Welcome to the Sissinghurst Cricket Club Junior Section. We run a comprehensive hardball and softball cricket programme for boys and girls from Under 9 to Under 18 which is fully accredited by the ECB.
Established some ten years ago we now have over 150 junior members. All our age groups are managed and coached by ECB qualified and DBS compliant coaches which creates a real consistency to our programme through a player’s informative years.
Pre-season nets, for our boys and girls hardball cricketers from Under 11’s to Under 18’s, usually start in late January on a Sunday evening at Benenden School sports hall. The outdoor season commences in late April with Sunday morning coaching sessions and a full programme of League, Cup and Festival cricket for both our boys and girls. All our older members are encouraged to participate in our Senior teams on either a Saturday or a Sunday.
Our coaches and administrative teams are all volunteers who give up a huge amount of their free time to make our Junior Section one of the best in Kent. We are fully inclusive and try our very best to offer cricket to all levels of ability. That being said we are hugely proud of all our members who achieve Area and County level representation and make no excuses for the fact that our teams play in competitive League and Cup competitions.
Full information on our Mission Statement, Core Values and Membership etc can be found in the links below.
Please enquire, by email, for availability before completing the Membership Form.
Simon Latham – Chairman of Sissinghurst Cricket Club
A Review of the 2024 Junior Season
It has been another fantastic year for junior cricket at Sissinghurst. With over 60 junior games and tournaments played across all age groups, it has been a busy but hugely enjoyable experience.
Ben and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all players and their parents/carers for their exceptional commitment to cricket this summer. We have seen immense progress in all years with tournament, cup, and league successes shared across the age groups. It is also right to celebrate the efforts and commitment of our coaching group; we have regularly had 19 coaches available on a Sunday for our coaching sessions, with many groups benefitting from a larger number than ever before. Furthermore, we would like to express our gratitude to those who have scored, umpired, and marshalled the troops during matches. Without this support, our roles become infinitely more difficult.
There are several people to thank who work tirelessly to ensure our ground is considered one of the best in Kent. The work of Graham White, Mike Burgess, and Jonathan Gurr is hugely appreciated and cannot go unnoticed; their incredible efforts help produce and maintain exceptional pitches year in year out for Sissinghurst to play on. Thank you to Jackie Winner and Mandy Agar for their huge support behind the scenes ensuring the clubhouse is welcoming and that we carefully safeguard the wellbeing of our youngsters. Thank you to Benenden School for the use of indoor nets for pre-season training and for joining our brilliant team of sponsors for the 2025 season. Thank you to JM Finn, TN17, Burtons Solicitors, and Kent Construction Consultants for their financial support as lead sponsors this season and to our affiliates The Milk House, NXT, and Woollybear for their support across the Junior section.
The final word must go to Christina Dyas: after seven wonderful years, she is sadly stepping down as the junior administrator. Christina is a great champion of junior cricket and all things Sissinghurst. She has been the first contact for many of our families, ensuring that all enquiries reach the coaches in a timely fashion and trial sessions are promptly organised. She has completed a colossal amount of work behind the scenes to allow for us all to be successful on the training and playing field and we would like to thank her for all her hard work.
Please see below the year group coaches’ review of the 2024 season:
U9 Mixed:
The Under 9s had another good year in 2024. As the youngest age group we strive to find a balance between fun and learning the basics of the game and hopefully we did that.
We were lucky to have four new volunteer coaches which allowed us to provide coaching and encouragement to more kids than ever before (name them if you see fit!). 39 children signed up with a record number of girls not only taking part but excelling.
The obvious highlight was taking home the title in the Weald of Kent Kwik Cricket tournament hosted at Marden CC. We battled through the rain and all kids across both teams did the club proud.
Brough Cooper, Chris Innerd, Nick Snoek, Adam Brownlee and Argy Taylor
U11 Boys:
The U11s have had a cracking season 2024. From the outset this group of boys showed a huge amount of commitment to training and their development is testament to how hard they worked and how well they listened.
