Junior Section – 2024 Season Review
1
Strategic vision for Junior Cricket at HWRCC
To have a thriving junior cricket section that welcomes and develops all, reflects the make-up of the local community and successfully integrates with the wider club.
Introduction
2024 was a challenging season for the club, following the loss of the pavilion in Autumn 2023. Despite this, the junior section had another successful year, with over 230 children from the ages of 5 to 17 taking part in cricket at the Wick during the winter, spring and summer. Our junior teams played a grand total of 138 matches over the summer, including games over the School Holidays.
Our junior teams performed well, balancing inclusivity and competitiveness and always playing in the right spirit and we continued to supply the adult sides with a rich vein of players. Our excellent coaching team grew again this year with Muhammad Ahmad being appointed Junior Head Coach over the winter. Special mention must be given to James Watson who deservedly won the “Inspired to Play” award from the Surrey County Cricket Collective for his unceasing work to promote cricket at HWRCC and Heathfield. Several of our juniors have completed ECB coaching courses and themselves help coach younger age groups.
Each year, we plan to review progress against the aims of the junior section, to let members know what we have been up to, and also to allow us to plan how we may further improve in the next season.
Dominic Spray, Director of Junior Cricket
Review of the Tactical Aims for Junior Cricket at HWRCC The Junior Cricket Section at HWRCC aims to:
1. Attract, welcome and retain players (and their parents/guardians) treating everybody equitably accepting differences in ability, gender, ethnic background, social background, schooling and other characteristics.
2. Instil in players a lifelong love of the game and the social benefits of cricket. 3. Ensure players approach the game with the Spirit of Cricket uppermost in their mind and uphold the Wick Values.
4. Improve each individual’s cricketing performance regardless of their starting point. 5. Increase participation in girls’ cricket year on year.
6. Provide a resilient pathway of home-grown talent to play competitive adult cricket at HWRCC.
7. Provide a pathway to support and develop exceptional players.
8. Contribute to the financial health of the club.
9. Reinforce the link between the Local Community and HWRCC.
1. Attract, welcome and retain players (and their parents/guardians) treating everybody equitably accepting differences in ability, gender, ethnic background, social background, schooling and other characteristics.
Participant numbers:
Total Active Junior Members in 2024 Season = 231 (including 57 in All-Stars or Dynamos Programmes)
| 2023 | 2024 | 2023 players Returned | Retention | New Joiners | Leavers | Net Loss/ Gain | ||||
| Girls | Boys | Girls | Boys | Total | ||||||
| All-Stars | 13 | 40 | 11 | 19 | 30 | 25 | 47% | n/a | -23 | |
| Dynamos | 3 | 16 | 6 | 21 | 27 | 4 | 21% | +8 | ||
| ECB Programmes | 57 | |||||||||
| 2023 | 2024 | 2023 players Returned | Retention | New Joiners | Leavers | Net Loss/ Gain | ||||
| Girls | Boys | Girls | Boys | Total | ||||||
| u8 Girls | n/a | 2 | 2 | Reliable data not available | ||||||
| u9 Girls | n/a | 7 | 7 | |||||||
| u10 Girls | n/a | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| u11 Girls | n/a | 6 | 6 | |||||||
| u12 Girls | n/a | 8 | 8 | |||||||
| Girls Section | 24 | |||||||||
| 2023 | 2024 | 2023 players Returned | Retention | New Joiners | Leavers | Net Loss/ Gain | ||||
| Girls | Boys | Girls | Boys | Total | ||||||
| u9 mixed | 2 | 10 | 0 | 13 | 13 | 7 | n/a | 6 | n/a | n/a |
| u10 mixed | 0 | 20 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 11 | 92% | 3 | 1 | +2 |
| u11 mixed | 2 | 27 | 0 | 22 | 22 | 20 | 100% | 2 | 0 | +2 |
| u12 mixed | 0 | 20 | 2 | 26 | 28 | 24 | 83% | 4 | 5 | -1 |
| u13 mixed | 1 | 11 | 0 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 80% | 1 | 4 | -3 |
| u14 mixed | 0 | 15 | 1 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 100% | 2 | 0 | +2 |
| u15 mixed | 0 | 23 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 80% | 0 | 3 | -3 |
| u16 mixed | 0 | 11 | 0 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 87% | 1 | 4 | -3 |
| u17 mixed | 1 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 83% | 0 | 2 | -2 |
| Mixed Section | 150 | |||||||||
• There is potential to improve retention rate for All-Stars and look at solutions to improve retention at u8/u9 levels (whether Dynamos or Club-driven).
• Consider combining Winter training for age groups with lower numbers.
• Look to avoid 2025 summer fixture clashes for adjacent squads with lower numbers to allow “playing up” to cover gaps.
