Wells and Horrington Cricket Club provide a round-up of the 2024 season
WELLS and Horrington Cricket Club have had a bumper second season with plenty of cricket squeezed in between the showers.
The club was formed in 2023 following a swift and successful merger between Wells Cricket Club and Horrington Cricket Club, and fixtures across the teams are played at the grounds Old School Lane, South Horrington, and Chapel Piece, East Horrington. Our club ethos and mission is to bring accessible and fun cricket to Wells and the surrounding area, and in 2024 we certainly achieved this. For the second year the club is an ECB Disability Cricket Champion club working with partner organisation Somerset Cricket Foundation and Lord & Lady Taverners to provide cricketing opportunities for all.
This summer the club welcomed more than 160 children to our cricket sessions. It was another sell-out year for the All Stars cricket programme with boys and girls aged five to eight years old learning cricket skills through fun games and activities. For the first year we ran U10 Softball teams in the Mid Wessex Cricket League which was enjoyed by lots of boys and girls and saw a second place finish in the league. Our hardball programme has teams across U12, U14 and U16 age groups, with the U16 finishing league champions and cup runners-up. It was great to see so many of our Juniors across our U14 and U16 teams transition into Senior cricket across our three league and friendly teams.
In the league, the 1st XI finished in third place in Somerset Cricket League Division 1, just missing out on promotion despite having beaten the league winners twice and the second-placed team away. The 2nd XI finished seventh in Division 5E and will wait to see the outcome of the league structure to understand where they will play next season. The 3rd XI finished sixth in a very closely fought Division 7 Blue league. The Sunday T20 team which focuses on transitioning Juniors into Senior cricket was popular again in 2024 with the club wearing swish coloured kit for the first time (next stop the IPL!).
Lastly, but certainly not least, the Women’s Softball team had a great season with more than 30 women training and playing every week. Softball cricket has all the fun and action of cricket but without the faff of pads and helmets so is super accessible for anyone to have a go.
Off the pitch the weather certainly hasn’t helped us to be our usual social selves with many of our fundraising events being washed out, including our popular Horrington Day on the second May Bank Holiday. We did manage to squeeze in some sunny Friday night openings with the barbecue in full roar during the All Stars and U10 cricket sessions.
We will celebrate the Senior and Women’s season with an End of Season Presentation Evening at The White Hart in early October – we look forward to sharing details of the winners shortly.
As a club we have countless volunteers that keep everything going, not least our grounds teams (who have had a hell of a year with all the rain), coaches, captains and managers, committee, fundraisers, barbecues and bar stewards, and all our amazing supporters and parents to whom we are grateful for their continued support on and off the field.
Support from our sponsors has been pivotal to us being able to make cricket accessible to all. We continue to extend a massive thank you to them for their continued support: Jump Somerset, The White Hart, CRS Wells, Mendip Shooting Ground, Old Mill, Chubb Bulleid, The Square, Tincknell Fuels, Solid Fuel Installations, Mogers Drewett, PVA Hygiene, Wired Media, Double Gate Farm B&B and Tearooms, b2 Architects, Unwins Independent Funeral Directors, Morris & Perry Ltd, Killens, Spencer Hunt Carpentry & Decorating, Wookey Hole Cave Aged Cheddar, Peter Bowen Art, JC Ball & Sons Ltd, Jeremy Weare Ltd, Wells Vets, Hewlett & Holdsworth and Horrington Handmade Soaps.
• Picture: Wells and Horrington Cricket Club 1st XI after their victory over Midsomer Norton 2nd XI in the Somerset Cricket Foundation Intermediate Cup