold in the Darlington and District League this year, so down from 31 to 29. There were 36 in 2015.
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Mansfield league- which is a Sunday league for points has suffered 5 withdrawals this season already. three of these clubs are from the top two divisions. Was 9 divisions 4 years ago- now down to 6, which will be 4 next season.
League ruined by clubs bullying their way up then bottling it when they get to the top 2 divisions
 

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