Wanstead and Snaresbrook Cricket Club

We have now published the 2024 Season in Pictures on the website and we hope you enjoy them.  They can be found via the menu at: Wanstead and Snaresbrook Cricket Club Photo Galleries (wansteadcricketclub.co.uk)

Another fantastic year of cricket for the Herons, despite the wet start to the season, with success for many of our mens, womens and juniors teams.

The men's 1st XI won the Dukes Essex League Cup, finished third in the league, made finals day of the Essex T20 competition and the quarter finals of the National Cup for the third year in a row.  Robin Das played several first team matches for Essex in various competitions, and Ali Zeb has been captaining the Essex Academy team, so continuing the pipeline of Wanstead players getting county recognition. The 2nd XI won their league and the fourths stopped a run of 3 successive relegations, however the 3rd XI were unfortunately relegated despite some excellent performances from a number of juniors. The 5th and 6th XIs had enjoyable seasons again, giving cricket to a number of young juniors and not so young fathers.  The women's 2nd XI won their league, although the 1st XI were less successful, finishing fourth.  
Our juniors have excelled again this season with the girls truly having a breakthrough year.  Having trained hard through the winter and enthusiastically through the summer, supported by an excellent coaching team, the girls certainly reaped their rewards this season.  Over the winter, the u14s won the Met Essex Indoor Cup and using that as inspiration, the girls went on to become U11 and U13 County Cup Champions and U14 Met Essex winners. A young u15 team were also County runners up. So well done to all involved, there is much to build on and not content with their year, the girls have already started their winter training.  We're after a national trophy! 

Our lead sponsors - Bradley & Co - have continued to provide us with great support through the season, continuing to sponsor our player of the month awards, and we thank them for their backing.  We hope they enjoyed their team day out at the Wanstead v MCC match during cricket week in August.  Thanks too to our other existing and new sponsors who have come on board during the season.

Off the field, there have been some changes, with Nigel Hutchings stepping down as Club Secretary and Niru Williams as Safeguarding Officer.  We thank them for their considerable efforts over the last few years.  We've also continued to promote the 'Green Herons' initiative, with recycling bins now in place at Overton Drive.  A number of volunteers helped to raise funds for the Club by completing the Yorkshire 3 peaks challenge in March.  An Alumni Group has been set up, with the first Alumni day taking place at Overton Drive during a first team match in August.  Match reports have been published on the home page of the website this year, and our thanks goes to those who have provided reports and put them on the website.  Overton Drive also hosted the wedding reception for our first XI captain, Joe and his wife Jodi!

Cricket will continue during the winter, with the indoor season now underway, and the Herons are planning another overseas tour to Pakistan in 2025.

Many thanks again to all of our players, coaches, volunteers, parents, members and supporters for making the season so successful.

I am delighted to announce that the club has agreed a sponsorship deal with ZONE SIX Health & Performance, a physiotherapy clinic and group & personal training facility in Loughton.

They have a unique and experienced team of practitioners, led by their Clinical Director and cricketer, Tom Kopelman, who is currently the First Team Rehabilitation Physiotherapist at a London Premier League Football Club. They have a range of other Physiotherapists and Strength & Conditioning coaches, some having worked directly with elite athletes and/or have previously been professional athletes themselves. The team work with professional athletes daily, including cricketers, and support a range of people (both athletic and non-athletic!) to get back to their own everyday performance. Their dedicated facility includes a gym which is ideal for rehabilitation and strength & conditioning and they accept a range of private health insurers for treatment.

Wanstead CC members will receive 10% off their physiotherapy and massage therapy prices and receive a Wanstead CC preferential rate with their coaches for 1:1 strength and conditioning sessions. They are planning some activities with Wanstead CC soon, so please look out for an announcement in due course.

For any bookings, to understand about the private health insurers they work with, or if you would like to discuss any of their services, including Physiotherapy, Massage Therapy and Strength & Conditioning, please visit www.zonesix.co.uk, ring or WhatsApp 02087982642 or email them at info@zonesix.co.uk

We are pleased to announce that an Alumni Group approved at the AGM  has been set up for past members. It is principally aimed at former players who have left the club, but will also welcome their partners and social members who have moved on from the club. Alumni will not be members of the club with the rights this entails, but it is aimed at keeping in contact with people who were once very involved with the club.

Those that join the Alumni Group will receive announcements and  newsletters during the season, details of news items particularly relevant to them, and an invitation to an annual Alumni Day at the club, etc. There will be no fee to become an Alumni.

There has been a marvellous response to this initiative and so far over 50 past members have joined. At least 3 of these played for the club as far back as the 1960s and went on the club's first overseas tour to Holland in 1969.

The first Alumni Day has been set for Saturday 17th August and existing members are obviously encouraged to attend and meet up with old friends.

An Alumni section has been set up on the left hand side of the club website where Chris Hurd will post notices, etc, to the Alumni Group.

The Management Committee would like to thank Chris for initiating and developing our new Alumni Group.

Congratulations to the hardy herons who completed the notorious Yorkshire 3 Peaks challenge - walking 24 miles in 12 hours and climbing the three highest peaks in Yorkshire – on Saturday 16^th March. Big Shout-out to Jeggsy for organising the event.

So now you can do your bit by donating at https://www.gofundme.com/f/herons3peaks

The club is raising funds for our long-term charitable partner, “The Wanstead Charity”, a local charity providing for the homeless and those in need in the local community, as well as for club funds so we can continue our capital investment into our facilities.

Any support would be much appreciated.

Many thanks!

I am delighted to announce that the club has entered into an agreement with Bradley & Co ( https://www.bradleyandco.uk/ ), whereby with effect from 1^st January 2023, the West End and City based Human Resources strategy and Management Consultancy firm will take over from Keatons as the club’s principal sponsor.

Said Bradley & Co founder Paul Bradley; “For my professional life I have taken immense pride in nurturing, cultivating, and developing relationships and talent. My career technically began at Wanstead CC where I completed my school work experience in the early nineties. With lifelong roots in Wanstead, and a long-standing personal connection to the club, I am proud to be investing in grass roots cricket, and the Wanstead community”.

Many of you will remember Paul’s late mother, Linda, who provided wonderful catering at the club for many years.

I would like to thank Keatons for the amazing support, which they have given the club over the past 8 years.

Did you know that whenever you buy anything online - from your weekly shop to your annual holiday - you could be collecting free donations for the club?

So go to https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/wandscc/ and join for free.

For more details click on Easy Fundraising.pdf