First and foremost, thank you for your interest in the Wisborough Green Cricket Club Juniors Programme. Whether you are a parent or guardian returning to register your child for another year or are looking at it for the first time, you are very welcome.

This section is relevant to you if your child is aged seven, six or five (or, more broadly, in school years 2, 1 and Reception currently) and is keen to play cricket each Friday evening of the 2024 spring and summer on the village Green.

Season Dates

The 2024 season will take place on the village Green every Friday evening from 19th April to 19th July with half term off (Friday 31st May). That’s 13 Fridays in total. Should rain stop play we will communicate with you via email as soon as we know a particular session won’t be happening.

Session Times / Meet-Up

We start each session at 6pm and finish at 7pm. There are many different age groups gathering on the Green each Friday and you will find this group on the corner overlooked by the Cricketers Pub. We ask parents and guardians to arrive by 5.50pm to check-in their child. You will see our team registering the kids and we will give each child a hand stamp to show we know they are with us. The kids should come in whatever they would wear to play in the garden that day and don’t need to bring anything specific with them – we provide all the cricket kit required. The sessions take place in a marked area and you will know when we are ready to start as we will shout “Everybody In”!

The Sessions

We have a tried and tested format which the kids love. The sessions are run by coaches who are both trained and certified by the England and Wales Cricket Board. We also have the kind support of a group of former players.
We start each session with a welcome and a safety briefing followed by a warm-up game as a group. We then split everyone into groups based on school years with plenty of latitude in case we have an imbalance of numbers or specific friendships. The heart of the session is two or three drills covering either batting or fielding. Each of those are followed up by team competitions to put the kids’ newfound skills to test. We finish off with weekly awards for performance and the winners have the accolade of being on the Club’s Honours Board which you can read in Wizzy News, the Club’s weekly newsletter. The sessions conclude promptly at 7pm and you will know when your child is heading back to you as you will hear the cry “Get Outta Here”!
The coaching ethos for the youngest age group is that the kids should have some Friday fun while learning some core cricket skills along the way which they can use if they wish to continue with the game. If the children nag their parents or guardians to come back every Friday and can throw, catch or bat just that little better each time then the sessions are considered a success.

Parents and Guardians

Parents and guardians should remain on the Green and be visible to their kids / contactable on the off-chance they are needed during the session however we appreciate this is valuable end-of-week downtime for you so please feel free to settle on a picnic blanket or enjoy the Club bar. If you sign your kids up to our sessions you will receive membership to Wisborough Green Sports Club so please do remember to pick up your membership card from the Clubhouse bar and use it to receive a discount on drinks. Please do note that the older kids train in the nets along the Kirdford Road side of the Green so wherever you choose to spend your time please make sure it is well away from there. Leather cricket balls can hurt.
We hope your child will join us and, if so, look forward to seeing them and you as well for another series of memorable nights on our village Green from Friday 19th April.