Staffordshire Cricket News

NatWest OSCAs 2010 

 

Staffordshire Cricket celebrated this week during the national NatWest Outstanding Services to Cricket Awards at Lord’s Cricket Ground with the most prestigious award of the day being
presented to Bob Cherry by former England captain Mike Gatting.

 

The 8th annual national awards awards, were presented over lunch in front of over 400 guests including England players Matt Prior, Steve Finn and Charlotte Edwards.

 

Bob Cherry Captures National Award

The ‘Lifetime Achiever’ award was presented to Bob Cherry a man with an impressive array of cricket playing, umpiring and administration experience stretching over 70 years. Bob has been secretary of the Kidsgrove & District Junior League for the past 40 years, seen several years service on various ECB committees and is a 25 year chair of the League Cricket Conference. The award is most well deserved for a man who is well respected in all local and national cricketing circles.

Uttoxeter Cricket Club were runner up in the  ‘NatWest CricketForce’ category and four members of the club were present to pick up their trophy presented by former England captain and now NatWest ambassador Michael Vaughan. Uttoxeter gained a togetherness through a newly energised group of players that have now looked to the future. The club members worked together with local businesses, scouts and the local community to carry out a £20,000 project for less than £1,000. The project saw new carpets, a kitchen, paint and a new practice net.

Chris Hopkin was the runner up in the ‘Leagues and Boards’ section presented by England Women’s captain Charlotte Edwards. Chris was league representative for Leycett CC from 1973 to 1985 when he was appointed the league executive committee as Honarary legal advisor, a position which he held until his election as league Chairman in 1995. Chris is still in this position and has held the post for a record 15 years.

During this time there has been unprecedented change in the face of local cricket in the area and Chris has been at the forefront of it all showing strength, courage and  tremendous leadership throughout. During his tenure the league has merged with the North Staffs and District League, which was the oldest league in the country. This was an exercise that required all of Chris’s earlier mentioned attributes as well as patience and diplomacy. On completion of the merger Chris led the League to achieve ECB Premier league status. Recognising that the new structure required a review of its management Chris with his executive enlisted outside consultancy, and is currently showing all his management prowess in implementing the resulting recommendations.

Considering the league has gone from 24 to 48 teams overnight the transition has been smoother than anyone could have expected, and a great deal of the credit must go to its leader.

Also present from the county at the awards were Andrew Mandleberg of Dunstall C.C, Mick and Rachael Moore from Silverdale C.C,Trevor Morris of Leycett C.C, Graham and Alwyn Farr from Knypersley C.C and Staffordshire OSCAs organiser Andy Grice.

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Staffordshire Youth Cricket
Presentation Night 2010
Sohail Zaroof Captures Fearnley Sponsorship Award

 

 

Porthill Park 16 year old Sohail Zaroof (pictured above with Paul Fearnley left and Danielle Wyatt) was awarded the lucrative £750 Fearnley Cricket sponsorship prize as Staffordshire Cricket celebrated the achievements of the 2010 season at the Areva Club in Stafford. Zaroof bounced back after not being selected by the county at under 14 or under 15 levels, to have a dominating season with both bat and ball that has seen him top 500 county runs in both under 16 and under 17 teams. Zaroof’s performances also earned him three other awards as he was under 16 batsman and coaches player of the year, as well as being awarded a medal for his superb 144 against Warwickshire at Kenilworth in July. The Porthill star’s achievements were also noted by the county as he was awarded a place on the Emerging Players Programme (EPP) for 2010-11.

England women’s star Danielle Wyatt was on hand to present the awards which saw a celebration of yet another successful year for Staffordshire Cricket in 2010. The season saw some a remarkable team achievement by the county under 13 squad, who won the ECB regional group by winning 9 of 10 matches the only defeat by 1 run. The squad also won the Taunton festival defeating amongst others Yorkshire on the way, with captain Austen Crump scoring 102 against Northamptonshire. The team success also transferred to the coach as Graham Warner also picked up the ‘Coach of the Year’ title in the ‘individual outstanding achievement’ category. Two boys were also awarded prizes in the same individual category. Sam Kelsall the former Moddersahll batsman now with Nottinghamshire academy, picked a trophy as recognition for being selected for England under 17, while Greg Massingham the Little Stoke leg spinner was recognised for his selection for the England under 15 development squad after some outstanding performances for Staffordshire and the Midlands region at the Bunbury festival.

