Walsham-le-Willows Cricket Club, a local community club, is looking to build upon recent successes, and encourage more participation across all ages and levels.

In a tight-fought battle that went down to the last day of the 2017 season, the Club’s 1st XI gained promotion to the Two Counties Division 3.

However, the joy of finally gaining promotion after decades of trying was quickly overshadowed by the devastating news of the sudden and tragic death of their great friend and clubman, Josh Gilbert, while playing rugby with Thurston RFC.

“We lost a pivotal member of our Club and community that day, but we needed to turn that into a catalyst to drive the Club towards the ideals that Josh lived his life by.” said chairman Rick Meyer.

“Josh knew how important it was to give everything to the game; to encourage people of all abilities to get involved and that is what we intend to do in 2018.”

Walsham will start the season with new programmes at Junior Levels – running both the ECB All Star Cricket sessions for ages 5-8 years and competitive matches up to Under 15. Junior Coordinator, Bev Ransome, says that participation is a key theme: “We really want to see girls and boys, young and old, getting to love the game and carry through into adult cricket. We are also keen to participate in the ECB’s 2018 Women’s Softball Festival and have set ourselves the target of running our first Ladies Team by the 2020 season – a great ambition for our Club to aim for.”

Alongside the junior section of the Club, the adult section runs a number of teams – the Saturday 1st XI; Sunday 1st XI and 2nd XI in the Hunts County Suffolk League and a midweek T20 side.

If you would like to join the fun over the Summer, the Club is running Indoor Net sessions at South Lee Sports Centre each Friday from 6pm. Club matches start in April, with junior training commencing on April 27. Contact Rick Meyer on 07771 703668 for more details.