Oxfordshire’s Alfie Smethurst Joins Sussex Cricket Academy
Oxfordshire Cricket is proud to announce that 18-year-old left-arm finger spin bowler, Alfie Smethurst, has been recruited onto the Sussex County Cricket Club (Sussex CCC) Academy, marking an exciting milestone in his cricketing journey.
Alfie’s association with Oxfordshire Cricket began as a pace bowler with the Under 10s age group, playing for Wessex and Saxons the following year. His transition to spin at Under-12 proved a pivotal moment in his development. That same year, Alfie earned his first county age group cricket selection as a spinner and played a key role in leading the Oxfordshire Under-12 squad to the prestigious Shrewsbury Festival title 2019.
Progressing through the pathway system, Alfie has represented Oxfordshire right through to the Men’s 2nd XI. In 2020, he was identified as a high-potential player and joined the development programme at the time sought to act as a bridge between the Pathway and Boys Emerging Players Programme. Alife was recruited on to 2021-2022 Boys Emerging Players Programme.
Alfie’s standout achievements include finishing as the leading wicket-taker at the 2022 ECB David English Bunbury Festival, claiming ten wickets while representing the South & West Under-15 side — a testament to his growing reputation at the national level. Since 2023, Alfie has played for Sussex Under-18s, taking advantage of the ECB dual registration system between Oxfordshire Cricket and Sussex CCC. This system allows talented players to access playing and developmental opportunities across both counties. Now officially part of the Sussex Cricket Academy, Alfie joins fellow Oxfordshire players Arthur Hanson and Julian Laird, further highlighting the success of Oxfordshire Cricket’s talent development system in producing players capable of progressing into Academy programmes.
We congratulate Alfie on this significant step and look forward to seeing his continued growth as he takes on this exciting new challenge. Alfie has an exciting year ahead having recently signed with Brunswick Cricket Club for the 2025/26 Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association in Australia and will attend the International Cricket Programme.
On the news of joining the Sussex Cricket Academy, Alfie said:
“Obviously really chuffed with the news, it’s something I identified as a goal to reach in the last couple of years and to reach it brings a lot of happiness. Being able to bounce back after being injured all of last season and to have the backing of Keith Greenfield and Sussex gives me a lot of confidence when playing. My goal following the news is to try and get myself into the 2nd Xi and see where it goes from there. I’m also really appreciative of the people who have supported me to this point like Barnesy who has coached me for a long while, but especially Rupert as he’s been there to help me out with my game at pretty much every step of my journey since joining Oxfordshire and having someone there who knows your game is really good especially when i’m feeling out of form.”
Matthew Barnes – Performance Director at Oxfordshire Cricket said:
“Alfie has progressed through every stage of our talent development system, and his journey has been marked by both significant highs and challenging setbacks. On an individual level, he has represented the South & West in Regional Cricket at Under-15s, and has also played key roles in teams that have won County Age Group festivals. Like many young athletes, Alfie has also faced adversity, most notably a thumb injury that unfortunately ruled him out of a large part of the 2024 season, as well as the wider disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
I have been fortunate to have worked closely with Alfie at various stages of his development, initially as his coach in the Under-12 and Under-13 County Age Groups, and later via the Boys Emerging Players Programme when we made the decision to invest our time, resources, and support into his development. Now, it’s incredibly rewarding that he has earned selection onto Sussex Cricket Academy, through our partnership with Sussex County Cricket Club.
Alfie, his family, and all those who have supported him over the years should be immensely proud of his Academy selection which is richly deserved. On behalf of everyone at Oxfordshire Cricket, I extend our congratulations and wish him every success with the opportunities that lie ahead. Once Alfie completes his academic commitments, he can look forward to the season ahead with Sussex and our Oxfordshire Men’s team, before embarking on life’s next chapter in Australia.”
Keith Greenfield – Director of Pathways and Cricket Partnerships at Sussex Cricket said:
“Alfie has continued to improve his all round skills added to his clear quality of his Left arm spin and he deserves his chance over the next period to see how far he can push himself and progress in the game and we look forward to helping try to fulfill his potential”