Junior cricket
LAST Saturday more than 100 players, parents and supporters gathered at Glaxo Sports & Social Club for the presentation of Raby Cricket Club’s junior section end of season awards.
Junior co-ordinator Scott Hedley welcomed everyone ad introduced three special guests: Ottis Gibson, current Yorkshire head coach; Kyle Coetzer, former Scotland captain and assistant coach of the Northern Diamonds women’s team; and Richard Robinson, head groundsman at Headingley and record run scorer in the Bradford league
Raby Castle’s junior section is in great shape with more than 100 children attending weekly training sessions from All Stars to U15s.
This season the club entered two new teams into the Durham Cricket Board Junior League: U11 girls’ softball and an U15 team.
U9s and 11s
The U11 players’ player of the year was Joseph Bird. The most improved player was Barnaby Tiplady and player of the year was Oliver Clark.
U11s girls
Coach Glenn Solan spoke about each player and thanked assistant Molly Robinson for her support and organisational skills throughout the season. The players’ player of the year was Amy Heslop. The most improved player was Isabelle Ireland and the player of the year was Mia McCombie.
U13s
The U13 team won the Durham Cricket Board Junior League south west division league and cup double this season and each of the players received an engraved trophy as a reward for their efforts.
Player of the year was 10-year-old Louis Morris. Players’ player of the year was Finlay Kirkup and the most improved player was Annabelle Tiplady.
U15s
Coach Matty Glenton spoke about a really good first season for the team. They finished joint top of their league with Crook Town CC but then lost out in a play off and consequently finished runners up.
The good news is that all the players who played this year are eligible to play for the U15s next year. Everyone who had represented the team in 2023 received a runners up medal.
Player of the year and players’ player of the year was William Poole. Wicket keeper-turned bowler Harry Glenton was the most improved player.
The final award, the Poole Family Trophy for junior player of the year was presented by Bernard Poole, a club stalwart for more than 75 years.
Steve Caygill spoke about the difficulty the coaches had on deciding between William Poole, who scored more than 700 runs and took 19 wickets, or Finlay Kirkup, who took 53 wickets and scored more than 200 runs. In the end, the coaches decided that the trophy should be shared.
Club secretary Steve Caygill took the opportunity to thank everyone present for their support of the club’s crowdfunding campaign which raised £15,500 for an electricity supply.
He praised Ian Dent and Mark Poole for the fantastic voluntary work they do in preparing wickets and the ground for matches. They both received a gift of Chocolate Fayre chocolates from fellow groundsman Richard Robinson.
Steve Caygill
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
