Hurley Cricket Club - Latest News

Clubmark Presentation - Sunday June 27th

Hurley have been presented with the ECB recognised Clubmark Accreditation. This is a fantastic achievement for us and we're only the 21st club in Berkshire to receive this. Dave Forrest (Youth Cricket Manager) and Hurley's 3 ECB qualified coaches David Simoes, Mark Allen and Neil Dawkins were presented with the accreditation from Mark Roche, Cricket Development Manager for Berkshire.

Find out more about Hurley Cricket Club's Clubmark Accreditation

Maidenhead Advertiser article on Hurley's Clubmark Accreditation

Henley Standard article on Hurley's Clubmark Accreditation

ECB Coaching Qualifications

Coaching Qualifications Congratulations to Neil Dawkins and David Simoes who recently qualified for their ECB Level 2 coaching badge. Hurley is now lucky enough to have 4 ECB qualified coaches helping out as part of the Youth Programme:

Mark Allen - Level 2
Neil Dawkins - Level 2
David Simoes - Level 2
Matt Hampton - Level 1

Registration for Youth Cricket

As part of Hurley CCs ongoing development of its youth programme, an introductory coaching session was held for U9s and U11s at the NatWest Cricket Force Day on 17th March. It was great to see so many new faces and hopefully this will get carried over into the fast approaching new season. Initial registration for the youth programme is as below although we will of course welcome people throughout the season:

U9s Registration - April 25th 9.30 am to 11am
U11s Registration - April 25th 9.30 am to 11am
U17s Registration - April 21st 6pm to 8pm

In addition any player can help promote the Youth programme through distribution of the promotional poster that we have created or circulation of the Press Release.

Hurley Cricket Club Youth Programme Cricket Recruitment Poster

Hurley Cricket Club Youth programme Press Release

NatWest CricketForce weekend

Read the Hurley blog on CricketForce published on the ECB website

In connection with the NatWest CricketForce 2010 initiative Hurley CC will be holding a weekend of volunteering at the club to smarten up the clubhouse and the ground in preparation for what will be an exciting season of cricket as the club develops its status as a Berkshire County Cricket Focus club. This important event takes place on Saturday 27th March 2010 and Hurley CC is just one of over 1500 cricket clubs nationwide that will be involved.

We need volunteers to carry out the jobs and this means all club members and as many friends, family and others that you can gather to help out. Please be prepared to put aside at least one day of this long weekend to help YOUR cricket club.We need volunteers to carry out the jobs. This means all club members and as many friends, family and others that you can gather to help out. Please be prepared to put at least a morning or afternoon aside for this important event to help your Cricket Club.

Details of the Hurley CC plan for CricketForce 2010
CricketForce details from the ECB

2010 Winter Nets

Winter nets start on Wednesday 3rd February 9.00pm at St. Piran's School, Marlow Road, Maidenhead SL6 7LZ. Click here for map.

300 Club/Summer of Sport

Congratulations to Tom Hooper who took won the 2009 "300" Club and first prize of £150 and Matt Hampton who walked off with the Summer of Sport title.

50 Years at Shepherds Lane...

Fifty years of cricket were celebrated in style at Hurley on Saturday with over 70 members and guests gathering for a festival of nostalgia and vague recollections. Over 20 past members made it back to the club and their numbers were swelled by wives, girl-fiends, burgeoning prodigy and in some cases ex wives (not burgeoning I hastily add – Laura), all of which made for a terrific atmosphere under blazing blue skies and verdant rural surroundings.
Cricket was played after a welcome pint and bacon roll. Three teams were cobbled together from complaining aging bodies, bodies fuelled by memories alone and a liberal sprinkling of our current crop of talented youngsters and current players. The cricket however was incidental and the results unimportant. What was brilliant was to see the likes of Mark ‘Mad Dog’ Allen, Kevin Clement, Peter ‘Bitter Dash’ Bassett, Neil ‘Lardy’ Dawkins, Nally ‘Wally’ Fernando, Brian ‘the talc pint’ Griffin, Neil ‘Doc’ Halliday, Tim Kendrick, Kunal ‘The Destroyer’ Nandwani, Mike ‘Burble’ Taylor and Chris Raymond score runs once again on the hallowed turf. The more sensible old timers preferred to shelter in the pavilion with a pint and ward off dementia by trying to recall names and faces and some classic tours. The challenge of the day was to put names to faces as another car load of veterans disembarked to see if there was anyone from their era there.
A tremendous effort by a few club members ensured an opulent tea, sumptuous BBQ and an excellent day. A stray sheep tried to join in the fun and ‘doc’ was all for a spit roast but in the end settled for burger and a sausage. While some could boast an association going back over 40 years with the club, the pride of place had to go to Alan Mustoo who was one of the few who re-launched the club in the village in 1959. Apologies to those who we could not find contact details for, but if you would like to contact us via the website we can ensure we put you on the list in future, hopefully before the next 50 years is celebrated.