3
HWRCC Junior Section – Season Review 2024
Inclusivity and Diversity
The 2023 Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) Report, “Holding up a mirror to cricket,” (https://theicec.com/report/) highlighted ongoing issues of racism, sexism and class-based discrimination. This manifests in a decline in uptake of cricket among some communities and is propagated by a lack of diversity at leadership level. The club is determined to address these inequalities. Collecting data related to these characteristics allows us to measure our progress.
Schooling
In Richmond and Kingston Boroughs, School Year 2023/24
• 79.8% of children were schooled in State-funded Schools.
• 20.2 % were schooled in Independent Schools (nb A breakdown is not available for Borough level data between independent primary and senior schools).
(Data from https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics): From the 157 junior members of HWRCC who submitted data in 2024:
• 77.1% (73.2% in 2023) were schooled in State-funded Schools. This includes Tiffin School, a selective-entry State-funded School.
• 22.9% (26.8% in 2023) were schooled in Independent Schools.
The club is better representative than many in South-West London of the schooling mix of its communities, with a slight increase in state-school proportion this year of uncertain significance.
Ethnicity
| 2021 Census | 2024 School data | HWRCC Juniors (LoveAdmin data) | ||||
| Ethnic Group | Kingston U-T | Richmond U-T | Kingston | Richmond | 2024 | 2023 |
| White | 68.3% | 80.5% | 54.4% | 66.8% | 71.3% | 70.5% |
| Asian | 17.8% | 8.9% | 21.7% | 11.7% | 16.3% | 16.1% |
| Other | 5.7% | 5.5% | 8.1% | 6.3% | – | 4.6% |
| Mixed | 5.4% | 3.3% | 12.8% | 12.5% | 10.9% | 8.1% |
| Black | 2.8% | 1.9% | 3.0% | 2.7% | 1.6% | 0.7% |
28 non-responders. Excludes All-Stars &
Dynamos (data not collected)
• These classifications are a necessary simplification to aid analysis.
• Note a slight difference in data collection groups between 2023 and 2024.
• The club reflects the general trend in cricket, towards greater participation amongst those who describe their ethnicity as white, with the vast majority classing themselves as British (88/92).
• The majority of those who identified as Asian describe their background as Indian (18/21) • 9/14 who are captured under Mixed identify as mixed white/Asian.
• The club did not collect data regarding English as a first language in 2023 or 2024.
4
HWRCC Junior Section – Season Review 2024
Disability
• Of 123 Responses in LoveAdmin (Response rate 78%), 118 children (95.9%) were described as having no disability, 3 children described as having a disability (2.4%) and 2 answered as “Would rather not say” (1.6%). There is no simple, comparable data available for schoolchildren in the Boroughs of Kingston or Richmond.
Markers of Income:
Index of Multiple Deprivation data:
The Index of Multiple Deprivation divides the country into small areas and measures their relative deprivation. For ease of visualisation, these are divided into deciles, with the most deprived areas in the lowest decile.
IMD Decile comparison:
HWRCC Juniors 2024 (by home postcode) to total
Richmond and Kingston residents
60.0%
40.0%
20.0%
0.0%
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Kingston Richmond HWRCC
These data exclude All-Stars & Dynamos players whose address details are not captured. 123/174 players had postcode data available. Kingston & Richmond data from 2019 (https://imd-by-postcode.opendatacommunities.org/imd/2019)
• These findings reflect the ICEC report identifying cricket as being predominantly played by less deprived families.
• The make-up of the HWRCC membership generally reflects the local community – if anything, slightly more HWRCC juniors appear to come from slightly lower deciles than would be expected.
5
HWRCC Junior Section – Season Review 2024
Income data, Pupil-Premium Scheme (PPS), Free School Meals (FSM), Government financial support
• 30/174 respondents supplied income data (separated into discrete bands) – no analysis has been done due to the low response rate.
• Response rate to the two questions (below) regarding the Pupil Premium Scheme, Free School meals and government support was below 50%. The data are published here, but no conclusions drawn due to the low response rate:
“Has/have your child(ren) ever been on the Pupil Premium scheme or received free school meals?” “Does your household receive any government benefits or financial support?”
| FSM or PPS | Govt support | |||
| Response Rate | 48.3% | 84/174 | 47.7% | 83/174 |
| No | 91.7% | 77 | 91.6% | 76 |
| Yes | 4.8% | 4 | 7.2% | 6 |
| Would rather not say | 3.6% | 3 | 1.2% | 1 |
2. Instil in players a lifelong love of the game and the social benefits of cricket
• Club social activities in general this year were restricted due to the lack of facilities until midway through the season.
