IN JUST seven short years, Upperthong Cricket Club have developed into the biggest Junior section in the Huddersfield Junior League and next season will feature no fewer than EIGHT teams at the various age group levels.

When the club was first launched in 2005, Upperthong registered a single team at Under 11 level, which at the time comprises mainly youngsters aged seven and eight.

Since then, however, the club has shot up, fuelled by fantastic parental support and a very productive link with Upperthong Junior and Infant School, with the result they are now able to boast more than 100 junior members at the club.

Club chairman and head coach Robert Oakley said: “Most of those seven and eight-year-olds who started with us in 2005 are still with us, and many have become talented cricketers who are now beginning to make the transition into open-age cricket.

“Our senior sides will definitely progress on the back of this in the next few years. For the 2012 season we will benefit from having six coaches qualified to UKCC Level 2, and our junior sides are now a powerful force at every age group.”

Last season the Under 13s were League champions and also made it through to the Yorkshire final of the National Club Knockout, while the club has also won league titles at Under 11 and a number of tournaments at Under 9 level.

That success has led to 18 players being selected to represent Huddersfield in Lord’s Taverners competitions in the last four years, and four of them have been successful in a Yorkshire trial.

Last year’s Under 11 captain Rory France, along with Sam Senior, Harry Franklin and Ben Earnshaw from the Under 13s have all been invited to take part in Yorkshire County Cricket Club’s pathways to excellence programme this winter.

Upperthong are also running an extensive programme of winter practice for all age groups. Sessions will take place on Monday evenings from 5.30 to 7.30pm and on Saturday afternoons from 2pm to 4pm throughout January, February and March at Holmfirth High School’s refurbished Sports Hall.

The Upperthong club has won the Central League’s award for the most improved ground in two of the last three seasons and they are continuing to develop their facilities, with a bar now being added to the clubhouse, while they have also built a twin synthetic net practice bay.

For 2012 Upperthong will field a team at Under 9 and Under 17 levels, while also sending out two teams at Under 11, Under 13 and Under 13 Level. For further details on the club’s winter practice sessions or joining the club, contact Robert Oakley, on 07919 005538.