We hope everyone has enjoyed the winter and is looking forward to a monumental season for the club. The season is now well and truly underway with Senior teams playing their first fixtures with Junior games right around the corner.

From a Junior standpoint, the 2026 season looks set to be the most action packed season ever in the clubs history. Junior players (Under 7s - Under 17s) will be involved in more games across the upcoming season than ever before. Therefore, the following will provide a detailed look at what the Junior sides have to look forward in the Summer as well as everything else we’ve been up to during the winter months.

2025 Season

The 2025 season brought lots of success. From our Under 9 side playing in Kwik cricket tournaments to our Under 17s playing their first ever competitive season in the newly formed Under 17 league.

Here’s how all of our Junior sides got on in 2025…

The Under 9 side won the Weald of Kent tournament at Marden in July and performed very well in all of their tournaments last summer.

The Under 11 hardball side came 6th in the league whilst our incrediball team came 2nd in the league narrowly losing out on winning league by 4 points.

The Under 13s came 4th in the league.

The Under 15s came 6th in the league but there some amazing individual and team performances despite the results.

The Under 17s came 2nd in the league.

The 2025 season saw more Juniors involved in Senior cricket than ever before. Juniors represented the club in 1st XI, 2nd XI, 3rd XI, 4th XI, Sunday XI, LMS (Last Man Standing), Ladies Hardball and Ladies Softball sides. Across all these sides we had over 20 Junior players contributing in one way or another. From 17 year olds playing in the 1st XI, to kids as young as 12 playing for the 4th XI in its’ first inaugural game. A fantastic achievement for the Junior section and something we expect to improve upon in 2026.

‘Off’ Season:

For the majority of our Junior players there has been very little or no break from cricket.

Across the Winter months we entered our Under 13s, Under 15s and Under 18s into Calypso’s indoor league.

All 3 sides performed excellently. The Under 13s reached the semi-finals, despite players having very little, or no experience of indoor cricket at all. The Under 15s won all but 1 of their league fixtures and came 2nd, after losing out to a very strong High Halstow side in the final. The Under 18s also gave a very good account of themselves, despite failing to reach the knockout stages.

Regional Cricket & Award Winners:

Bearsted Juniors have been busy trialing for regional sides throughout the winter and spring. It’s a massive achievement to reach the summer training squads for regional cricket. Regional cricket provides a great opportunity to play a higher quality standard than club level by testing yourself against the best young local cricketers. In the case of Central Cavaliers (CC) you represent the wider Maidstone area whilst the Kent Regional Development Programme (KRDP) is the next step before being selected to play County cricket.

Congratulations to the following players:

Under 11s
Eddie Croom (CC & KRDP)
Joseph Daly (CC & KRDP)
Harry Deamer (CC)
Samuel Cardosi (CC)
Ethan Durden (CC)
Jayan Samuel (KRDP)

Under 13s
Noah Tank (CC)
Dougie Tank (CC)
Ted Blythin (CC)
Bertie Hayward (CC)

Under 15s
Olly Patton (KRDP)
Adam Church (KRDP)
Lochlann Aravind (KRDP)
Freddie Salter (CC)
Ted Gagg (CC)

Under 17s
Oliver Marriner (CC)

In terms of awards, it’s a bit of a one-man show…

Angus Kenny took home the prestigious Bearsted Young Player of the Year award at our club awards night back in January. He added to this with the Young Player of the Year award for Divisions 3&4 in the Kent County Village League. A fantastic breakthrough season for Angus in terms of Senior cricket which saw him score his first century for the club before cementing a spot opening the batting for the 2nd XI. We can’t wait to see how he continues to develop over the course of the 2026 season.

2026 Season

Training:

U7s/U9s
Team Manager - Tim Croom

Support Coaches - Hayley Croom, Ollie Marriner, Jo Lay & Ben Motum

Training is Sunday mornings @ Bearsted Green.

The first session will be Sunday 10th May for U7 and Sunday 3rd May for U7.

U11s
Team Manager - Tim Croom

Support Coaches - Matt Blythin & Jamie Baker

Hardball Training - Tuesdays (5.30 - 7pm) @ Hollingbourne

Incrediball Training - Thursdays (5.30 - 7pm) @ Hollingbourne

The first sessions will be Tuesday 5th and Thursday 7th May.

U13s
Team Manager - James Tank

Support Coaches - Matt Blythin & Jamie Baker

Training - Tuesdays (6-7:30pm) @ Hollingbourne/SVS*

The first session will be Tuesday 28th April.

U15s
Team Manager - Dave Patton

Support Coaches - Jamie Baker, James West & Alex Lush

Training - Tuesdays (6-7:30pm) @ Bearsted Green/SVS*

The first session will be Tuesday 5th May.

U17s
Team Manager - Alex Lush

Support Coaches - Dave Patton, Jamie Baker & James West

Training - Tuesdays (6-7:30pm) @ Bearsted Green/SVS*

The first session will be Tuesday 5th May.

*Please note location of training may change on a weekly basis depending on coaches’ plans and the availability of facilities.

Over the course of the season, we will also be running specialised training sessions (‘masterclasses’) for U13s - U17s. These will involve 1 or multiple 1st XI players coaching players specialised skills in either small groups or 1-to-1. These sessions were a big success last year and more details will be passed around on WhatsApp groups a few weeks ahead of each session.

New Leagues & Tournaments:

This season we have decided to enter our Under 15s and Under 17s into the Medway Youth Cricket League (MYCL). This means a massive increase in fixtures to our older junior players. Both sides will play an additional 11 games each over the course of the season. This is as well as our existing games in the Weald of Kent League.

All games for Under 15s in the MYCL will be on Sunday mornings whilst games for Under 17s will be on a Tuesday evenings.

We have also entered an Under 14 side into a national knockout competition. A great chance for these players to test themselves against the some of the best Junior sides in the country.

For Under 11s and Under 13s there is no change from last season. They will continue to play solely in the Weald. This season will be used as a trial season, before deciding whether or not to enter all of our junior sides into the MYCL.

Juniors in Senior Cricket:

Last season we were able to put a Senior 4th XI out on a Saturday for the first time in the clubs history. This was largely down to the influx we’ve had of Junior players into Senior sides in recent years. A testament to the development of the club’s junior section recently, as just 5 year ago we were struggling to put 2 sides out on a Saturday.

This season, we are aiming to put a 4th XI out on a far more regular basis. This won’t be possible without lots of Junior players making themselves available. Senior cricket is both a great experience and opportunity for young cricketers to learn off of the best players at the club, develop their skills and improve their understanding of the game.

Finally, thank you in advance to all of our volunteer team managers and coaches who will be giving up their own free time to coach at training and manage sides on game days over the course of this season. A massive thank you and preemptive apology to Simon Barker (groundsman) who is going to have to work even harder to provide fantastic venues for training and games this season at both the Green and Hollies.

2026 is going to be the biggest season in Bearsted Juniors history and as a coaching group we can’t wait to see how all of Junior players and teams grow and develop over the course of what is set to be a very very busy summer.

Alex Lush
Bearsted CC Junior Officer