• 148 club members in total (players and parents/guardians) joined a social outing to a Surrey T20 match at the Oval in June, where younger members of the club provided the official players’ guard of honour.
• 1 age-group (u12) held a pre-season social event to aid team-bonding.
• Several juniors from the older age groups joined the club quiz-night in July.
• Three “multi-generational” matches were held in June to allow children to play with or against the important adults in their lives.
• Over 120 families attended the End-of-Season Junior Awards evening in early September.
3. Ensure players approach the game with the Spirit of Cricket uppermost in their mind and uphold the Wick Values:
• No complaints regarding player or supporter behaviour were raised against sides from HWRCC this season.
• Compliments on team behaviour from opposition teams were received by several team managers/coaches this year.
• The 2024 League Spirit of Cricket awards are still to be awarded at the time of writing.
4. Improve each individual’s cricketing performance regardless of their starting point:
• Virtually all players will improve with age as they become stronger and play more cricket. • Relative improvement compared to peers is probably more important.
• Objective measurement of individual performance is difficult.
6
HWRCC Junior Section – Season Review 2024
• Year-on-year squad results could be considered as a surrogate, but these must be interpreted with caution due to:
o team selection in many teams being based on inclusivity rather than outright
competitiveness (especially lower age groups and lower divisions);
o the often-low numbers of matches;
o Changes in the quality of opposition year on year.
| Performance (completed matches) | ||||||||
| 2023 | 2024 | |||||||
| Age group in 2024 | Division | Position | Win % | Division | Position | Win % | Change | Note |
| Mixed u11 | S2 | 4/6 | 25% | S2 | 6/6 | 17% | -8% | |
| M3 | 2/5 | 60% | M3 | 3/6 | 63% | 3% | ||
| Mixed u12 | S2 | 5/10 | 44% | S2 | 2/9 | 67% | 23% | |
| M3 | 5/5 | 25% | M3 | 3/4 | 50% | 25% | ||
| Mixed u13 | S3 | 1/5 | 100% | S2 | 6/9 | 33% | -67% | Up a Division |
| M3 | 1/9 | 86% | M2 | 5/11 | 44% | -42% | Up a Division | |
| Mixed u14 | M2 | 6/10 | 67% | M2 | 8/9 | 0% | -67% | |
| S2 | 4/6 | 40% | S2 | 5/9 | 50% | 10% | ||
| Mixed u15 | M2 | 3/9 | 57% | M2 | 2/8 | 83% | 26% | |
| S3 | 2/8 | 83% | S2 | 1/8 | 100% | 17% | Up a Division | |
| Mixed u17 | u15 M2 | 2/7 | 67% | |||||
| u15 S2 | 3/9 | 50% | M1 | 4/6 | 33% | -30% | Up a Division | |
| u17 M2 | 1/6 | 100% | S2 | 2/5 | 20% | -43% | ||
| u17 S2 | 1/8 | 60% | ||||||
S2 = Surrey Tier 2, M2 = Middlesex Tier 2 etc
U17 squad is a combination of the previous year’s u15 and u16 age-group players
• Performances in 2023 and 2024 are for the same squad of players (eg results for the u12 squad in 2024 are compared against the same squad’s results in 2023 at u11 level).
• Only completed matches are considered (ie concessions, cancellations and abandonments are ignored).
• The win percentages and League positions this season reflect the balance between inclusivity and achievement that is central to the club ethos.
5. Increase participation in girls’ cricket year on year
Identified Gender:
Excluding Dynamos and All-Stars, in 2024, 30/174 junior members (17.2%) identify as female. In 2023, this number was 25 out of 158 junior members (15.8%).
7
HWRCC Junior Section – Season Review 2024
Including Dynamos and All-Stars, in 2024, 47/231 (20.3%) identify as female. Data from 2023 is not available for comparison.
Performance of Girls’ teams
| Won | Lost | Abandoned/Cancelled | Conceded by HWRCC | Conceded by Opposition | |
| u9 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| u11 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| u12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| u13 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
• Opportunities for Girls’ matches this season have been limited, primarily by availability of players (both HWRCC and opposition).
• From discussions at League meetings, this is a recognised problem across the area and a threat to the club aim to increase participation year-on-year.
• The u9 (softball) team won 8/8 this season, in their first season of matches, beating many well-established clubs.
• Our u13 side was composed almost exclusively of u12 players, playing against girls with a year’s more development.
6. Provide a resilient pathway of home-grown talent to play competitive adult cricket at HWRCC
• Thirty-Three Juniors (u14 to u17) made a total of 321 Appearances for Adult sides in 2024 (23.9% of total appearances).
• Looking at League/Cup cricket only, 24 Juniors made a total of 200 Appearances (21.3% of total appearances).
