The immensely popular Spring Term Cricket Courses, sponsored by Rathbones, are once again close to full capacity with record numbers for the 2018 season. Over the past five years the number of local school children taking part has risen from 97 in 2013 to 141 in 2018, and courses have been expanded to cover all schools on the Island, ensuring as many children as possible have the opportunity to take part.  

Running now for eleven years, this initiative has proven to be hugely successful; and has encouraged into the sport many new players who wouldn’t ordinarily have been attracted to cricket at this age at school. 

The courses, which started on Wednesday 10th January, are open to both girls and boys in school years 2 to 8, and continue for ten weeks through to Friday 23rd March. Run by qualified coaches, the sessions, which focus on getting the youngsters playing modified cricket games to help them learn new skills and techniques, are held on Wednesdays at Oakfield Sports Centre; and Fridays at Les Quennevais and Oakfield Sports Centre. 

The hardball cricket sessions have proved hugely successful since they were introduced in 2015 to give youngsters from Years 6, 7 and 8 the opportunity to enjoy cricket with friends and in some cases use a hard cricket ball for the first time. 

Lee Meloy, Jersey Cricket Development Manager, commented “It’s fantastic to see the numbers of children taking part increasing every year, we have already expanded the reach of the courses and we will be reviewing the scheme further to see what more can be done in the future. We’re really grateful to Rathbones for helping to provide these youngsters with the first step on the pathway towards playing international cricket.”   

Delighted with the ongoing success of the courses and the 2108 uptake, Rathbones managing director, Jonathan Giles added “We are very proud to continue our sponsorship of this fantastic programme with Jersey Cricket. It is extremely pleasing to see how the demand for these courses has grown over the years. We believe that getting youngsters involved in sport benefits them many ways, and we are proud to play a small part in providing this opportunity to so many girls and boys, who are developing fundamental sports and social skills.”