At Hampton Wick Royal, we are proud to be an inclusive junior section — but inclusive does not mean unambitious. One of the great strengths of the club is that we welcome children at every stage of their cricketing journey, while also providing extra support for those who are ready to push on.

Our Performance Pathway is designed to give talented and committed junior players access to high-quality coaching, specialist input and a clear route into senior cricket. It sits alongside, rather than above, the wider junior programme: the aim is not to create a separate elite group, but to make sure that players with particular potential are stretched, challenged and supported in the right way.

Over the last two seasons, the club has run a fully subsidised Winter Performance Pathway from January to April. In 2024, this was offered to players identified by coaches and managers from the U14 to U17 age groups, with 23 players taking part. In 2025, the programme expanded to include players from U13 to U17, with 25 players benefitting. Coaching has focused on key areas including batting, seam bowling and spin bowling, with sessions led by an outstanding group of specialist coaches including former and current professional cricketers. 

The quality of coaching has been a real highlight. Across the two seasons, players have worked with coaches including Scott Newman, Michael Carberry, Ganapathy Chandrasekar, Tommy Ealham and Gary Butcher, while the wider winter programme has also included a batting masterclass with Arun Harinath. The girls’ section has similarly benefitted from specialist sessions with Ariana Dowse, Emma Jones, Ivreen Dhaliwal and Monte Lynch, giving our young players the chance to learn from people who have played and coached at a very high level. 

The pathway is not just about technical cricket. In 2024, the club also offered a pre-season Strength and Conditioning programme, led by Ganapathy Chandrasekar, designed both to improve performance and reduce injury risk. Ten players took part, adding an important physical-development element to the programme. 

Just as importantly, there is now a strong route from junior cricket into adult cricket at the Wick. In 2024, 33 juniors made 321 appearances for adult sides, including five juniors who played for the 1st XI and six who played for the 2nd XI. In 2025, 34 juniors made 298 adult appearances, with one junior even taking on the captaincy of the Adult Sunday Warriors side towards the end of the season. 

We are also proud that a number of Wick juniors are involved in representative cricket beyond the club, including county and district pathways. Their achievements are something to celebrate, but they also matter because they show younger players what is possible. At the same time, our club ethos remains clear: success should never come at the expense of inclusivity, enjoyment, team spirit or the development of the whole group.

The Performance Pathway is therefore part of a broader ambition: to help every junior player improve from their own starting point, while making sure that those with the ability and drive to go further have the support to do so. Whether a player’s next step is their first hardball match, a county trial, a senior debut, or simply becoming more confident in their cricket, we want the Wick to be a place where they can grow.