After taking the decision not to run the new ECB Dynamos’ programme Cowdrey embarked on putting together a winter schedule to help prepare the children for hardball cricket in 2022.
Back in October 2021 Gary and his team ran weekly sessions leading up to Christmas and continued post-Christmas until the start of the 2022 season which was enjoyed by over 25 children with a clear improvement to all those involved.
During the summer overseas players, Kendrick and Jake assisted Gary in summer training programmes with success for the whole squad in local softball festivals held at Penshurst and Bells Yew Green.
With numbers increasing Cowdrey entered two teams into the Kent Forty5 tournament. Unfortunately, both paired together, we entered the local heats against Offham, Kings Hill and Castle Hill. At the end of the heats, Cowdrey finished the group in first and second place meaning we would have representation on the Finals Day during September. News broke that our second team had just missed out on the best runner-up, nevertheless, a fantastic achievement.
In preparation for Finals Day, we entered the Tunbridge Wells annual softball festival for the first time. A mixed squad was taken where we again enjoyed success against Bromley, Tunbridge Wells, Southborough and Linden Park. Four victories led us to the final where we came up against a strong Old Elthamians side and in a hard-fought match we finished just short and proudly took the runner-up spot.
Kent Finals day was held at Upchurch CC on Sunday 18th September. A squad of 10 enjoyed a fun-packed day along with the best 12 softball teams from around Kent as they battled it out to be crowned Kent’s premier U9 side.
In the group stages, we were grouped against Penshurst, Bromley and Catford Cyphers and with 3 victories we topped the group. We then came up against Old Elthamians in the semi-final who we had lost against in the final of the TWCC final a few weeks before. A fantastic team performance saw us overcome Old Elthamians and march into the final against Bearsted CC.
Strong bowling, excellent catching and fielding had been a feature of the day and the final was no different, which restricted Bearsted to a more than chaseable target. Our batsmen set about the target knowing not losing wickets would see the team crowned champions.
Every batsman batted sensibly throughout the final and seeing out the last over, Cowdrey was crowned Kent U9 champions, an unbelievable achievement by such a talented squad of players.
A season to look back on with tremendous pride from all involved, the development is clear to see in every child that has been part of the Under 9. It is so good to see the children improve in every aspect of the game and more importantly, do it with a smile on their faces.
It was great to have a couple of hardball friendlies as well during the season and we look forward with excitement to moving this group into our 3 Under 11 league sides of 2023.
Cowdrey CC would like to thank all the volunteers, supporters and parents for supporting us during the season and we look forward to and wish all the squad a well-deserved break before we go again with winter training.
