Despite the indifferent weather during much of May and parts of June, our young players have been busy training and taking part in matches in the opening eight weeks of the season.

This season nearly 250 boys and girls between 4 and 16 years old have registered with the club, and COVID compliant training sessions commenced at the end of April under the guidance of Head Coach Scott Simmons and his team of fellow coaches and coaching assistants.

Our Minis and U7s have been learning the basics of the games during the Friday night training sessions at Upminster Park, and it is great to see such enthusiasm from players and coaches. In recent weeks some of the U7s have been playing in softball matches against other clubs in order to gain some experience and in the next few weeks U7s friendly games will be taking place against Orsett & Thurrock and Hornchurch Athletic.

With 13 games already completed (plus two intra-squad games) the U8s have been our busiest side so far in 2021. All 13 games have resulted in wins so far with fixtures taking place in the Central Softball and Hardball Leagues and the Havering League. A number of friendly matches have also taken place and it has been great to play against new clubs who our sides have not played against regularly before such as Belhus and Billericay. Two highlights so far have been thrilling victories against Rainham and Gidea Park & Romford (by 5 and 9 runs respectively), but the biggest highlight has been seeing more than 25 different players representing the club at this age group already this season.

Our U9s are also unbeaten to date and have already progressed to the knockout stages of the Don Coates Trophy (the Met Board Softball competition) with one game still to play in the first round, and they currently sit top of their group in the Freddie Goldman Trophy (the Met Board Hardball competition). Their best results so far have been victories against Frenford in the Freddie Goldman Trophy and Woodford Wells in the Don Coates Trophy, and they face some tough encounters in the coming weeks as they are set to Gidea Park & Romford and Buckhurst Hill, amongst others.

Last year the U10s (as the U9s in 2020) lifted the Don Coates Trophy, and this year they have moved on to playing a mix of hardball and softball games against predominantly U11 sides. In the Havering League they lie in second place in the table with two wins and two defeats so far. One of those wins was a thrilling 3 run win over good friends Rainham while one of those defeats was by one run in amazing game against neighbours Hornchurch. All in all the side have played 11 matches so far, winning five, losing five and with one game ending in a tie (against South Weald). So far 31 players have played in matches for this team in 2021!!

With 10 wins from 10 games so far the U11s are enjoying an excellent season. They head the Havering League table at the present time with four wins from four and those victories included a five run win against the Upminster U10s and a one run success against Gidea Park & Romford. In the Haydn Davies Trophy the squad have confirmed their place in the last eight with one group game still to play after wins against Ilford, South Woodford, Buckhurst Hill and Gidea Park & Romford.

The U12/U13 squad are in a variety of competitions this season and they have had some excellent results so far. In the Brian Taylor Trophy (for U12s) they beat Orsett & Thurrock in an excellent game before losing in their next match against Harold Wood. They will need to beat Loughton in their final group game to stand a chance of advancing to the knockout stages. In the Len Stentiford Trophy (the Met Board competition) the team lie second in the table at the present time but will need to beat Wanstead & Snaresbrook to ensure they advance to the next round, while in the Central League the highlight so far has been a brilliant four run win against Brentwood at their picturesque De Rougemont Ground.

Like the U12/U13 squad the U14/U15s are also playing in a number of competitions and have so far completed a remarkable 13 fixtures against other clubs. In the Sir Alastair Cook Trophy (for U14s) they are in pole position to top the group having produced the performance of the season to beat Harold Wood on Wednesday night. Defending just 64 Upminster bowled out Wood for 61 to win by three runs!! That was their third win in the competition and they face Wickford in their final group game in two weeks time. Meanwhile in the Cox & Kings Trophy (the Met Board competition) the group stages have concluded already and Upminster have advanced to the quarter finals where they face a trip to Loughton for a place in the last four. In the Central League there have been three defeats and one victory so far while in the Central Cup the game at Maldon has twice fallen foul of the weather but is set to be played this weekend (weather permitting!!).

The Matchplay (for U16s) will commence on 4th July and Upminster find themselves in a group with Harold Wood, Benfleet and Chingford, with only the top side in each group (plus the best runners-up) moving through to the quarter finals.

One of the great successes of the season to date has been the number of games played by our girls sides who have entered new competitions in 2021. The U10 girls are playing in the U9 Boys Central League and have so far picked up two wins against Billericay and Great Baddow whilst losing out to an excellent Springfield side. They also played a brilliant friendly against Buckhurst Hill on Bank Holiday Monday, losing by just three runs.

The U12 girls are competing in the Central Girls League and they have recorded one win (over Hutton) so far as well as seeing their game against Shenfield abandoned due to rain. Many of these girls also played in the Lady Taverners U13 competition where the team put in an excellent performance at Harrow before losing by 18 runs.

Across all of our sides 69 matches had been played against other clubs up to Thursday 24th June (plus six intra squad games) with 49 wins, 18 losses, 1 tie and 1 abandonment, and there are eight games set to take place over the coming weekend (tonight and Sunday). So far just over 150 boys and girls have played in games against other clubs and nearly 250 have taken part in training.

We must thank all of the coaches and team managers for their work so far this season, as well as all those who have scored, umpired and helped out in any other way. We would also like to thank all those at the Met Essex Cricket Board (Andrew Shields, Len Enoch, Sue Blogg and Trevor Hebden) and the Central Essex Cricket Board (Jan West and Neil Foster) for their tireless work in making sure so much cricket gets played across the County by so many clubs and of course a huge thank you to all clubs who have hosted our sides in 2021 or travelled to Upminster to play. After the situation of the last 16 months it is great to see so many boys and girls playing cricket across the County and we hope the second half of the season will be just as busy………..and hopefully a little drier!?!?