Overall there were 36 trophies awarded on the evening to batsman, bowler and fielder at 12 age groups of girls and boys in conjunction with Trent Trophies. The manager and coach’s player of the year in each age group won a £25 voucher courtesy of event sponsors Fearnley Cricket. There were 14 individual  performance awards given for boys or girls who either scored a century during the season or took five wickets or more in a game. George Scrimshaw from the successful under 13 squad took five wickets for seven runs twice against Herefordshire and Oxfordshire, while Tom Fell scored the seasons top score of 202 as Staffordshire under 17s successfully chased a score of 389 against Shropshire.

Staffordshire Cricket Development Manager Jason Britton said “The awards are a very important part of the year for Staffordshire Cricket, to recognise the outstanding performance of our age groups, players, coaches and managers in 2010. The results achieved in 2010 are a fitting outcome following the incredible dedication and commitment of our teams and the support of their parents and clubs.” 

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Staffordshire Cricket

 Emerging Player Programme 2010-11

 

Staffordshire Cricket is delighted to announce that its Emerging Player Programme (formerly Academy) will again be operating during 2010-11

The programme will continue to be supported by Derbyshire County Cricket Club who over the five year period, have taken seven players from our scheme onto their first class academy including Greg Massingham(Little Stoke CC), Will Davis (Milford Hall CC) & Tom Lench (Kidsgrove CC).

Consequently, they are keen to maintain links with Staffordshire Cricket and willing to assist the county to further develop our talented young cricketers in the hope that more young players will make progress to the first class ranks.

The EPP programme has led to an expansion and enhancement of the programme which will now incorporate the following elements: 

• 19 x 3 hour sessions operating on a Friday evening, focusing on all aspects of player development including strength & conditioning.
• A series of sessions based at Staffordshire University( Stoke site) which will focus on key elements of sports science including, psychology, nutrition, lifestyle and fitness testing. This will operate over an eight day period during the  school holidays.
• Individual one to one sessions organised at venues around the county on a weekly/ fortnightly basis. These will focus on individual skill development.
• In addition, players will also have the opportunity to attend several additional sessions at the Derbyshire Academy under the watchful eye of Karl Krikken, the County Academy Director.

For 2010-11 the programme has been extended to nine players including a rapid transformation in fortunes for Sohail Zaroof of Porthill Park CC. Sohail was not selected by the county at under 14 or under 15 level, but after some superb performances in the under 16 and under 17 squad this season, has become not only the Staffordshire young player of the year, but also has gained a much coveted place on the EPP programme.

Staffordshire also wish to congratulate other players who have been selected for the first time this winter Ben Cotton, Austen Crump, Daniel Richardson and Alex Thomson.

The full list of players involved is as follows:

1	Ben Cotton (U17 – Porthill Park CC)
2	Austen Crump (U14 – Meir Heath CC)
3	Richard Hagan (U16 – Kidsgrove CC)
4	Zac Jupp (U16 – Leek CC)
5	James Middleton (U17 – Walsall CC)
6	Daniel Richardson (U16 – Little Stoke CC)
7	Tom Taylor (U16 – Barlaston CC)
8	Alex Thomson (U17 – Leek CC)
9	Sohail Zaroof (U17 – Porthill Park CC)

 

Karl Krikken  stated:

‘We have been delighted with the link that we have established with Staffordshire Cricket over the past five years. It has been successful with a number of players graduating to our own academy. We continue to monitor the outstanding players in Staffordshire very closely including regular winter sessions.”

Staffordshire Cricket is also pleased to announce other promising players have established links with other first class counties where they have attended a number of sessions.

For 2010-11, Tom Steele (Leek CC) will be attending the Lancashire EPP.

Alan Hill, the Emerging Players Programme Head Coach, commented:

‘Staffordshire continues to be in the forefront of youth player development, producing more players who graduate to first class academies than any other non first class county.’

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One To One Coaching Available

 

Staffordshire Cricket is now operating a one to one coaching programme at all ages.

Development work in all areas of the game is now available with specialist coaches taken from the representative teams of the county.