Might be mid Winter but still lots going on for North Midd Juniors – here is a taster –

Indoor Coaching Programmes for Juniors (including Minis and Girls only)

We have been delivering a 3 tiered coaching Programme for Juniors (from 7 to 18yo) since the end of October. The Programme involves Cricket for All, Performance and Academy squads led by our Director of Cricket (James Parslow) and Head Coach (Paul Frost). The Programme is run from the Sports Hall and Nets at Hornsey School for Girls and continues until the end of March.

Over 170 girls and boys are participating in the Programme which involves around 14 hours of coaching per week. We do have space for more at some of the Cricket for All age groups. For more information, please contact James Parslow at nmcc.wintertraining@gmail.com.

We have recently started Girls only sessions which run between 15:15 and 16:30 on Sunday afternoons also at Hornsey School for Girls until the end of March. We have room for more in these sessions, please contact James Parslow at nmcc.wintertraining@gmail.com if of interest.

Sessions for Minis (Reception and Year 1) started on Sunday 7 January and will also continue until the end of March. The sessions run between 9.30 and 10.30 on Sunday in the Gym at Hornsey School for Girls and are led by Alex Hill. We have room for more players – please contact Richard Nicoll at nmcc.colts@gmail.com for more information.

Indoor Cricket Competitions

Middlesex Junior Cricket Leagues are ongoing and organised by our own Peter Hollman. The matches involve teams from around Middlesex and are played at Gunnersbury Park Hub.

North Midd has teams entered as follows –

Girls only – Under 11, 13 and 15
Boys/mixed – Under 10, 11, 13, 15 and 17

We remain in contention for the finals in the Boys/mixed Comps at Under 11, 13,15 and 17.
As for our Girls - our Under 11 Team remains in contention and the Under 13 and 15 Teams don't play their first matches until later this month or next. Finals for
all age groups will be held at Lords in March.

Partly because playing slots for the League games are scarce, we organised our own Indoor Competitions on 5 January at Hornsey School for Girls to give more members a taste of Indoor Cricket. 48 boys and girls took part in the two separate age-based Competitions. The feedback from players and organisers was excellent. The rules of Indoor Cricket are significantly different from outdoors and are designed to create a fast and furious experience which they did.

Schools’ Outreach 2023/24

Partly funded by a grant from the Philip King Trust, James Parslow is continuing to coach cricket in a number of local schools including Coldfall Primary, Hornsey School for Girls and Fortismere at no charge to the Schools concerned. Over the current School year James will be delivering in excess of 100 hours of coaching in Schools.

Drainage Works

In recent years waterlogged outfields have caused a number of to be cancelled. To overcome this, major drainage improvement works were carried out last Autumn by our selected contractors, Talbots. Included below is a plan outlining the new drainage layout.

Here is a photo showing some of the channels dug to house the new pipework.

The work cost around £40,000 and has been funded by grants from Tottenham Grammar School Foundation and the ECB, with the balance funded out of Club funds.
Early indications are that this work is making a significant difference but time will tell!

Coaching/umpiring/scoring courses for parents, older juniors

For any parents or others who would like to help with the coaching of our juniors, running matches, umpiring or scoring, courses organised by Middlesex CCC and others are currently available. For more information on these please please contact Richard Nicoll at nmcc.colts@gmail.com.

Junior Fixtures for 2024 Outdoor Season

North Midd Boys/mixed League entry is as follows - U8/9 x 2; U10 x2; U11 x 2; U12 x 2; U13 x 2; U14 x 3; U15 x 2; U17 x 1.

With the Girls only entry being U10 (Soft Ball); U11 (Hard Ball); U13 (Hard Ball); U15 (Hard Ball)

Doug Teesdale has been striking fixtures for our junior teams which will be published soon. League matches are likely to start shortly after Easter.