The season started with some lovely weather and so we have seen plenty of cricket played. The new nets are proving to be a huge success and some wonderful Friday evening training sessions for the youth cricket.

So let's start with our youngest members, the "All Stars". This ECB backed programme is provides an introduction into cricket and has seen a full cohort of 5 to 8 year olds having a huge amount of fun learning the basics. All Stars has been a great success for WCC with nearly all our senior youth team, the Under 15s, having started playing cricket at WCC with the All Stars Programme.

That brings us neatly to our Under 15s. This league comprises teams made up from school years 9 & 10. Our team has had some close fought matches in the league but sadly no wins yet. However...we have enjoyed a notable win in the cup against Easton & Martyr Worthy and have our next round in a week. Fingers crossed for an epic cup run!

A team that started strong and continues to go from strength to strength is the Under 11 Girls team. So far, they are undefeated - as their manager Victoria Rampton writes:

"The girls have had a fantastic start to the season with 4 out 4 wins, this has been incredible to watch with the team getting better and better; working together as a team with excellent bowling and chasing down runs. The consistency and accuracy of the bowling has seen them deliver more than 50% of dot balls in each game....it is just fabulous. The coaches are delighted with the communication in the field and their great camaraderie. They are a delight to train and with 5 new players this year have been so welcoming. A fantastic team to be involved with"
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Moving to the senior teams - Reece Hoare (captain of the Midweek XI) gave the following update:

"It’s been a fairly uneventful first month for the Midweek XI. Our first two matches were conceded due to the opposition being unable to field a team! Our next 2 matches have resulted in 2 losses. Albeit with a good fight and a good time had by all, which of course is the ethos of our Wednesday night team.

Highlight includes: Jamie Oliver (no not that one) and his spectacular bating. Chef is our top scorer thus far with a fantastic 23 off of 13 balls in our most recent game against Badshot Lea. Apart from that the runs are yet to truly flow... Dan Norwood has hit two not outs whilst Adam Thorn deserves a special mention for a 'switch hit' that would have Jos Butler foaming at the mouth.

With the ball, it is much the same story...Not a lot to write home about. But we’re only two games deep and it is a long season. We play to win but with a smile on our face and win or lose we have a drink afterwards (excluding the youth players in the squad). Although the beer tends to be zero alcohol as most of us have to drive home and it’s a school night."

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A squad that does have to pay attention to school nights is the U11 Mixed Group. Adam Thorn (he of switch hit fame) writes:

“We entered two teams (the blues and yellows both playing in the same league) for the 2025 season with a total cohort of 29 players. The aim was to balance both teams with players having a mixture of experience.

There have been positives. The obvious one being the excellent weather has meant a full schedule of training and matches. It is unheard of for us to start in April and get to early June without a few washouts.

There have been some outstanding team performances, with the Yellows win at Oakley the standout; a last ball thriller with Whitchurch facing some ferocious bowling. There have also been some exceptional individual performances, including Oscar I and James putting their winter training to good use and scoring runs like it was going out of fashion. Excitingly, everybody has made valuable contributions at some stage.

The season has not been without its challenges. Splitting the teams as we did meant it took the Blues a while to get the first win under their belt. The other main headache has been player availability with coaches having to juggle players between teams in order to get games on. Hopefully now, with bank holidays and half term out of the way, this will become easier!?”

There is much more news to follow. So keep your eyes peeled for part 2 of this update in which you will learn about the perfect start for the First XI, the progress of the Under 9s & Under 13s and the launch of the Ladies Softball Team!