The new "Durham Cricket League"

[The Colonel]

My lad played for the DSL U11's at eppleton on tuesday morning and afternoon against sides from North Yorkshire. He is not out in 18 innings opening the bat for his club side - playing pairs cricket. This was his first games of proper cricket ie umpires, lbw's, no retirements etc.

He was immediately found out and it was a huge learning curve for him.

He was out LBW in the first game for 11 and then clean bowled by the best bowler he has faced, for 1 in the second game. Also he'd never bowled a wide in his life and had 3 given against him in 1 over for bowling down the leg side.

Very sobering experience and shows what happens when you step up from pairs to "proper" cricket. The earlier they ditch pairs cricket the better IMHO.

Lad from Durham City came in after my lad and scored 64 and 49 not out.

also noticed that on talking to Fathers and Grand Fathers around the ground virtually all of the kids bar lads from my sons team had played under 13 and even under 15 cricket, which makes a big difference IMHO.

My lad played his first U13 game last night.

 

[Skandhaless]

My lad played for the DSL U11's at eppleton on tuesday morning and afternoon against sides from North Yorkshire. He is not out in 18 innings opening the bat for his club side - playing pairs cricket. This was his first games of proper cricket ie umpires, lbw's, no retirements etc.

He was immediately found out and it was a huge learning curve for him.

He was out LBW in the first game for 11 and then clean bowled by the best bowler he has faced, for 1 in the second game. Also he'd never bowled a wide in his life and had 3 given against him in 1 over for bowling down the leg side.

Very sobering experience and shows what happens when you step up from pairs to "proper" cricket. The earlier they ditch pairs cricket the better IMHO.

Lad from Durham City came in after my lad and scored 64 and 49 not out.

also noticed that on talking to Fathers and Grand Fathers around the ground virtually all of the kids bar lads from my sons team had played under 13 and even under 15 cricket, which makes a big difference IMHO.

My lad played his first U13 game last night.

Pairs cricket is no good for over 11's By then they should get to recognise its a greedy game, occupy the crease. My lads always played proper cricket from 9 if they were out first ball there was nowt the matter

They played Sunday thirds from 12 learned to catch and field a hard ball hit by a bloke , spend 40 overs having to concentrate Played 5 games a week most weeks , usually played up, under 18's at 15 etc. Lads should be able to play a mans game like men by 14 if they're going to have the bite to be any good

 

[safc_till_i_die]

My lad played for the DSL U11's at eppleton on tuesday morning and afternoon against sides from North Yorkshire. He is not out in 18 innings opening the bat for his club side - playing pairs cricket. This was his first games of proper cricket ie umpires, lbw's, no retirements etc.

He was immediately found out and it was a huge learning curve for him.

He was out LBW in the first game for 11 and then clean bowled by the best bowler he has faced, for 1 in the second game. Also he'd never bowled a wide in his life and had 3 given against him in 1 over for bowling down the leg side.

Very sobering experience and shows what happens when you step up from pairs to "proper" cricket. The earlier they ditch pairs cricket the better IMHO.

Lad from Durham City came in after my lad and scored 64 and 49 not out.

also noticed that on talking to Fathers and Grand Fathers around the ground virtually all of the kids bar lads from my sons team had played under 13 and even under 15 cricket, which makes a big difference IMHO.

My lad played his first U13 game last night.

Durham City play pairs cricket as well though

 

[The Colonel]

Durham City play pairs cricket as well though

The lad plays under 15's cricket for Durham City. anyone who knows about Durham junior cricket will know who he is. his dad coaches the under 11's. Superb prospect.

Pairs cricket is no good for over 11's By then they should get to recognise its a greedy game, occupy the crease. My lads always played proper cricket from 9 if they were out first ball there was nowt the matter

They played Sunday thirds from 12 learned to catch and field a hard ball hit by a bloke , spend 40 overs having to concentrate Played 5 games a week most weeks , usually played up, under 18's at 15 etc. Lads should be able to play a mans game like men by 14 if they're going to have the bite to be any good

Agreed.

the problem is that the clubs who play "proper" cricket at junior level are not the top ones and the standard isnt the best. the likes of sunderland, chester le Street, hetton lyons and durham City all play pairs cricket at U11 and U13 level and I think it not only hinders the prospects of the player but also the prospects of the DCB junior teams at that age group.

I'm amazed that a non pairs under 11 tournament hasnt been introduced for DSL/NEPL junior teams.

My lad plays junior cricket for one of the NEPL U11 sides and he wont play proper cricket for his club until under 15's bar a cup competition at U13's.

Far from satisfactory IMHO.

 

[Old Timer]

One of the best junior set ups is at Washington and they play tradtional cricket with retirement at 20 and bolwing rules which mean that at least 8 bowlers must be used, at under 11

 

[safc_till_i_die]

The lad plays under 15's cricket for Durham City. anyone who knows about Durham junior cricket will know who he is. his dad coaches the under 11's. Superb prospect.

