We encourage all our older YC’s to integrate, train and play with the adult teams. To help this transition we supplement age specific training and match programmes with adult cricket and development cricket via the Surrey Trust League.
This enables us to put up to nine U19’s of mixed ages into a team with two experienced cricketers to play structured matches against other progressive clubs in Surrey. This helps the players of all ages learn their match craft skills and play high quality competitive cricket after school or colleges finish the Summer Terms.
If you are interested in joining us , please contact Glenn Harrison, who is Head of Senior Youth Cricket. His role provides a fluid pathway between Youth Cricket and our Adult XIs. Glenn can be contacted on Glenn Harrison, or on his mobile 07954990893.
Senior Academy – Season Report 2022
The ECB Surrey U19’s Trophy is notoriously difficult to win – in 2020 Esher went into the final having never won it and Andy McCallum captained the team to a historic win. The following year Jack Fletcher masterminded another victory in the final against Banstead at Normandy CC. This year was always going to be one of rebuilding and integrating some very talented u15s and 16s into the team; the fact that we won it again to complete a treble of victories was exceptional. Freddie Harrison captained the team intelligently and integrated all the younger players perfectly. Anosh Malik scored crucial runs in the group game against Guildford and in the semi-final against Wimbledon, where he scored a match winning 50 not out against a good attack – in that game we defended a modest 128 thanks to excellent bowling from Trish Patel, Max Wallis, Freddie and an inspired spell by Mackenzie Holliday guided us into the final against East Molesey at Normandy again. The final was a superb spectacle. The date clashed with a Surrey U15 game which meant that we were missing the talented young guns French, Chambers and Wallis. We did extremely well to keep a strong East Molesey team to 140 off 20 overs. Our reply got off to a good start, but after Anosh ran himself out, Joe Moss and Dan Old fell soon after, we were looking in a spot of bother. Freddie Harrison came to the crease and initially took the bowling apart to get us ahead of the run rate and then batted sensibly with Fred Price and Ben Clarke who both contributed important partnerships with Freddie to get us over the line. Freddie was caught for 48 off 24 balls with Esher still needing a handful of runs and it was so pleasing to see Kairan Siva go in and hit the winning runs off the last ball – Kairan has played with the age group since the under 7s and he also got three vital wickets. A memorable final and another successful campaign! Special mention to the contributions of the young players – Max Wallis taking 5 wickets against Guildford, Jack Joyce bowling brilliantly against Rowledge, Alex French bowling a hostile spell at Guildford and Ben Clark’s sensational wicket keeping in the semi and final was stand out. Trish Patel was superb again with bat and ball and when he and Freddie bowled in tandem, the team always stood a chance.
The Trust league, as always, provided further opportunities for a tremendous group of players to enjoy cricket together against good opponents on first team pitches – it was useful development to integrate the likes of Dan Old, Fred Price and Max Wallis. Dan Old scored a sublime century against a Weybridge team containing several first team players. Fred Price shared a memorable 150 partnership with Freddie Harrison against Ashtead scoring 86 high class runs and Max Wallis regularly bowled with success as a leading spinner in the attack.
Charlie Winder again captained the team with a perfect blend of fun, inclusivity and desire to win – this league has always been about development and making sure whoever was selected always had a role to play in the team – Charlie achieved all these goals and the fact that we just fell short again was secondary to the enjoyment and fun the boys had. The highlight of the season was probably Charlie and Mossy scoring 99 off the power play at Finchampstead with some incredible stroke play which meant we could cruise to victory with a classical 50 not out from Andy McCallum helping us chase down 220 with 10 overs to spare. A tremendous season and some exceptionally consistent all round performances from Austin Wilman, Trish Patel and Freddie Harrison, all of whom regularly took the important wickets and scored vital runs and of course to Charlie and Mossy for the fireworks at the top of the order on many occasions. Terrific middle order runs, running between the wickets and fielding were always exemplary from Adam Koep and Andy McCallum. Sadly, we had a significant number of players unavailable for the key game against Valley End which meant we just fell short, but the team should be rightly proud of their stylish victories against Ashtead, Weybridge and Finchampstead.
Both the U19s and Trust league success have been instrumental in connecting more young players to successfully perform in adult cricket and more importantly enjoy the experience- 6 of this squad actually represented the 1st team in the premier league this year including Alex French aged 15. Congratulations to all who have played and particularly to Charlie and Freddie for their exceptional leadership. (Glenn Harrison)
