Updated February 2023
Selection policy for adult cricket
Swardeston Cricket Club CIO is one of the leading cricket clubs in the East Anglia region. It is one of a number of clubs in Norfolk to have achieved the ECB’s Clubmark accreditation.
The club runs four open-age Saturday teams, an open-age Sunday team and a women’s team. The first team plays in the East Anglian Premier League (EAPL) and the remaining Saturday teams play in various divisions of the Norfolk Cricket Alliance (NCA).
The objectives of this selection policy are:
1) To outline the performance (short term) and long term objectives for the club itself and each adult team;
2) To articulate the criteria for selection of the individual teams. These are based on the objectives above;
3) To identify the members of the Selection Committee and the process for making weekly team selections;
4) To outline the club’s approach to decisions on batting and bowling orders.
1) Objectives
The overall playing objective of the club is to consolidate its position long term as one of the top 10 clubs in the country. In order to achieve this all adult sides should be playing as high a level of cricket as possible and providing promising younger players with the experience they need to form the backbone of future first teams.
Each team has its own performance (or short-term) and long-term objectives. These objectives will inform selection decisions.
The performance objectives will be used by the selection Committee and Trustees to measure the success of any given season and will be refreshed each year. The long-term objectives are designed to ensure the club develops in a sustainable way.
The objectives for each team are as follows.
First team:
Performance objectives:
- To win the East Anglian Premier League;
- To win the national T20 or 50 over competition;
- To win the Norfolk T20 competition.
Long-term objective:
- To consolidate its current position as one of the top club teams in the country. Achievement of this objective will manifest itself by:
a) reaching the final of the national T20 or 50 over finals at least once every three years
b) winning the East Anglian Premier League in the majority of seasons.
Second team:
Performance objectives:
- To gain promotion to the Norfolk Cricket Alliance Premier Division;
- To generate a pipeline of players who are willing and capable of performing well at first team level.
Long-term objectives:
- To remain consistently in the Norfolk Cricket Alliance Premier League;
- To familiarise promising younger players with the culture and standards required in order to progress to first-team level.
Swardeston CEYMS – Third team:
Performance objective:
- To remain in the Norfolk Alliance Division Four, winning the majority of games.
Long-term objective:
- To provide competitive cricket at a reasonable standard for ambitious younger players under the supervision of experienced players.
Swardeston CEYMS A – Fourth team:
Performance objective:
- To remain in Norfolk Alliance Division Six as a minimum.
Long-term objective:
- To provide an initial introduction to young players to adult cricket under the supervision of experienced teammates.
Women’s team:
Performance objectives:
- To win all Norfolk-based women’s competitions;
- To progress as far as possible in the national T20 competition.
Long-term objectives:
- To consolidate itself as one of the strongest women’s teams in Norfolk;
- To introduce an increasing pool of women players to competitive cricket and to prepare all those who are willing for men’s cricket.
2) Team selection criteria
First team:
The first team will be selected with the purpose of winning the next match. The personnel needs of the first team will always take priority over those of other teams.
Factors that will be included in the selection decisions will include form, attitude, fielding ability, team balance and nature of the opposition.
Second team:
Selection for the second team will involve the twin aims of winning sufficient games to gain promotion to the Norfolk Alliance Premier League and generating a pipeline of players capable of contributing at first team level both in the short and long term.
Factors that will be included in selection decisions will include form, attitude, fielding ability, team balance and nature of the opposition.
Swardeston CEYMS – Third team:
The third team will be selected with the aim of ensuring survival in the third division but also ensuring a healthy mix of young and more experienced players takes the field. The mix of youth and experience in any given game may alter according to the circumstances of the season and the need to win matches.
Swardeston CEYMS A – Fourth team:
The fourth team will be chosen with an eye to the future and to ensure that young players soon gain a foothold in adult cricket. However, a core of experienced players will always be selected to ensure guidance and leadership is available where required as well to provide sufficient balance to ensure survival in the fifth division
Women’s team:
The women’s team will be picked with the objective of winning each match but fixtures will still be fulfilled in the event of poor availability. Team strength will reflect the standard of the opposition and a desire for fixtures to be competitive.
General selection criteria:
Other factors that will contribute to selection decisions include:
- Attendance at team practice sessions (where applicable);
- Consistency of availability;
- Timekeeping… players should arrive at the ground at the time requested by their captain;
- Adherence to team ethic;
- Attitude both on and off the pitch;
- Conduct both on and off the pitch;
- Payment of subscriptions and match fees.
In the interests of giving younger players valuable game time, senior third and fourth team players may be asked to take a flexible attitude to selection depending on the time of year. In the first half of the summer when schoolboys are not available senior players may be asked to make themselves available frequently. On the other hand, they may be asked to step down voluntarily later in the season when the school holidays have begun.
In the event that an individual does not wish to be considered for promotion to a higher level, for whatever reason, they should make this clear to the Selection Committee at the earliest possible opportunity.
3) The formal selection committee, appointed by the Club’s Trustees, consists of:
Lewis Denmark
Jordy Taylor
Peter Lambert
Sam Thelwell
Matt Hogg
Cameron Clarke
Peter Thomas (chair)
Mark Thomas
The Committee will make their selection decision and inform members of this in a reasonable time before a weekend match. Captains will be expected to communicate verbally (and not by text) with any player who has been dropped into a lower team.
In order to aid the Committee with their decisions, all players are asked to give as early notice as possible of any non-availabilities during the course of the season.
Women’s team selection will be carried out by Katie Treutler and the women’s team captain.
4) Batting and bowling orders
Batting and bowling orders are decided at the sole discretion of captains.
There is sometimes a balance to be struck between the clearly defined performance objectives of each team and the need to develop younger players by exposing them to higher levels of responsibility.
In the first and second teams, where the stakes are higher, the requirement to win will trump the wider and long-term objectives of promoting young players in the event that each objective is mutually exclusive. However, the club is proud of its history of developing its young players and captains will be encouraged to promote them and give them opportunities when they feel these young players are ready to contribute to a winning team.
Third and fourth team captains will attempt to ensure all players are given opportunities to show what they can do over the course of the season. This principle will apply especially to those players who have shown a good all-round attitude. However, the captains’ ability to do this will sometimes depend on their team’s league position.
In any event, if players do not bat or bowl in their usual position in a given match they should accept this for the greater good of the team. If they feel they have been treated unfairly over a longer period they should address this discretely with their captain. In the event they feel their concerns have not been listened to they should discretely approach a member of the selection committee.
