Email This Article To Someone!

The Optimists Cricket Club's first ever Summer Camp for Junior cricketers proved to be a splendid success. Good weather coupled with a hard-working coaching team, supporting parents and over 30 kids with boundless energy ensured the inaugural summer camp turned into a week to remember.

A week-long coaching programme was structured smoothly thus enabling all the children to benefit in terms of improving cricket skills and simply having great fun. The age range spread from 5 to 14 and so the group was split into two. The younger group concentrated on developing the basic cricket skills through an wide-ranging array of games and exercises using a softer ball. The older group faced a tougher week with intensive sessions focusing on catching, bowling, batting and fielding skills taught by a selection of Optimists players and all with a real cricket ball.

On the final Friday, structured matches became the highlight of the week with the younger group comprehensively beating a 'selected Dads' team by over 60 runs and with the older group battling each other in a tough limited over contest that displayed all the skills developed during the week. This match turned into a thriller and the crowd roared as it reached its final ball climax.