• Five Juniors (Three u17, one u16, one u15) played for the first XI this season. • Six Juniors (Four u17, one u16, one u15) played for the second XI this season.
(Figures from 2023 not available for comparison)
Total Junior Appearances in Senior Teams 2024
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
8
HWRCC Junior Section – Season Review 2024
7. Provide a pathway to support and develop exceptional players
• The club ran a fully subsidised Winter performance pathway from January to April. o This was offered to players identified as pathway potential by coaches/managers from the u14 to u17 age-groups.
o Employed coaches included Scott Newman (ex England Lions/England-A), Michael Carberry (ex England) and Ganapathy Chandrasekar (ex India-A, Tamil Nadu and
Chennai Super Kings), concentrating on spin-bowling, batting and seam-bowling.
o 23 players benefitted from this initiative.
• The club also offered a weekly pre-season Strength and Conditioning programme led by Ganapathy Chandrasekar (who was completing a Masters in S&C at the time).
o This was designed to both improve performance but primarily to reduce the risk of injury.
o 10 players took advantage of this offering.
• The club held a batting masterclass with Arun Harinath (Surrey) as part of the club winter nets programme.
• The girls’ section benefitted from coaching sessions run by Ariana Dowse (Sussex, Sunrisers) and Monte Lynch (ex-England) as part of their winter nets programme.
• No performance pathway initiatives were run during the summer season.
8. Contribute to the financial health of the club
High level overview of income and expenditure directly related to the junior section:
| Winter Nets | Winter Performance Pathway | Strength & Conditioning | Summer Season | ||
| Coaching Costs | -6175.00 | -3200.00 | -804.50 | -8845.00 | |
| Coach Education | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | -550.00 | |
| Facilities Hire | -7595.00 | -900.00 | -225.00 | 0.00 | |
| Kit/Balls/League entries | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | -2290.00 | |
| Total | -13770.00 | -4100.00 | -1029.50 | -11685.00 | Total Expenditure -£30,584.50 |
| Income | 9325.00 | 4100.00 | 630.00 | 13620.30 | Total Income £27,675.30 |
| Deficit/Surplus | -£ 4,445.00 | £ – | -£ 399.50 | £ 1,935.30 | Total Deficit -£ 2,909.20 |
• The Junior section is in deficit this year, primarily related to costs associated with Winter nets and lower than projected attendance.
• The club usually receives £10 per All-Star player and £25 per Dynamos player, plus £5 ECB “shop credit” per player. Due to supply issues in 2024, the usual bats and balls were not provided and the ECB shop was not open. The club received £25 per All-Star player and £30 per Dynamos player to reflect this. This is expected to revert in 2025.
• A one-off donation of £4100 funded the Winter Performance Pathway Programme. • Coaching expenses have escalated over the last few years due to fewer trained parental volunteers and a wish to increase coach:player ratios to increase effectiveness of coaching.
9
HWRCC Junior Section – Season Review 2024
9. Reinforce the link between the Local Community and HWRCC
• The majority of members of our girls’ teams come from Heathfield School, driven by the excellent work of James Watson and Callum Donnelly. Training for this group this season has again been based at Heathfield school due to the facilities issues at the club.
• The club has supported Heathfield’s application to have a “Batfast” batting simulator installed in their grounds.
• An outreach programme into St John the Baptist Primary School in Hampton Wick did not come to fruition due to delays in obtaining DBS clearance for the planned coach.
Volunteers:
Many thanks are due to the below who have helped ensure our children have access to cricket. It is much appreciated. Thanks also to the senior committee at the club and especially the fantastic facilities team.
Coaches and Age-Group Managers: Junior Committee Members:
Adam Murray Mandeep Singh Elin Cathcart Secretary
Andy Page Margi Moutou Allan Eyears Fixture Management Blake Haden Matt Thomas Rickard Granberg Membership
Callum Donnelly Melissa Frank Zubair Ahmed Safeguarding
Charles Carey Milika Dade Jeanette Slevin Safeguarding
Dan Diggins Mo Ahmad Sandeep Khaira League Liaison David Shaw Ned Wills Jim Dowling Communications Don Sithira Neil Nicholson Muhammad Ahmad Head Coach
Guy Spence Ollie Davies Dom Spray Director
Harris Cathcart Olly Spray
Imogen Higgins Patrick Brosnan
James Hossack Ralph Higgins
James Watson Sandeep Khaira
Jez Mudunkotuwe Sarah Flinn
Jim Dowling Simon Davies
Josh Low Trudi Williams
Keerat Khaira Yuvraj Khaira
Leon Davis Zubair Ahmed
Contact details:
juniorcricket@hwrcc.co.uk
10