How we pick teams
Fun-first ethos
Our approach to how we pick teams follows our fun-first ethos.
Our aim is to provide match cricket for all players
We run league teams in most age-groups. We also run friendlies against other local clubs and training games between our own players, which we continue every Friday evening throughout the summer holidays. We aim to ensure all players play in multiple matches per season. All games outside of our scheduled training sessions are run by parents volunteering their time, so please be pro-active about putting yourself forward. The more parents we have willing to help run games, the more opportunities for games we can provide.
League matches
Our policy is that team managers should aim to select "a competitive team for each match - a team that will have a reasonable chance of winning if they play well".
This means that:
For league games, to be competitive with other clubs, we often need to pick the more advanced players more often and to rotate the developing players. This means developing players will likely play fewer league games, but we do try to get everyone some league game time.
The more league games a squad is winning, the more rotation of players we expect to see
Knock-out cup matches
Our policy for knock-out cup games is to pick our strongest available team. These are the only matches that we do this for. All players in cup matches must still play a full part in the match as normal (see How we run matches) - there are no specialist fielders at SMCC.
Training games and friendlies
We aim to use these games to give as much game time as possible to developing players. At SMCC, as soon as the weather and pitch conditions are suitable after Easter, we aim to run matches every weekend through to the summer holidays. If there is no league match scheduled, expect there to be a training game or friendly in its place.
Training games mean we field two teams of our own kids and maximise the number of games that players can experience playing it. We therefore tend to run more training games than friendlies.
At SMCC, once the junior league season finishes in mid-July, our parents continue running training games every Friday evening throughout the summer holidays for players from U5s up to U12s. We usually have one hard ball game and two or three soft-ball games running and that means normally every child who turns up to play each week will get a game. We suspect this something that most other clubs do not provide.
We also encourage U13s and older to play during the summer holidays in appropriate open-age (senior) cricket teams.
Other factors
Selection is also influenced by practical factors such as:
Players must, in the view of the team managers (the parents volunteering to run the match), be able to take part safely and enjoyably
Submitting your players' availability in good time each week
Team managers needing enough parents who are willing to help with match-day tasks, such as lifts to away matches, putting out flags, pushing off covers, scoring, umpiring, and helping to maintain good behaviour
In conventional format cricket, aiming for a good balance of batting and bowling and a player keen to keep wicket
Regular attendance at training and turning up reliably at matches
Showing enthusiasm, effort and good attitude at training and in matches
Helping to maintain team spirit by being social and encouraging others in a positive manner
Selection for senior sides
Selection for senior sides is also influenced by factors such as:
Players being considered able to take part safely and enjoyably. Generally players in the U14-U16 squads who are reasonably experienced players do feel comfortable playing in senior cricket, and many other clubs have players of around this age playing regularly as well. The best way to find out is generally to play a match in one of the low standard games, for example our Saturday 6th XI.
Submitting availability by the Monday 5pm deadline for the following weekend
Reliability of the player to show up to games every time, on time
Prompt payment or pre-payment (slightly cheaper) of match fees
How helpful you are on match-day - for example, doing your fair share of putting out flags, scoring, umpiring, etc.