Newsletter July 22nd 2025
View from the Secretary’s chair
Jon is away in Northumberland this week and has given me complete freedom to say whatever I want!
On the playing front, huge congratulations to the Under 10s who won the final of the
Nottinghamshire Junior Cricket pairs, final beating Cavaliers by 13 runs. Well done to Maggie and her team who were a credit to themselves and the club.
The 3s were unfortunately beaten by West Bridgford Legion in the final of the Radio Faza cup. More accurately, they were beaten by one of the Legion’s openers who scored 83 off 40 balls, in a challenging total of 191. He was the difference between the two sides but with quick runs from Sam Fitzgerald (40 off 36 balls) and Toby Jackson (46 off 33 balls) we finished on a creditable 140. This was a great effort and to reach the final was a massive achievement that the 3s can build on in the second half of the season.
Congratulations as well to Sam Bennett who got a hat-trick in the Under 17s game against Radcliffe. Hat-tricks don’t come along very often, so savour this one Sam!
Unfortunately, the games on Saturday were a washout but what stood out to me was the enthusiasm of our players and how keen they were to get a game. This enthusiasm will stand us in good stead going forwards.
We’ve come a long way in the last 12 months, responding to the club survey when you told us what you wanted. Inevitably, mistakes will happen and we had one last week with the failure to prepare a pitch at Farnborough Road. This was frustrating but it won’t stand in the way of the progress we are making. There will be the occasional step back when we’re taking so many steps forward, but we will learn lessons from this and come back stronger.
Cheers,
Dave
U10s cup final win
Another awesome performance from the Under 10s this week brought home the first silverware of the season.
We started the day well by winning the toss and opted to bat first. We racked up a strong net score of 298, only losing 5 wickets. The players’ discipline and the way they played the good bowling was impressive. Cavs had plenty of quick bowlers that some teams may be scared of, but we defended brilliantly off the balls in and around the stumps and cashed in when given poor balls (as well as being gifted 48 wides!). This was something we spoke about at the start of the game – we knew if we were patient and defended the good bowling we’d get opportunities to score from others and all the players did that fantastically.
With the ball and in the field they were all outstanding. Cavs had some strong batters playing some very good shots but we stuck to our plans. Some of the ground fielding from our players was absolutely brilliant, with balls coming harder than in most games they’ve played, but many runs were saved in close and on the boundary.
Despite this, the Cavs batters played very well and with one pair left they were on 279 requiring 20 from the final 4 overs. In between innings we had talked about what we can do better than Cavs – the main thing being looking to bowl more balls hitting the stumps and bring more dismissals into play. Under the biggest pressure our bowlers did that excellently. Zac (who’d already had a strong day with the bat) bowled a tight over for only 5. This was excellent off a shortened run up which was needed after the rain started coming down quite hard making it tricky underfoot – astro and rain do not mix well.
At this point Cavs felt like favourites – requiring 15 runs from 3 overs from bowlers that couldn’t run up properly. However, Jacob came on and bowled an awesome over to get a vital wicket. Cavs now needed 11 from 2 overs. Our captain Maggie then made the inspired decision to get Thomas (our main, absolutely rapid, strike bowler) on now, something the late great Shane Warne would be proud of as he was always a huge advocate of the importance of the second-to-last over in making the score in the last over nearly impossible to get. Thomas did that perfectly, getting two wickets meaning Cavs needed 10 off the last over. James then came on to bowl the highly pressurised final over and got wicket with his first ball with a brilliant full, quick delivery. This meant Cavs needed 15 off 5 which would prove to be too much!
An unbelievable win under such pressure is brilliant from kids aged 9/10. As I said to them afterwards, the biggest compliment I could give them is throughout the game I could easily have been watching an under 12s/13s game – their maturity was so impressive. I’m dead proud of all of them – well done U10s cup winners!
Dan Sheard, U10s coach
Friday food: Indian, hot dogs and cakes
Vegetarian Rasoi food van
Vegetarian Rasoi, known for its authentic homemade vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free Indian cuisine, is set to bring its delicious offerings to Stamford Road on 25th July. Be sure to head up the hill to Stamford Road on Friday to experience the taste of authentic Indian home cooking.
Friday night menu
If Vegetarian Rasoi doesn’t tempt you, we will be serving some of your favourites on Friday night as an alternative.
Hot dogs – both meaty and veggie – £2.50 (onions optional) with chips £4.50 | Sweet potato fries £3.00 | Tray of regular chips £2.50 | Cheesy chips £3.00
Cakes for charity
Jennie Silkstone will be selling her cakes again at junior training on 25th July. You can pay for your sweet treats by either cash or card and all money raised goes to Alzheimer’s Society.
Country and Western night on 2nd August
You asked, and we’re delivering! Get ready for a fantastic Saturday night on 2nd August as we welcome the talented Dominique Burns to the clubhouse for a night of live music.
Dominique will be treating us to an evening of country music classics, with a few other popular tunes thrown in for good measure.
To complete your perfect Saturday, we’ll also have a food van onsite, ensuring your night is fully sorted with great music, a well-stocked bar, and delicious food. What more could you ask for? (Apart from, perhaps, a babysitter!)
Let us know if you are coming!
Celebrating our 100 Club winners!
Huge congratulations to our latest 100 Club winners! Participation directly contributes to a vital cause for our club, and it’s fantastic to see members winning prizes. Check out our July winners and our June winners and May winners.
The 100 Club plays a crucial role in repaying the outstanding loan on our clubhouse redevelopment. With 174 numbers currently in the monthly draw, we pay out £320 in prizes every month. Our income is split 40:60, with 60% going directly to the loan repayment.
We’ve already raised an incredible £56,000, but with just over £33,000 still to go, it’ll take about six more years at our current rate. More members mean bigger prizes and a faster path to a fully paid-for clubhouse!
Instagram success boosts club and sponsors
Kudos to the marketing team behind the Instagram account west_bridgfordians whose hard work is paying off for the club and its sponsors.
The club has implemented a new post schedule designed to keep its audience informed with regular results, fixtures and team news posts, the team news posts being the top-performing posts by a big margin.
In addition, clear sponsor posts with accompanying images is aimed at generating additional revenue for the club.
The figures speak for themselves.
So if you want to keep up with all the news and learn more about our sponsors, make sure you are following us.
And did you know that there’s also a west_bridgfordiansladies Instagram account?
Follow west_bridgfordiansladies
Results
Open Age Cricket
Unfortunately rain washed out Saturday’s games but the forecast for next Saturday looks much better so watch this space next week!
Booking open for summer cricket camps
Century Coaching is bringing its popular coaching camps to Stamford Road for three action-packed weeks.
Each week will feature a mix of skills development, net practice, and exciting game-based cricket activities. Camps are open to children in School Years 2 to 8 and for the first week only, younger players from School Year 1.
Book onto the cricket coaching camps
Junior training dates
We’ll continue to run junior training through August, but the last All Stars session of the season is this Friday. The last junior training dates are
Last All Stars – 25th July
Last Friday – 29th August
Last Sunday – 31st August
Are games and training on?
Yes! Unless we tell you otherwise. If we have to cancel either training or games, we will communicate (via email and socials) so if you don’t hear from us, please turn up as usual.
Book your nets
Club members can book a one hour slot all week round at available times.
Buy new branded kit
Visit the online club shop for new branded kit.
