Would all KYC Under 15 Girls Winter Squad members please note two extra sessions of winter training have been added as under.

17.04.10.   Canterbury Academy   4pm - 6:30pm*
24.04.10    Canterbury Academy   1:30pm - 4pm*

*PLEASE NOTE THESE ARE EXTRA SESSIONS OVER AND ABOVE THE ORIGINAL
*With a full 3 weeks off over Easter please make every effort to attend these extra indoor sessions

For further information and details contact the KYC Under 15 Girls Head Coach Nick Bier.

Registrations are open for NatWest CricketForce 2010! The event will take place over the weekend of March 26, 27 and 28 2010.   To register your club follow this link.   Registrations will close on Monday March 22.

NatWest CricketForce 2010 will see a new record number of clubs participating - with the 2009 total of 1,514 already surpassed by early March!

We’ve produced an 8-page full-colour brochure showcasing the best of NatWest CricketForce 2008 and 2009 - download it here now

CricketForce is an England and Wales Cricket Board volunteering initiative aimed at rejuvenating the nation’s cricketing facilities.  With enough volunteers involved to fill the Millennium Stadium it is the largest volunteer programme in British sport.  CricketForce encourages cricket supporters, their friends and families to give something back to their local community cricket club by volunteering to undertake major renovations to clubhouses and grounds.

Addington Village Cricket Club (AVCC) will be Kent Cricket Board’s main focus event in 2010 over the weekend in March.  For AVCC, the weekend will be the culmination of their latest facility development projects over the last couple of years - pavilion extension, new garage workshop, spectator balcony, upgrading insulation, tree and hedge planting, new practice nets etc. They are also about to embark on a children’s playground extension project as the next community project.  In addition to the cricket club’s activity, the neighbouring community volunteers in the Addington Village Hall have also done a kitchen upgrade so the club will be looking to highlight their achievement as well.

The reason for nominating Addington this year is because of the level of investment and club development activity that has been achieved by their community volunteers in recent years.  The club has invested approximately £200,000 in additional facilities and can demonstrate what is possible given the support they have received from a number of Partners including the County, Borough and Parish Councils.

Various VIPs have been invited to attend throughout the day.  So far those who have accepted include Sue Murray, the Mayor of Tonbridge & Malling, Hugh Robertson - Shadow Sports & Olympics Minister, MP Sir John Stanley and members of Kent County Cricket Club - Paul Farbrace - Team Director, first team players Simon Cook, James Tredwell and Matt Coles.

Anyone wanting to volunteer to help out at AVCC or indeed a club local to you, please get in contact with us and we can give you contact details for the clubs in your area.

In previous years, Kent has had an average of 50 clubs registering and in the last two years we have exceeded this number by a long way.  Cricket Clubs in Kent can certainly see the value in registering for the scheme and engaging their local community to improve their club’s facilities and relationships with local people.  So far 66 in Kent have already signed up for 2010.

Further information:
Get started on the road to CricketForce success by downloading the new NatWest CricketForce 2010 - step by step guide

Whatever your query, whatever information you need, you can contact the CricketForce help desk via email at natwestcricketforce@ecb.co.uk

For a full list of the Clubs in Kent that have registered for the 2010 CricketForce event download this document.

Representatives from every Kent Club in the Tunbridge Wells District Development Group turned out on Wednesday evening, 10th March 2010 to take the opportunity of a joining a round table discussion with KCCC Director of Cricket Paul Farbrace about the current Kent cricket youth development system.

The meeting was an extremely informative and lively affair and from Paul’s opening words through to Peter Robinson’s closing reminder about ECB’s One Game Pledge, the wheel turned full circle through two and a half hours of thought-provoking discussion about the way the youth development system is organised and managed.

The full report of the meeting is available for download from here.  It’s well worth all Kent Club’s who are in the process of developing young players taking time out to read.

The remuneration and responsibilities for the appointments of umpires for the new season have been confirmed.

We are sure that this item will be of interest to all Clubs in Kent even if they play in Leagues and competitions that are not part of those detailed in the attached document.  If your Club uses Umpires from a local panel for your matches it might help as a guide to what payments might be.

Please note that the appointments to these matches is made according to the reference in the final right hand column with RAC referring to the Regional Appointment Coordinators.

The appointment of umpires for the first three rounds of the National KO are to be made by the county ACO as was the case in 2009.

Expense forms for the competitions where ECB remunerate centrally will be available on the ECB ACO website to download before the start of the season.

These forms should be sent to the appropriate person after the completion of the match for settlement.

A great achievement for North Kent youth cricket and Bexley in particular.  All four Metropolitan Kent girls teams - Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich and Lewisham -  qualified for the finals at Lord’s with three getting through to the semi finals and two competing in the final.

Additionally, Bexley and Lewisham were the only two boroughs to get both their boys and girls teams through, with the Bexley boys, practically a brand new squad this year, achieving a very creditable semi-final place.

The day belonged to the girls though and a fairly comfortable win in the quarter final against Hounslow was followed up by a nail-biter against Greenwich which went down to the last couple of balls before Bexley eventually got home. This fixture would have made a good final though  the final match against Bromley proved to be equally exciting and would have graced any competition.

Bexley did lose some early wickets and were behind the run rate for much of the match and all appeared to be lost, but the team showed some great spirit, never giving up the cause and again got home with very little time to spare. Every player had an influential role in this success. To end up as champions was a very special moment.

