COVERED 2025 Spring

37 JOIN OUR MAILING LIST FOR ALL THE LATEST: TRENTBRIDGE.CO.UK/MAILINGLIST JUNIOR CRICKET “This is a blank sheet of paper, and I’m very excited and honoured that we’ve got the opportunity to create something completely from scratch.You don’t get the opportunity to do that in life very often.” The new structure also aims to ease the burden on volunteers, whose love for the game remains precious. “There’s an incredible knowledge base out there,” says Sam. “We’ve got people involved in this new structure that have been running junior cricket leagues for 20 or 30 years, and we can’t lose any of that experience. “What we can do, though, is bring it all together in one place rather than having volunteers operating in silos across the county. “We know that volunteer fatigue can be massive, too, if people have been doing the same jobs for that length of time. “You see it all the time – if you need a job doing, it ends up being done by the volunteer that’s already doing a million other things. “If we can take some of the stress away from people, and make sure they’ve got time to actually enjoy what they’ve created, that will be really satisfying.” The early signs are promising: the number of teams who have entered junior competitions for 2025 has risen by more than 50, and now stands at 350 across the county. Each of the new formats has attracted sufficient interest to be operational in this first year of the new structure. A sport that almost revels in its steep learning curve, and its wealth of for- mats, is pulling in the same direction. “You look at racquet sports, where you’ve got pickleball, padel and tennis all fighting each other in a sense, and you realise how fortunate we are that we’re so well integrated,” says Ben. “Yes, we’ve got different formats, but ultimately, it’s all cricket – and we just want people to be playing and enjoying cricket, whatever the format. “I think by bringing this all together under the under the banner Notting- hamshire Junior Cricket, we’re making that make sense to the youngsters that will be leading the game into the future.” “WE’VE GOT TO PROVIDE A PATH- WAY FROM THE VERY START OF A CRICKETING JOURNEY ALL THE WAY INTO ADULT OR REPRESENT- ATIVE CRICKET – AND MAKE SURE PEOPLE AREN’T OVERAWED BY THE EQUIPMENT OR THE RULES OF THE GAME.” Ben Thompson To find out more about junior cricket in Nottinghamshire, scan the QR code.