Updated on 12 February 2012
On Friday, 2 September 2011, Skelmersdale Cricket Club held their annual Junior Presentation Evening. The evening was preceded with a challenge match between a Skelmersdale Select XI and our main Club sponsors, Scott Rees & Company. Club Vice-President and Junior Co-ordinator Bill Regan opened the evening by thanking all juniors and parents for their support and endeavours throughout the season. The season has gone very well and from the 'young pups' at Under 9's through to the Under-15's, there has been considerable improvement as the season progressed. He also commented on the exemplary behaviour of our juniors. He then went on to point out the virtues of cricket where fitness, concentration, speed of thought, and strong will are very important attributes. He told the parents and juniors that the Club had just been awarded a large grant from the English Cricket Board for the installlation of a new 3-lane practice net facility. This would be 'state of the art' in which individual surfaces would cater for fast, swing and spin bowling. Enid Farrington, the Assistant Junior Co-ordinator, then went on to thank the parents and particularly those that had baked cakes and made tea for junior games and practice evenings. She also thanked all of our coaches and scorers for their help throughout the season. The evening was then handed over to the respective coaches to comment on the various age groups. Carl Welsh opened by saying that the Under -11's had got off to a difficult start, but as the season progressed performances began to improve. He was extremely pleased to see the enthusiasm and enjoyment on the faces of the group. He went on to give a special mention to Katy Fisher, who he said even at this early stage has a bright future in the game of cricket at a very high level. Bill Regan then commented on the Under-13's and pointed out that after two unlucky early-season defeats, then the season would have been very successful indeed. Those defeats left us in joint second-place. This season several juniors from our Under-13's had been included in our 3rd XI team under the guidance of Peter Davies. Coach of the Under 15's and 18's Steve Griffiths then addressed the audience by repeating that the season had been very successful at Under-15's level. They had done very well in the league and lost narrowly by just one run in the Cup semi-Final against league champions and eventual winners Ormskirk, in extraordinary circumstances. Before moving on to the presentations, Bill Regan explained a Club decision where awarding of trophies had to be earned and not just handed out to all juniors as some Clubs do. He said that the juniors would respect and appreciate the value of winning trophies as their cricket careers developed. He then introduced members of our 1st XI who were to make the presentations, and who had progressed through the junior ranks. They were: 1st XI skipper Ben Maddocks, Andrew Griffiths, and James Edgar. Addressing the juniors, he said "Four years ago these lads were at the stage you are now, and after a lot of hard work and practice are now regulars in Skelmersdale's 1st XI. That is what you should all be aiming for, because you are the future of this cricket club". And so the evening drew to a close with the announcement of the award winners, who were:-
This page will be used to publish match reports from the respective Junior coaches. Older reports will be deleted after 1 month to save space.
            | |||
 | |||