On Thursday 4th November we joined our WCCC colleagues at the County Club end of season dinner and awards night to celebrate a successful season. Congratulations to the Bears on their double trophy success! To mark this momentous year for Warwickshire cricket, here is our A-Z of the WCB 2021 cricket season.
A – ACE Programme. 2021 saw the launch of the ACE Programme in Birmingham to help reinvigorate cricket within the local African and Caribbean community.
B – Birmingham 2022. The WCB team has been involved in preparations for the Commonwealth Games and the opportunity the inclusion of women’s cricket provides to grow the women’s game in the West Midlands.
C – Community Coaches. Our fantastic team of Community Coaches has been delivering Chance to Shine Street & School sessions in over 100 schools and community settings.
D – Dynamos. The WCB has supported the roll out of the ECB’s brand new programme for All Stars graduates and children new to cricket aged 8-11, with 1202 children enrolled across Warwickshire.
E – Education. WCB prides itself on providing a wide range of coach education courses at every level. From April to November 2021, WCB delivered 20 coach education courses.
F – Female Firsts. 2021 has seen a number of firsts in the Women & Girls’ game, including our first ever Women Only Level 1 Foundation coaching course.
G – Groundstaff. Pandemic uncertainty and terrible weather at the start of the season made 2021 a challenging one for club grounds’ teams, so a big thank you to them all for their hard work delivering some fantastic pitches.
H – Handsworth Hub. Handsworth CC became the second national hub for the ACE Programme, with weekly sessions attended by 60 children.
I – Inclusive Cricket. The WCB has been proud to support the Warwickshire Access cricket team this year, and those clubs such as Bablake CC which provide cricket sessions for children with physical and learning disabilities.
J – Junior Groundstaff. Young Corley CC cricketers James and Tyler were rewarded for their work as junior groundsmen in 2021 when they received Grassroots Cricket Awards at Edgbaston.
K – KES Foundation. The WCB embarked on a great partnership in 2021 with the King Edward’s Schools Foundation for the benefit of local primary school children.
L – Lockdown Life. The cricket season started in lockdown and, as we gradually unlocked, a big WCB thank you goes out to all the club and league staff and officials who worked so hard to get the season underway.
M – More! More All Stars than we have ever had before. A record breaking year for our ECB introduction to cricket All Stars programme for 5-8 year olds, enjoyed in 2021 by 2635 Warwickshire & Birmingham children
N – National Champions. It’s been a summer of national success with Knowle & Dorridge U15s becoming national champions, to add to the national titles won by the Bears.
O – Officials. Thank you and well done to all the club and league officials throughout the county who got the season underway and completed after a challenging start.
P – Pitches. Where are we going to find more cricket pitches to meet the demand to play cricket? In many parts of the county there is a desperate shortage of available pitches. The WCB continues to work with local stakeholders to improve this situation.
Q – Quote of 2021. Our favourite quote of 2021 is from a teacher at one of our Chance to Shine schools – “I have never known a child not want to participate in a Chance to Shine session.”
R – Ramadan League. 2021 brought us the first Ramadan League, giving young people the opportunity to play cricket in the evening after breaking their fast during Ramadan.
S – Safeguarding and Safe Hands. Safeguarding is of the utmost importance in everything we do. This year has seen WCB involved in the roll out of the ECB’s Safe Hands Management System.
T – Teachers. Our partnerships with teachers have never been stronger than in 2021 as we continue to deliver Chance to Shine sessions in schools across the county.
U – Birmingham Unicorns. Birmingham’s first and only the second national inclusive LGBTQ+ team played their first fixtures during the 2021 season, after training and warm up matches with the WCB team.
V – Valuable. Cricket clubs and community cricket settings are a valuable presence in communities, bringing people together and providing the facilities to improve physical and mental wellbeing amongst people of all ages.
W – Warwickshire Pathway. Our WCB holiday camps, coaching sessions, and development centres are all part of a county pathway towards the WCCC County Age Group programme.
X – X Factor. It’s been an incredible year of cricket in Warwickshire at every level. We’ve had the X Factor in 2021.
Y – Yule. We’ll round off 2021 with the final Yuletide / Xmas camp in our series of successful WCB Holiday Camps (20 – 22nd December).
Z – Zzzzzz. After a busy season, it’s time to recharge and catch up on those Zzzzz’s before we go again in 2022.
