The u11s
Our U11section welcomes boys and girls with a wide range of cricketing experience. Players join this section from the U9s or from Dynamos or some players who have experience playing at school or another club join straight in. As in the U9s, coaching is highly differentiated to meet the needs of all individuals from those who are starting out with the hardball to those who have been selected to play in one of the county age group teams.
friday night coaching
The U11 coaching team is led by Matt Rushton, Joel Pailes, Frankie La Grange and Gary Colman and they are ably helped on a Friday night by a team of other coaches and young volunteers. Matt is the lead coach for the U11 girls who will be managed by Helen Swannie and Laura Cook. Joel heads up and manages the U11 boys. Coaching starts on Friday 26 April and runs every Friday (including during half term) from 6.30pm and until 8pm. The last coaching session is on Friday 19 July although matches continue throughout the summer.
The aim of the sessions are for children to develop their skills across all 3 areas of the sport: batting, bowling and fielding. Children are given the opportunity to develop at their own pace whilst always maintaining the key element of fun.
Friday nights at Great Melton are a fantastic occasion for both parents and players alike. Children should wear clothes suitable for playing sport in (cricket whites are not required) and trainers. All boys will need their own pair of batting pants and a protective box. All other equipment can be provided by the club although they are welcome to bring their own. Please be aware that Friday evenings at Melton Park early in the season are very chilly so both players (and parents) need to dress accordingly.
The BBQ is run each week by a team of volunteers and the bar is open. Payments can be made by cash or card. In order to allow the bar and BBQ to run, we rely on a team of volunteers and kindly request that each parent volunteers for at least one Friday throughout the summer to either do a stint behind the bar or on the BBQ. Rachel Pailes is coordinating the team of volunteers for Friday nights so please let her know when you are available by signing up at the first session.
match play
There are plenty of opportunities for U11 players of all ages and abilities to play in matches both within the club or against other clubs. We have 3 x U11 teams entered into the Norfolk Cricket Alliance leagues. Players will be predominantly allocated to either the U11 Phoenix (mixed) or the U11 Blaze (girls) or Fire (boys) teams although player availability and the need to balance the team may result in players playing across any side. Fixtures for all teams can be found here:
U11 Phoenix Fixtures 2024 to see how they are getting on, you can access the league table here
U11 Blaze Fixtures 2024 to see how they are getting on, you can access the league table here
U11 Fire Fixtures 2024 to see how they are getting on, you can access the league table here
The U11 competition consists of 2 tiers. The U11 Phoenix team play in the tier 1 competition. These matches introduce the traditional rules of cricket where batters leave the field once they are out and it is possible that everyone does not get to bat in a match. The U11 Blaze and Fire teams play in tier 2 of the competition. Everyone has the opportunity to bat and bowl throughout the game. If you would like to understand more about the rules in these matches, they can be found here
Players playing in these fixtures will be required to wear a white Great Melton cricket shirt and cricket white trousers. They will also need a protective box and batting pants. All other equipment can be provided by the club although they are welcome to bring their own.
The U11 Blaze team is designated as a girls team but they will be playing predominantly in a boys league against boys/mixed teams from other clubs. Therefore there maybe occasions where boys are asked to represent this team. U13 girls (who are not selected in county squads) are also eligible to play in this team.
For those girls players not yet ready to play hard ball cricket or those who just want to play more cricket, we also enter an U11 team into the U11 Norfolk Girls' Softball Cricket League. These games are played on a Sunday in a festival style format where several teams play each other on a single afternoon. The games are shorter and designed to give the girls the opportunity to play together as a team against other girls' teams. Details of the fixtures will be included once they are confirmed.