Oxfordshire Cricket are delighted to announce that sixteen year old left hand batter and left arm finger spin bowler, Julian Laird has been awarded a place on Sussex Cricket Club’s Academy for 2023/2024.

The news marks an exciting time in the partnership between Oxfordshire and Sussex Cricket, with Zach Lion-Cachet recently signing a rookie contract, joining Harrison Ward and James Coles as professional players at Sussex that have emerged from Oxfordshire. Julian will join fellow Oxfordshire player, Dylan Driscoll on the Sussex Academy who himself was first awarded a place back in 2021. 

The pathway journey for Julian with Oxfordshire started at the age of eight within the Under 10s age group, In 2017 he made 80 in a match against Gloucestershire that he also captained, and took an impressive 6 for 2 against Berkshire. A year later, in a match against Worcestershire he made 74 and his appetite for runs against the same opponent would continue in 2019 as he made 83. During this period Julian was involved in the successful Oxfordshire age group squads that won the King’s College, Taunton Festival (2018) and Shrewsbury Festival (2019) at the Under 11 and 12 age groups respectively.

In recent years Julian further evidenced his potential by making an unbeaten 113 in a two day match for the Emerging Players Programme against Sussex at Blackstone. This performance would springboard him into the Sussex Age Group teams via the dual registration process between the two partnered counties. Julian would extend his impactful run scoring  a couple of weeks later, making 116 not out against Kent whilst representing Sussex Under 15s. Last season (2023) Julian played the majority of his county age group cricket with Sussex Under 18s, alongside fixtures for Oxfordshire Under 16s (his rightful age group) and Men’s Development XI. Julian had a successful summer representing Sussex, anassing 289 runs including three half centuries at the top of the batting order against Hampshire, Middlesex and Essex. His performances would be final confirmation of his place at the Sussex Cricket Academy for 2023/2024.

On the news of joining the Sussex Cricket Academy, Julian Laird spoke to Nick Pinhol:

Oxfordshire’s Abi Norgrove has recently been named in the England Women Under 19s Preparation Group which has been selected to prepare for an upcoming tour of Sri Lanka to take on the hosts and Australia in a Tri Series (March 2024-April 2024). A preparation group will commence a series of winter camps in Loughborough in January before a reduced tour squad is announced at a later date.

Abi is a product of the Oxfordshire Cricket pathway and started her journey within the Girls Under 11s county age group at the age of eight, later making her debut for the Oxfordshire Women’s 1st team at age thirteen. Abi earned selection on to the Southern Vipers Academy in 2021, retaining her place since and progressing to make her senior debut in 2023. Abi has been rewarded with a winter contract to train within an all- encompassing professional environment during the current winter.

Oxfordshire Cricket Performance Director, Matthew Barnes, said:

“It is fantastic to learn that Abi has been selected for the England Women Under 19 preparation group. The experience should afford Abi with further development opportunities that will help accelerate both her progression and give her the chance to earn selection for the final squad that will tour Sri Lanka in April 2024. On behalf of everyone at Oxfordshire Cricket it is my pleasure to congratulate Abi on her selection and we wish her the best of luck with both the experience and her continued progression in the game .’

Senior Regional Talent Manager at the Southern Vipers, Ian Cox, said:

“ Abi thoroughly deserves her call up, she is an outstanding young lady whose work ethic and desire to improve has shone through over the last few years. Her performances on the pitch have been outstanding, culminating in her selection for the senior 1st team last summer in our successful Rachel Heyhoe Flint Trophy campaign at just 17. We all wish her well over the next few months and I’m sure she will continue to excel on and off the pitch. “

Over 50 and still playing in the CCL? You could be missing out on playing County Cricket!

OK so you might not have been quite good enough to make it into the first class game in your younger days – but it might not be too late to play some county cricket even though your 50th birthday is already behind you.

Implausible? Not really – one of the game’s fastest growing sectors at present is seniors cricket, with all the Cherwell League’s constituent counties fielding sides in the Seniors County Championship at Over 50s, Over 60s and Over 70s age groups. 

So if you are Over 50 and still playing for a CCL club the chances are there is a seniors county XI for which you could be playing. 

Qualification for a county is by either by being born in that county, or living in that county.

So for a significant majority of CCL players Oxfordshire would be the county for which they are qualified and the man responsible to the Oxfordshire Cricket Board for seniors cricket is Darryl Woods.

“Believe it or not we’ve been playing seniors cricket in Oxfordshire since 1986!” said Darryl. “We’ve had a succession of strong sides at Over 50s and Over 60s – winning the Over 50s competition in 2008 – with numerous 50s and 60s final and semi-final appearances since and we’re just about to begin playing at Over 70s.

“However, until recently recruitment has been pretty much by word of mouth and via the personal contacts of the players currently in the various teams. But as the Cherwell League has expanded exponentially in the past few years that means we are without doubt missing out on players who could be part of our seniors teams.

“So to that end we’re really keen to hear from any Cherwell League players either born or resident in the county, who are 49 and over – you are eligible to play in the year you turn 50 – and interested in playing for the county. 

“And for any former county players thinking of returning to play for Oxfordshire who might not now qualify you can also claim ‘grandfather’s rights’ within certain time and appearances criteria. 

“There also doesn’t need to be any club versus county conflict. Seniors cricket is played mid-week, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays depending on which age group is involved. We currently have three sides at over 50s, four at over 60s and one at over 70s, so there’s a place for all abilities.

“And there’s a great opportunity coming up shortly to come along and get to know the guys involved and get a feel for how it all works via our seniors winter nets which are due to start running in March. 

“If you have a player at your club who you think might like to get involved or you yourself want to know more drop me a line at [email protected] . Come along and see what we’ve got to offer,” he added.

For players from Cherwell League Clubs, who do not meet the above criteria to play for Oxfordshire, the following contacts should provide an initial point of contact for your respective counties.

Buckinghamshire         Ron Hedley               [email protected]

Northamptonshire       Grant Timms            [email protected]      

Bedfordshire                 Graeme Presswell   [email protected]

Hertfordshire                Kevin Kelly                [email protected]

We would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone throughout Oxfordshire a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

2024 is set to be a exciting year for cricket in Oxfordshire, with a wide range of projects and programmes throughout the county. 

Please note that Oxfordshire Cricket has an organisational shutdown for the  Holidays between the 22nd of
December and the 2nd of January. During that period our workforce will be taking a well-earned break which will impact our response time.

If you have a safeguarding concern please contact Lesley and Stuart on [email protected]. If these are immediate concerns about the safety or well-being of any individual please contact the Emergency Services or your local Social Services, or the NSPCC child protection helpline on 0808 800 5000.