I know exactly who he is and he is very good for his age. Because of that he plays in older age groups where he plays 'proper cricket'. However, there are also other players in that U11 age group who need to develop as well and pairs cricket gives them all the best chance to develop in my opinion.

 

[NorthCountryBoy]

'Proper' cricket may suit the best two or three players but you could disillusion the weaker ones. We all loved it cos we were guaranteed a bat and a bowl every week.

The best players will play 'proper' cricket for the representative sides anyway.

My U13 side produced a test player who was a late developer in terms of cricket but a prodigy at other sports. Would he have kept on playing the game at 11/12 if he was doing nothing during many of the games? Who knows.

 

[safc_till_i_die]

'Proper' cricket may suit the best two or three players but you could disillusion the weaker ones. We all loved it cos we were guaranteed a bat and a bowl every week.

The best players will play 'proper' cricket for the representative sides anyway.

My U13 side produced a test player who was a late developer in terms of cricket but a prodigy at other sports. Would he have kept on playing the game at 11/12 if he was doing nothing during many of the games? Who knows.

Completely agree, good post.

 

[Sweeper]

One of the best junior set ups is at Washington and they play tradtional cricket with retirement at 20 and bolwing rules which mean that at least 8 bowlers must be used, at under 11

Those are the rules throughout the Coast League, which has a very good junior set up across the board. To be fair to Washington I think they'd be successful at junior level regardless of the rules they played; they've probably got the biggest catchment area of any club in the north east so could never fail (and to their credit, don't).

I have no problem with the retirement at 20 and the 8 bowler minimum rules at u11; similarly the Coast League play retire at 30 at u13 and retire at 50 at u15 level. However, I don't think pairs cricket (which is a huge step further down that road than merely having retirement totals) is any good for young kids. As someone has already alluded too, kids need to learn how to value their wicket and be greedy - it's a huge part of the game.

 

[Old Timer]

A key is to have both forms avaiable. This is where festivals come in. It would bew nice if more clubs ran Kwick Cricket festivals for those who are not ready for the hard ball game you would have the best of both worlds. At the moment I think there are only two such festivals at Washington and South Shields.

 

[Greavsie]

'Proper' cricket may suit the best two or three players but you could disillusion the weaker ones. We all loved it cos we were guaranteed a bat and a bowl every week.

The best players will play 'proper' cricket for the representative sides anyway.

My U13 side produced a test player who was a late developer in terms of cricket but a prodigy at other sports. Would he have kept on playing the game at 11/12 if he was doing nothing during many of the games? Who knows.

I dont remember him for any other reason but his name. Must have played against him dozens of times ...... Never stood out. There was a lad at felling who was very good (dobt remember his name) and glenn robinson RIP at philli - they were the outstanding players of that generation in the DSL. Others included pratt at durham city (knob head) lad called keegan at eppleton, bridgeat rhyope (not our league). Probably missed a few

 

[The Voice Of Reason]

The better players just manipulate the strike in pairs anyway. It only really works in under 11 cricket in my opinion

 

[NorthCountryBoy]

I dont remember him for any other reason but his name. Must have played against him dozens of times ...... Never stood out. There was a lad at felling who was very good (dobt remember his name) and glenn robinson RIP at philli - they were the outstanding players of that generation in the DSL. Others included pratt at durham city (knob head) lad called keegan at eppleton, bridgeat rhyope (not our league). Probably missed a few

Ian Warden - Felling
Shaun Smith and Jaffa (Futureheads) were good at Philli, Glenn was your age group iirc.

 

[Greavsie]

Ian Warden - Felling
Shaun Smith and Jaffa (Futureheads) were good at Philli, Glenn was your age group iirc.

Warden, thats the lad. Dont recall the other two standing out as much but they were in a very good team.

 

[Sweeper]

Current proposals are as follows:

95 overs in a day - first innings 50 overs maximum. Team batting first will gain additional bonus points if they declare before the end of the 45th over and win/draw the game. No timed element - the game goes on until the 95 overs have been bowled regardless of what finish time that produces.

Points system that allows for winning draws, gives an incentive for the better teams to bat first if they win the toss.

Overseas pros to be permitted.

 

[Carteron]

Current proposals are as follows:

95 overs in a day - first innings 50 overs maximum. Team batting first will gain additional bonus points if they declare before the end of the 45th over and win/draw the game. No timed element - the game goes on until the 95 overs have been bowled regardless of what finish time that produces.

Points system that allows for winning draws, gives an incentive for the better teams to bat first if they win the toss.

Overseas pros to be permitted.

is it just me or does 95 seem 5 or 10 short?

 

[Sweeper]

is it just me or does 95 seem 5 or 10 short?

I don't think so - in normal Coast League games if the team batting first uses their full 50 overs the team batting second will typically get around 35-42 back; depending on the over rate throughout the day. 95 overs is a long day.