It’s Women’s Big Cricket Month!
During June, we will be celebrating and shining a light on women’s cricket in Oxfordshire.
With that in mind, we head over first to Horspath Cricket Club where we hear from Munaza and Jen. They share their experiences of cricket as well as how Women’s cricket started at Horspath. Have a listen to their story.
Volunteers’ Week is a time to say thanks for the contribution millions of people make across the UK through volunteering. Join us this year to recognise the fantastic contribution volunteers make.
This year for National Volunteers week Oxfordshire Cricket would like to promote the great work done in the Oxfordshire cricket community. Please nominate who you think are volunteer heroes in your club by shining a spotlight on the work that they do and the way they bring their community together. Over the next few weeks, we will share case studies to promote their good work. This year we will be using our Wormsley Final day in September to reward the very best of the entries.
Please send any nominations to Chris Mitty at [email protected] and [email protected]
Provided by Peter Tubb and the Oxfordshire Schools Cricket Association, here is this weeks school cricket results:
U14 Cup
Under 15 Cup
Round One
Semi-Finals:
Final
U12 Cup
Thank you all for your support in trying to reschedule the current competition fixtures which have been adversely impacted by dreadful May weather. Just to reiterate the conversations I’ve had with many of you, our key focus remains to offer playing opportunities and we are very happy that the date, day & time of postponed fixtures are rescheduled according to ground and player availability….which I do appreciate is not an easy task!
Earlier in the season you’ll recall we asked for Expressions of Interest for a new longer format competition. Thank you to all of you that responded saying you were interested in the competition and also all the great debates this proposal generated. After careful consideration and following agreement at our recent Board meeting we have decided to pilot the competition this summer at U13 and U15 age groups.
To recap, the competition follows the lead of successful competition introduced in Gloucestershire some years ago and which continues to go from strength to strength. We hope this will provide greater opportunities for young cricketers to experience the longer form of cricket (35 and 40 over innings), whilst enabling clubs to play against different teams to what they normally do within the local 20 over leagues. In summary, the aim of the league is to:
– Help prepare players for County & District Cricket
– Prepare players for adult weekend cricket
– Develop player’s skills so they are able to bat for longer and learn how to bowl longer / more spells (within ECB directives)
– Speaking to coaches and parents, there seems to be a good demand to extend the youth season beyond mid July to early September
– The start of the competition will not only align closely with the end of the traditional youth season but also the timing for the final selection of the county performance squads, thereby offering further competitive matches through the summer
We understand the comments of clubs who have reservations over this approach and therefore propose to Pilot the competitions at U13 & U15 this summer with a full review of the competition in the autumn to understand lessons learned and look at how / if we would like to adapt for Summer 2022.
Therefore, I would like to invite competition entries to the Pilot U13 League by completing details at the below link:
Given this season will be a Pilot to learn lessons for future years; the competition will be free to enter as I’m sure with anything new we’ll have the odd teething issues we will need to work through together.
Please note, there is a section on the entry form where clubs who may not be able to field an 11 a side team, may still have 5/6 keen players and ideally we’d like to include you by providing a local Hub where a couple of clubs pool their resources – to help me plan this just select the Hub option in the entry form if this applies to you.
I have attached the draft rules for your information – these will be refreshed to include competition format (i.e. 1 or 2 Leagues, Finals Day or PlayOffs, etc) when we know firm numbers.
Whilst we took the decision not to offer the extended format to U11s, I will be in touch shortly with ideas around additional summer festivals for both U11 and U9s.
Please note the closing date for entries is Sunday 6 June (fixtures to be released w/c 7 June) with a view to the first competition fixtures commencing Sunday 11 July (consideration will be taken that U13 Finals Day is 18 July).
Oxfordshire Youth Cricket League (OYCL)
Thank you all for your support in trying to reschedule the current competition fixtures which have been adversely impacted by dreadful May weather. Just to reiterate the conversations I’ve had with many of you, our key focus remains to offer playing opportunities and we are very happy that the date, day & time of postponed fixtures are rescheduled according to ground and player availability….which I do appreciate is not an easy task!
Earlier in the season you’ll recall we asked for Expressions of Interest for a new longer format competition. Thank you to all of you that responded saying you were interested in the competition and also all the great debates this proposal generated. After careful consideration and following agreement at our recent Board meeting we have decided to pilot the competition this summer at U13 and U15 age groups.
To recap, the competition follows the lead of successful competition introduced in Gloucestershire some years ago and which continues to go from strength to strength. We hope this will provide greater opportunities for young cricketers to experience the longer form of cricket (35 and 40 over innings), whilst enabling clubs to play against different teams to what they normally do within the local 20 over leagues. In summary, the aim of the league is to:
– Help prepare players for County & District Cricket
– Prepare players for adult weekend cricket
– Develop player’s skills so they are able to bat for longer and learn how to bowl longer / more spells (within ECB directives)
– Speaking to coaches and parents, there seems to be a good demand to extend the youth season beyond mid July to early September
– The start of the competition will not only align closely with the end of the traditional youth season but also the timing for the final selection of the county performance squads, thereby offering further competitive matches through the summer
We understand the comments of clubs who have reservations over this approach and therefore propose to Pilot the competitions at U13 & U15 this summer with a full review of the competition in the autumn to understand lessons learned and look at how / if we would like to adapt for Summer 2022.