A full list of past players attending is as follows (12th September 2009):
Mark Allen, Peter Bassett, Andy Chapman, Kevin Clement, John Cobby, Laurie Cox, Neil Dawkins, Paul Dutton, Nally Fernanado, Johnny Furneaux, Danny Fois, Gordon Ford, Brian Griffin, Neil Halliday, Tim Kendrick, Jeremy Lee, Chris Long, Alan Mustoo, Kunal Nandwani, Chris Raymond, Ian Shepherd, Mike Taylor, Martin Tetlow.

2009 - Sat 2nd XI Review...

The second XI have had their best season for quite a few years. Darryn Wright took over the reins as skipper and proved what we all suspected, that he is a useless tosser, only managing to win five tosses all season. With the retirement of Chaz Dawkins and semi-retirement of Colin Ainger, the average age of the side dropped below the forty mark for the first time in ages. Steve Taylor took over the first slip berth and proved to be a safe pair of hands, whilst the youngsters provided some much needed speed in the outfield. We scored maximum batting points on eight occasions and posted a new second team record of 300 for 5 against Denham. Three batsmen scored tons, DA (108) against Englefield, wearing his ‘lucky’ sweater for the whole innings despite the tropical heat, Shoaib (117) at Hawridge & Cholesbury and Imran (139 not out) against Denham. Steve Taylor showed the form we all know he is capable of, racking up 496 runs in the league, including 5 half-centuries. The youngsters also stepped up to the plate with Ross Brown, Alex Dunnings, Sam Draper and James Taylor all making significant contributions with bat or ball. On the bowling front, Parvinder, Darryn and DP took in excess of twenty wickets, with Imran, DW, Ross and Steve reaching double figures. Special mentions must go to Howard for his umpiring, Val for her teas, Jeff for his hard work on the wicket and Rita for scoring every game (despite the arctic conditions). Our fourth place finish with eight victories was the best this century, and if Englefield had not dropped out we would probably have bagged third place. If we can cut out the odd blip along the way then promotion will be within our grasp next season.

There were several highlights during the season. The Turkey Trap worked again, with Sam Draper keeping up the colts’ tradition by taking the catch in the gully. We had the excitement of a drawn game with the scores tied at Amersham Hill, in which Greggles played his only league innings, scoring a vital run from the only delivery he faced. DP returned the best figures of the season with 7 for 26 at Hawridge after we had scored 299 for 5 in 45 overs, the skipper’s declaration robbing Ross of a probable maiden fifty. All the victories were memorable in their own way, but for me the highlight of the season was seeing Ken Clarke prostrate, beating the ground after we chased down 246 to beat Wargrave with two wickets and one over to spare. One of the keys to our success this season was being able to put out a consistent side, with eight players playing 11 or more games, thanks go to all the players who made themselves available including those who stepped in at short notice when required. Towards the end of the season, Ross and Shoaib moved up to the first XI to bolster their batting with good effect, so it looks as though we will need to find replacements for them next season!

We can look forward to next season with confidence, but cannot rest on our laurels as we look to improve and get up to the first division.

2009 - a Sat 1st XI season to remember...

I'm not one for blogs and I can only apologise for criticising Humbug's last post as under par on the fantastic HCC website - perhaps I have come to expect too much from him. Before I start my season's review I would first like to thank you all for making the effort to play, umpire, score and/or do teas. It would be a much harder job to skipper such an eclectic bunch of guys without the hard effort of you all; special mention must go to Veggie, Val, Peter, Mary and Humbug. I appreciate that committing Saturday's through the whole season can often be difficult, neigh impossible for some of you, so any input you put into the season was very much appreciated. .

During the season there were many highlights, as well as the low points. Two games against Hamersham Mill were not pretty, and although the phrase "come on buddy" is still ringing in my ears the look on their opening bowler's face when I stated "if you are not good enough to bowl us out..." when Denis resolutely dragged us over the draw line was recompense enough. Indeed, we found a new batsman this year, Denis "Doris" Day might have been considered in the "has-been" pile, but his batting has been nothing of a revelation, and a well deserved 80-odd on the final day was due reward. His stickability is something that should be reviewed and considered by the rest of us for next year. Other highlights included our remarkable 1-wicket win over at Littlewick Green where Naeem (Roy of the Rovers / Jacko / Half-way line etc) Akhtar clawed us back when Ringo and him put on 50 for the last wicket, having already taken 8 wickets in their innings and put someone in hospital (teach him to reverse sweep...). .

