Late June and early July are always a busy time for our junior sides, and in 2023 that has been no exception, with all of our teams having been very busy in the past few weeks.

Unfortunately for our U16s there was huge disappointment last weekend, when they missed out on a place in the Matchplay quarter-finals by the narrowest of margins. Upminster had recovered from their opening day defeat against Bishops Stortford by beating Harlow and Chelmsford to set up a crucial final group game against Brentwood, with the winner taking second place in the group and giving themselves a chance of securing a quarter final spot. Unfortunately Brentwood were unable to raise a side and needed to conceded the fixture, which meant Upminster took the points and secured second spot in Group 1, but were not able to change their net run rate at all. This proved crucial, as with only the best runner up going through from Groups 1, 2 and 3, Upminster missed out by a net run rate of 0.15!! A number of the U16s squad have also been playing for the U19s in the Ravi Bopara Trophy. Upminster have been defeated in their first three group games, despite some excellent individual performances, but they will be looking to end with a win when they host Harold Wood in their final group match on Wednesday evening.

The U15s have been part of some thrilling contests in the last few weeks, as they moved to the top of the Central League Division 1 table. Firstly they picked up a thrilling one wicket win over Springfield, having looked like they would lose the game for much of the contest. And then a few days later they cruised to a ten wicket win over local rivals Harold Wood, Upminster chasing down their target of 122 in less than 11 overs!!! The side also picked up a friendly win last weekend at Chingford, and their next game is on Thursday night when they travel to Hornchurch Athletic for a Havering League contest. The U14s within this squad have also been competing in Group 3 of the Sir Alastair Cook Trophy. Their interest in that competition has now ended after a defeat in their final group game against Harold Wood.

The U12s have progressed to the quarter-finals of the Brian Taylor Trophy after a win against Frenford in their last 16 contest two weeks ago. They now face a trip to Belhus this Sunday (23rd) in the last eight. The U12s/13s have also been busy with a number of league games in recent weeks. In the Central League Division 1 the side picked up a win over Shenfield before losing out to Hornchurch in a close contest, while in Division 2 West there was a victory over Hornchurch Athletic before a loss against South Weald at the weekend.

The U11s have been busy in recent weeks, and they picked up an impressive win over Brentwood on Sunday in the Development League. In the Central League Division 1 they enjoyed a victory over Great Baddow but a loss to Harold Wood saw them slip to second in the table. They have also moved through to the semi-finals of the Central Cup after a victory over Billericay, while in the Havering League the side remain unbeaten after three games.

Our U10s are still in contention for honours in a number of competitions. They top the Central League Division 1 table with seven wins from seven, and know a win in their final league game against South Weald will seal the title. In the Central Cup competition a win over Great Baddow has seen them through to a last four showdown with either Harold Wood or Billericay, while in the Havering U11s League it looks like the title could come down to a shootout between Upminster’s U11s and U10s.

Our first side through to a final for 2023 was the U9s who beat Brentwood on Sunday in the Central Cup to take their place in September’s showpiece end of season finale. That came after a quarter-final win in late June over Great Baddow. In the Central Hardball League the squad have won both of their games so far, while in the Central Softball and Havering Softball Leagues the side also remain unbeaten. Our U8s squad are also competing in both the Central and Havering Leagues and have put in a number of impressive performances so far.

Our girls squads have continued to make huge progress during the 2023 season in terms of performances, results and the number of players now representing the club. The U15 Girls squad can count themselves as one of the unluckiest at the club so far this summer. In the County competition they have lost out by five runs, seven runs, 18 runs and 20 runs in their games against Wanstead and Snaresbrook, Hutton, Woodford Wells and Billericay. A number of the girls in this squad have also been playing for the Senior Ladies side who currently sit in second place in the Essex League Division One table.

The U13 and U12 Girls squads have been competing in a number of competitions. The U13 girls picked up an excellent win last weekend over a strong Woodford Wells side, and that win kept alive their hopes of progressing to the knockout stages of the competition, ahead of their game at Billericay next week. The U12 Girls have been in great form in the Central Softball League, and currently top the table with four wins from four. There next match in that competition is in early August against Harold Wood.

There was a great performance from our U11 Girls last week when they won the Central Softball Festival which was held at Galleywood CC. The girls now move on to the County Finals in August. We must thank Galleywood for hosting such a great event.

Our U9 Girls have been playing a number of friendlies against other clubs in recent weeks. These matches are a great introduction into cricket and the girls have performed brilliantly against sides including Brentwood and Harold Wood.

So far the club’s junior sides have now played in 157 games this season. 88 have resulted in wins with 69 losses. Over 230 young players have now represented the club this season, and we hope many more will do so over the coming weeks.