Therefore, I would like to invite competition entries to the Pilot U15 League by completing details at the below link:
Given this season will be a Pilot to learn lessons for future years; the competition will be free to enter as I’m sure with anything new we’ll have the odd teething issues we will need to work through together.
Please note, there is a section on the entry form where clubs who may not be able to field an 11 a side team, may still have 5/6 keen players and ideally we’d like to include you by providing a local Hub where a couple of clubs pool their resources – to help me plan this just select the Hub option in the entry form if this applies to you.
I have attached the draft rules for your information – these will be refreshed to include competition format (i.e. 1 or 2 Leagues, Finals Day or PlayOffs, etc) when we know firm numbers.
Finally, a separate invite will follow for the U13 League and whilst we took the decision not to offer the extended format to U11s, I will be in touch shortly with ideas around additional summer festivals for both U11 and U9s.
Please note the closing date for entries is Sunday 6 June (fixtures to be released w/c 7 June) with a view to the first competition fixtures commencing Sunday 11 July.
Oxfordshire Youth Cricket League (OYCL)
A new season brings a new online home for Oxfordshire Cricket. After months of hard work and dedication, we are delighted to officially announce the launch of our brand new website.
In 2019, we started planning for this journey by inviting feedback through an online marketing and communications questionnaire. The questionnaire covered a range of different areas including the now previous pitchero website. The valuable feedback that you provided, has had a significant impact in helping shape the content, design and layout of the new website as well as our digital strategy for 2020-2024.
The last few years has seen us make positive strides on our digital platforms, with a particular emphasis being on improving the quality of our content. Just earlier this year, we launched our live streaming and highlights packages which continues our digital and technological push to strengthen our digital presence and online community. This journey takes another significant step today, as we shift to a more modern, user friendly and visual website that is reflective of Oxfordshire Cricket. A special thanks must go to Roar Digital, for taking this journey with us and helping bring our new website to life.
We hope that you find the new website easy to access. You can now also use the search option to find any information or news that you need. For any questions, suggestions, feedback or comments, please contact us.
On the launch of the new website Chris Clements, Chairman at Oxfordshire Cricket said:
‘’Technology is both an enabler, and a source of business advantage. It helps to communicate consistent and up to date news and content to our stakeholders. We also see it as part of our progressive brand which will help cricket in Oxfordshire to be more appealing to the wider audience. Standing still in real terms, means going backwards and we think this investment, is just one of several IT projects which should put us at the forefront of the use of technology in the cricket sector.’’
On the launch of the new website Nick Pinhol, Marketing and Commercial Manager at Oxfordshire Cricket said:
“I am delighted to be able to share with you the new online home for Oxfordshire Cricket. It is an important step in our digital strategy that will modernise us, and help enable us to improve, continue to evolve and produce better content. I would like to thank the board of directors and David King for having let us take this journey when it first came to fruition more than 18 months ago. On behalf of Oxfordshire Cricket, I would like to thank Adam Parish and everyone at Roar Digital for all their fantastic work, effort and countless hours that they have worked in helping us create our new online home. We look forward to continuing working with them well into the future.“
Adam Parish, Managing Director at Roar Digital said:
“As a cricket fan, it has been a great deal of fun working with Nick and the wider team to develop their new website. Their team has embraced the project with a positive attitude and their rapid support has made for an enjoyable and effective project. We remain on hand to support Oxfordshire Cricket with their ongoing digital development.”
Women’s Big Cricket Month is back for a second year, aiming to give more women and girls the opportunity to play, follow or attend cricket in 2021. With exciting new activities at grassroots level, the second year of a brand new professional domestic structure in place, two fascinating England Women series and the launch of The Hundred, this year is shaping up to see more women and girls than ever before say ‘cricket is a game for me’.
At Oxfordshire Cricket we are planning a whole host of events throughout the month of June. Including women’s softball festivals, increased coverage of girls matches, ‘club focus’ case studies and tons of content across social media throughout June. We want to provide sustainable opportunities too, so once you try it in June, and love it (we are sure you will,) then we have lots more cricket for you to enjoy in the second half of the summer at your local club!
We have two women’s festivals booked for June, as follows:
13th June at Banbury CC
27th June at Challow & Childrey CC
You can book your place on these festivals now, either register as an individual or register your club to enter, click here to register
We are asking clubs to send us videos or case studies for us to use too, so if you have a story to tell, any events planned for June, or simply want to tell us why you love playing cricket, we want to hear from you!
Whether you want to promote the good work at your women and girls section, if you have an event you want to promote, want to push All Stars and Dynamos for girls, or simply want advice on how to set up a women or girls section, please contact Ed Wilson, Women & Girls Officer on [email protected] and lets make June a huge month for women and girls!
To register your event on the ECB Women’s Big Cricket Month click here
Oxfordshire Cricket is pleased to announce the 12 man county men squad selected to play against Buckinghamshire on Sunday 23rd of May in a 50 over match as part of the Nurton-York Trophy. The match against Buckinghamshire is part of the Nurton-York Cup, which was formed last year and is named in recognition of former players of both counties.
Here is the squad selected to play Buckinghamshire on Sunday at High Wycombe (HP11 1DE)
Jonny Cater (capt/wk)
Joe Butcher
Olly Clarke
Tom Cosford
Tom Haynes
Freddie Smith
Harry Smith
Robbie Shurmer
Oliver Southon
George Tait
Joe Thomas
Harrison Ward
For updates please keep an eye on our social media channels and play cricket