It must be said – it was also a blast. They are a great group who clearly were as happy as their coaches to be at SCC every Sunday morning.
Their commitment was rewarded. Both the Hardball and Incrediball team have had a truly remarkable season. The U11 Incrediball team have won all their matches, finished top of the league, and reached the final of the Cup competition. It was a close final against LBJ which we narrowly lost, missing out on a 100% record for the season.
Competition in hardball was tough this year and it was by a hair’s breadth that we lost in the league to Marden and Mote – the top two teams in the league. We won all other matches. In the Cup competition we had great success, reaching the final after a semi-final replay win against Leeds and Broomfield Juniors (LBJ). Facing our league adversaries, The Mote, in the final, we bowled and fielded fantastically to keep the opposition to 244 runs. We then batted maturely to surpass this total after our 20 overs to lift the cup. A fantastic end to a great season!
Special thanks to the parents/carers who show equal commitment, getting the boys to training every week, as well as some far-flung cricket grounds dotted around rural Kent.
We look forward to seeing the boys next year. We wish those moving up to the U13s the very best of luck. They are lucky to have you. We are also excited to welcome a new crop of talented youngsters from the U9s. The future is bright.
Giles Robinson, Mike Godfrey and Toby Valance
U13 Boys Blue
With a bumper crop of Under 13s this year we decided to enter two sides in the Under 13 competition. The U13 Blues consisted of our Under 12/Yr 7 players, with the decision being to keep the successful U11 squad from last year together, to build confidence playing the more traditional cricket format. With a strong victory in our first game against Marden, we were lulled into a false sense of security, with subsequent losses in our next two games.
The poor weather impacted several planned fixtures, which meant a long layoff before our next games, both against The Mote in the quarter final of the Cup and then the league. With renewed enthusiasm both games were won convincingly with a cup semi-final booked against our early season opponents Marden.
After much rearranging we had the U13 White v Blue game, a one-sided loss which did little to prepare us for the semi-final. On the night we leaked too many runs to a strong Marden side, on a fast outfield. In reply we lost regular wickets, which impacted on our chances of competing. With the light dim, we closed our innings early with the victory not mathematically possible.
All attention was focused on the final league game against Bearsted, with our aim to finish mid table in the league. We batted first posting an average 106-8 after our 20 overs. A strong fielding display, supported by regular wickets taken, saw us secure our third league victory of the season. A fantastic achievement for a group of boys playing against teams made up of players in the year above. We look forward to building upon these foundations next year and challenge for the league and cup titles.
Lewis Clift, Jon Agar, Giles Kennedy, Tim Pett and Oli Morris
U13 Boys White
Despite inclement weather at the start of the season, and a core squad of only 10 players, supplemented on a match-by-match basis by very willing Year 7 volunteers from the ‘Blue’ team, the Year 8 ‘White’ team secured considerable success this season, winning the Weald of Kent Under 13 League Competition again. This is the fifth title for the Under 13 team in the last six seasons and, for most members of the Year 8 squad, their fourth title in four years, their teams having won the League as Under 11 and Under 13 respectively.
The team won five of their seven matches, losing to Marden in the League and Linton Park in the Cup, both fixtures played in murky and rainy conditions with depleted teams. The team secured the highest number of bowling points and the joint highest number of batting points across the League.
It has been gratifying to see Year 8 players supplement the Under 15 Hardball squad for many fixtures and playing in both the Saturday and Sunday Adult squads during the summer, as well as in the Weald of Kent Hundred competition.
We would like to thank all the players for their commitment and strong contributions over the season and wish them well in the Under 15 team next season. We hope to see many next season and will miss the contributions of those players starting at boarding school this month. We would also like to thank all of the players in the Blue Year 7 team who supplemented the team, and to parents and/or guardians who supported the team, at times in atrocious weather.
Tim Grierson-Rickford and David Carr
U15 Boys
This year was the first time in a while that we have entered an U15 league; an incredible step forward for the club.
