Rich Evans speaks to 2019 NatWest OSCA winner Richard Langdon of Falkland CC
Rich Evans spoke to 2019 NatWest OSCA winner Richard Langdon of Falkland CC, who has helped inspire 100 per cent growth among the Berkshire club’s junior, women’s and All Stars programmes, while also conducting weekly disability cricket sessions.
Profile:
Falkland Cricket Club
Established: 1884 (league cricket since 1973)
League: Thames Valley Cricket League
Location: Enborne Street, Wash Common, Newbury, Berkshire
Bio: An inclusive community club welcoming seniors and juniors, male or female, Falkland CC have a vibrant junior section with circa 150 junior members. The men’s senior section has four competitive sides with the first XI competing in Thames Valley League Division One, with the second and third teams in the third and fifth division respectively. The fourth XI – a development team – plays in the Berkshire Cricket League. They also field two men’s Sunday teams and two midweek teams, while they’ve run a women’s team since 2017. In addition, they also provide weekly cricket for adults with disabilities and weekly walking cricket for retired men and women. Richard Langdon won the award for the Most Inspiring and Diverse Cricket Offer in the 2019 NatWest Outstanding Services to Cricket Awards (OSCAs).
Keeping junior cricketers in the game is a big issue. How has Falkland CC fared in that area?
The numbers drop off towards the under 15s. We’ve got 35 kids in each of our under 9, 11 and 13 age groups. We have about 20 in the under 15s. Some kids just decide it’s not for them; that’s fine if the cricket offering is inclusive, fun, energetic and structured. If they decide to then take up piano instead, what can we do? The kids that keep playing tend to be those who have a greater aptitude for the game. If we had a 30 per cent drop-off of our under 15s, we’d still have fairly good numbers going into senior teams. Some of those might give up. I gave up at 16 – 30 years ago now. I was at a club that wasn’t great for juniors – very clicky – so I stopped. But I got to my forties and fancied it again. You haven’t necessarily lost them forever.
So, are you beginning to see the fruition of a strong junior section in your adult teams?
We’ve got plenty of boys coming through who should be contributing strongly to second- and first-team cricket over the next five years, for whom we offer coaching during the school holidays in addition to regular training. Falkland wants to field local homegrown players who feel a strong affinity for the club, as this both creates a strong team ethos and is financially sustainable. We’ll also have an increasing number of girls and women contributing to senior cricket numbers, some of whom are already representing senior Falkland teams. In future, we expect to see a lot more quality female cricketers coming through and deserving their place in first- and second-team cricket, and the new clubhouse ensures all the appropriate facilities are in place to facilitate this.
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