Batting was our Achilles heel throughout the year and I think we only passed 200 three or four times. Denis and Naeem's unbroken 150 against Little Marlow again a case in point. Finally, it comes to a 15 year old who, and this was shared by several of the opposition, looks a class act. Ross has stepped onto the 1st XI stage, and has not even paused to gain composure, hitting 82 and 35no in two innings. Apparently the Little Kingshill opening quick asked a colleague if he should slow down for the wee-man; the answer was no as his first ball disappeared over his head for 4, the second ball even further. Cricket is a fun game when you are winning and you can sit in the pavilion watching some obvious talent. Special mention must also go to Denis "great knacker mate" Day for batting in the dark with his NZ slacks on against White Waltham, jokingly complaining on his dismissal that he never saw the ball. Trev's astonishing run of ducks is something of legend, although a match winning 40-odd over at Holyport was well celebrated - there's always next year! Luckily we did not often need to score 200 runs when you have the bowling services of Farooq. He may sit at the end of the lane until 5 minutes before the start of the game, but he gives it all and his bowling again has dug us out of many a hole. Again a 5-wicket haul in the final game was just reward for some excellent bowling, and his 200+ overs in the league make you realise how much we rely on him. The Little Marlow game sticks in the mind, if not only for me bowling the last three wickets in the penultimate over. Thankfully I was too unfit to perform a full lap, a la Shane Warne or Freddie (and probably slightly fatter!). Good bowling performances all season by Naeem, who was pipped on the last day for the leading wicket taker (that will teach him to disappear to Pakistan instead of Little Kingshill, but fear not I hope his job is safe!), young pup Alex with the big booming inswingers, and the old man Phil who against Coleshill was turning it square! The only other 5-wicket haul was by Ringo against Coleshill, who is still nursing broken fingers - I've never known anyone as unlucky on the digit department. .

It has been said by many a side that we play that we have probably the best bowling side in this division, who is to argue? If the game was played on paper we would probably win most matches, unfortunately we play on grass! Speaking of which, I think special mention and thanks must go to Jeff for preparing some the pitches throughout the summer. It is a thankless task (is that a contradiction?) and one that will take time to get the square back to its former glory. It's been a while since Hurley tracks have had bounce and carry, so was a joy to have some pitches like this. Long may it continue and hopefully only get better over this winter. There are too many other memories to share here so it only goes for me to thank you all again for your support. It has been a much improved season, and frankly a more enjoyable one. Some of the grounds we play on are fantastic (Hurley, Englefield), the teams good in the majority, although no one can better our teas. .

I am thinking about stepping down to let someone else take the reigns for a season or two. Who knows, perhaps one of you is keen enough to pick up the mantle? I have tried through the season to give most people a game of sorts, it is often difficult to balance the batting and bowling and if I haven't given you enough of either as you feel you would have liked I can only apologise. I am an advocate for blooding in the youngsters, and Alex, Ross and Sam have performed well this year and we must encourage them to retain a love of cricket, before they get lost to the lure of cheap beer and women. Hurley Cricket Club is one of the best around for this, and I think Ringo's outline for the future must be commended and fully supported by the club and committee. Anyhow, enough rambling, thanks for listening and recollecting the season with me; it's been fun. If I have missed mentioning anyone again I can only apologise, your omission is not deliberate. HCC is 50 years old since it was refounded, and Veggie has organised a celebration this Saturday. It would be good to see you all there, even if you aren't planning to play. All the best, Prof.

Hurley CC Development Plan

Thanks to the efforts of Dave Forrest we are pitching to the Berkshire Cricket Development Board (BCDB) to become a ‘focus club’. What does this mean? It means that they will support our efforts financially to get about 6 members qualified as coaches at either level 1 or 2 to run structured coaching evenings for 2 or 3 age level teams. Our current thinking is U9, U15, U17. BCDB will also go into schools, colleges etc and direct youngsters to our evenings as well as support them. Why are we doing this? Increasingly, Berkshire will be supporting these focus clubs and favouring them. Hurley for years has struggled for membership and so to survive we must ‘grow our own’. Anyone involved with the U17’s cannot be other than excited by their development and increasing influence on senior sides.We are writing the Plan which will be posted on this site soon. The development plans for the club took another huge step forward on 29th July. About 8 of us gathered to plot the progress of the club. The support of BCDB is dependent on us providing volunteers to train as coaches and deliver structured training sessions for colts next year. We think we have identified 6 but could always use more, anyone else interested should contact Dave Forrest. Things look bright a few years hence.

The Times to cover Hurley match.

On Saturday July 11 we'll be lucky enough to have a journalist from The Times down at Hurley writing an article on cricket at grass roots level. Let's hope the sun shines for the 2nd XI game against Littlewick Green.

Click this link to Times Article

Dave Walton takes 2010 Poker title