This was the first time that Bexley Girls were able experience Lord’s and the memories are sure to stay with them for a long time to come.

Results – scores to follow:

Quarter Final :  Bexley beat Hounslow
Semi Final :  Bexley beat Greenwich
Final  : Bexley beat Bromley

Some photos from the event:

Kent Cricket Board are working to establish a county VI cricket team to participate in the 2011 national VI cricket league and are looking to recruit players in preparation for this.

Adults and young people aged 14 and over are invited to attend the Kent County Visually Impaired Cricket awareness day on Saturday 17th April 2010 from 10am to 1pm at Maplesden Noakes School in Maidstone.

Any family, friends, coaches and teachers with an interest in VI cricket are also invited to attend. The session will include an explanation of the rules of VI cricket followed by an active hands on session.

All details are available in a flyer which is available from the Disability Cricket Section on this website

For the attention of all Clubmark Accredited Clubs - your Club is now part of Sainsbury’s Active Kids!!   Sainsbury’s Active Kids scheme is being opened up to Clubmark Clubs - up to now it has been restricted to schools, scout and guides groups.

What’s Active Kids all about?
Since its launch in 2005, the aim of Active Kids has remained unchanged: to help teachers, leaders and coaches inspire and motivate young people to get active and be healthier by providing equipment and unique experiences for them to enjoy.

With 100s of pieces of equipment, resources and experiences on offer - from traditional sports equipment to more novel and cutting edge items - there’s so much that your young club members could benefit from.

Look out for Active Kids 2010
Active Kids is now all set for its sixth phenomenal year. Over the last five years schools, Scout and Guide groups have benefitted from an incredible £86 million worth of active equipment and experiences!

So why not join in, and make sure your club claims its share of the great stuff on offer?

It’s so simple to take part
From 17th February to 8th June 2010, Sainsbury’s shoppers can earn Active Kids vouchers for every £10 they spend in a main store (or every £5 spent in Sainsbury’s Locals), at Sainsbury’s petrol stations or online at sainsburys.co.uk.  These vouchers can be donated to your club for you to redeem for any of the products featured in the Active Kids 2010 catalogue.

It’s so easy to join in - register your club by calling the Active Kids helpline on 0844 415 8440.  You’ll then receive a welcome pack, including your catalogue to help get you going.

For more details please visit the website www2.sainsburys.co.uk/activekids

A vacancy has arisen for a suitable person to manage the Kent Cricket Board’s Girls Under 11 squad.  This is an important area of girl’s cricket development as it is the first rung of the performance ladder towards senior county, regional and national representation.  Several girls who are currently in the full England and England Development squads started in the Kent Under 11 girls squad.

If you are interested and want to know more about the vacancy please follow this link for a detailed explanation and the contact details for applying.

The ECB has unveiled the Under-17 girls’ development squad for the tour of South Africa next month.  Included are Kent Young Cricketers Deanna Cooper and Dee Tress. This is a terrific reward for all the very hard work Deanna and Dee - and their coaches - have put into their game over the years.  All of us here at Kent Cricket Board wish them great success.

An intensive nine-day trip will see the newly-created age-group side play five matches against Lancashire U19s, Western Province U19s and Bristol Phoenix between March 31 and April 8.

Clare Connor, former England captain and now head of women’s cricket at the ECB, said: “The players have a wonderful opportunity ahead of them.

“This is the first time we have compiled an Under-17 development squad and, after a six-month block of winter training, it will be great to see them compete.

“It’s exciting to see the players desperate to get out there and perform and I’m sure that the hard work they have put in during winter training, both in the nets and in the gym, will pay dividends when it comes to a demanding itinerary.

“Many of these players could have a big future in the women’s game and this tour marks the start of that in terms of being named in an ECB squad.”
Squad

Georgia Adams (Sussex)
Thea Brookes (Worcestershire)
Amara Carr, wicketkeeper (Devon)
Deanna Cooper (Kent)
Aylish Cranstone (Hampshire)
Jodie Dibble (Devon)
Cordelia Griffith (Essex)
Alex Hartley (Lancashire)
Sophie Luff (Somerset)
Gwenan Mai Davies (Wales)
Lucy Maxwell (Warwickshire)
Lauren Parfitt (Wales)
Carla Rudd, wicketkeeper (Sussex)
Lizzie Russell (Warwickshire)
Dee Tress (Kent)

Fixtures
March 31
England U17 v Western Province U19, Frank Reid Field
Lancashire U19 v Bristol Phoenix, Oaks

April 1
Bristol Phoenix v Boland U19, Frank Reid Field
Lancashire U19 v Western Province U19, Oaks

April 3
Lancashire U19 v England U17, Frank Reid Field
Western Province U19 v Boland U19, Oaks

April 4
Lancashire U19 v Boland U19, Frank Reid Field
Bristol Phoenix v England U17, Oaks

April 6
Bristol Phoenix v Western Province, Frank Reid Field
Boland U19 v England U17, Oaks

April 8
Final, Frank Reid Field
Third/fourth-place play-off, Oaks

James TredwellEx Kent Young Cricket and county professional James Tredwell has become the 215th player to play for England in One Day Internationals.

He took his place in the starting lineup in the match against Bangladesh on 2nd March 2010 in Dhaka!  All of us at Kent Cricket Board wish him well and we’ll look forward to seeing him represent England many more times in the future.