The season started brightly; two good wins against Linton Park and Marden with all players contributing. However, a special mention goes to Felix Elliot 5fer and Jack Dyas for scoring 48 not out against Marden.
We then faced two of the strongest teams in the league, in LBJ and The Mote. This showed the level we need to get to and although we were unable to challenge them, there were many positives to take away going into next season. Congratulations to Fin Groom, who batted maturely with an exceptional score of 45 and 50 not out.
With a prolonged season, due to rearranged matches, the final few games were more of a challenge to field a team. We are grateful for the raft of talented U13s who stepped in to bridge the gaps – thank you to each of those that did! They all made a positive impact on the games and confirm how bright our future is.
We finished the season with a closely fought victory against Bearsted with Fin Groom once again scoring another 50 not out. In the following game, Fin and Ben Lloyd scored 50 not out against Marden.
On a personal note, I wanted to share how impressed and proud I have been of all the players over the season and how great it is that our players are now transitioning into adult cricket as well. Thank you to each and every one of you for all your efforts over the year and a special thank you to Tom Groom for captaining the side admirably. Well done everyone.
Batting top scorer: Fin Groom – 225 runs
Bowling leading wicket taker: Ben Agar – 6 wickets
Jon Agar
U11 Girls
It has been a season of continued growth for the U11s. The squad is now 18 strong and due to this, two additional coaches volunteered to oversee training and the matches.
Strong attendance at the winter nets led us to the decision that the majority of training sessions should be done with hardballs rather than the Incrediballs we use in matches. Concern that some girls might struggle with the jump from windball (softball) to hardball was unfounded as all trained with enthusiasm – cries of ‘why can’t we play hardball’ during the league matches was commonplace!
The girls won 4 out of 5 matches in the league – all convincingly. Our only loss was to a very good LBJ side with county experience. Reaching the League finals day for the second year in a row is quite an achievement and the girls should be very proud of themselves, despite just coming up short against LBJ again.
The girls also reached the final of the Kent County Finals day held at Marden CC where they played teams from across the County. In a league format for the first section, they qualified second (beaten only by the eventual second place team) to reach the Semi Finals. This was by far the toughest match of the season, losing against the eventual winners. SCC placed fourth overall which was a tremendous effort for an inexperienced team.
The older girls in the group will flourish next year when they move up to the U13s and we can’t wait to see how the players staying in the U11s will help and guide the new girls next year. As ever, we are incredibly proud of them all.
Thanks to all coaches who helped and aren’t mentioned below.
Ben Stinton, Viv Stewart, Emma Bullen, Peter Stewart and Daryl Lloyd
U13 Girls
Another hugely successful season for the girls’ hardball squad, culminating in a first league title (shared with Marden). A great accolade for the girls and the Club – well done!
The season started unseasonably with a friendly match against Benenden School in late April, on the school’s new artificial strip. While we lost the match, it was a good learning experience against familiar opposition, and therefore a very useful start to the season. We went on to enjoy convincing wins in the league over Mote, Marden, and LBJ in the ensuing weeks. We then came unstuck in what – thanks to the weather – turned out to be our final league match away at Marden in early July, but our performances in the first three matches were enough to secure the title.
We fared less well in the Kent Eighty Competition, losing narrowly to LBJ and to Marden in our group stage – the talent is evidently there, but much work to do with regard to match tactics next season!
A big thank you to all those who came to training (both winter and summer sessions) and played in the matches. While I mention things to work on, we have seen enormous progression by everyone, in terms of technique but, equally importantly, confidence. It can be daunting facing a hardball in a match situation, and we witnessed a number of girls grow hugely in their confidence as the season progressed.
It is also exciting to see some of the talent coming through from the U11s, namely the boys. It was pleasing to see a number of U11s playing up in the hardball matches where we had lower numbers during the summer holidays. This bodes well for a successful 2025!
It has been a real pleasure to coach the girls this season. I hope everyone has a good off season and look forward to next season.
Pedro Stewart
