IWCB News

 Ventnor A made it back-to-back Indoor Cup titles on Sunday evening after devastating displays with the ball saw them overcome both Northwood B and St Helens during this season's Finals Night.

The Steephill side were led in the final by captain Dan Cox, who returned figures of 2-16, with Will Mew (2-17) also claiming two wickets. Mark Hartnell top-scored for St Helens, making 22 out of a total of just 76, with Max Bushby-Harris adding 15.

Hartnell then claimed figures of 2-30, with Elliot Yardley taking 1-10 as Ventnor A slipped to 52-3, but Toby Noyes' unbeaten 26 was enough to help his side to a three-wicket victory with 22 balls remaining.

Ventnor A reached the final with a comprehensive victory over Northwood B earlier in the evening. There were runs for George Watts (30*) and Cox (24) as Ventnor amassed 134-4, Max Rivlin taking 2-28.

In reply, Northwood B could only muster 38 as Charlie Calloway (2-3) and Watts (2-7) ripped through the order - Jon Butt (12) the only batter in double figures.

St Helens progressed to the final with a much tighter victory over Porchfield. A tight spell from Owain Hooper (1-16) saw St Helens slip to 44-3 but sublime knocks from the experienced duo of Marc Allen and Mark Hartnell got their side up to an impressive 149-4. Hartnell finished with 59* off 33 balls, with two fours and six sixes, whilst Allen smashed 62* off just 23 deliveries, including an incredible eight sixes.

Allen then turned his hand to his bowling, taking a brilliant 3-17 off his three overs as Porchfield slumped to 36-3. Martyn Richards (29*) and Liam Ringer (28*) both retired, but Porchfield couldn't catch up after their slow start and ended 29 runs short on 120-4.

Ventnor will now represent the Isle of Wight in the Regional Stages of the ECB Indoor Club Championship in March.

The 2024-25 indoor season will get underway on Sunday 20th October with the first round of the Indoor Cup.

Reigning champions, Ventnor A, begin their campaign on the opening night with an exciting tie against Shanklin & Godshill A at 8pm.

The first match of the season will see Island Bakeries take on the IW Disability side at 6pm, with IW Health Associates facing St Helens at 7pm.

Finals night will take place on Sunday 10th November, with all matches played at The Bay.

The adult leagues will begin on 17th November, whilst the junior competitions start on Friday 8th November.

Keep up to date with the competitions here:

Adults - Isle of Wight Cricket League (play-cricket.com) 

Juniors - Isle of Wight Junior Competitions (play-cricket.com) 

The IWCB will be hosting its end of season celebration and awards night at Newclose County Cricket Ground from 6.30pm on Saturday 26th October 2024.

The evening will see the winners of each senior and junior league awarded their trophies, with the leading run-scorers and wicket-takers from Divisions 1 and 2 also presented with their awards.

It will also be a celebration of our county teams throughout the summer.

A raffle will also take place on the evening - tickets can be pre-purchased on the booking link.

To book a space, please visit   https://booking.ecb.co.uk/Y9kBZY  or access via the QR Code on the picture.

Ventnor Hurricanes sealed victory in the U15 Cup Final after swiftly overcoming a young Ryde side at the John Black Ground.

A breath-taking performance with the ball saw Ryde dismissed for just 32 after 12.1 overs.

Rafe took figures of 3-8, with two wickets apiece for Ben (2-0), Oscar (2-8) and Thomas (2-12). Ian (13) was the only batter in double figures for Ryde.

Dylan (1-20) took an early wicket in reply for Ryde, but Thomas (17*) and Ben (14*) saw their side home to a nine-wicket victory after just 4.3 overs.

Ventnor will now play Burridge in the next round of the Regional competition.

On Monday evening, Newport were crowned 2024 U13 Cup winners after a convincing victory over Ventnor at St Helens.

After defeating Cowes and Arreton Rebels in the previous rounds, Newport posted 114-3 from their 20 overs, Josh top-scoring with 27* from just 25 balls, with useful contributions coming from Noah (18*) and Owen (15).

The wickets were shared amongst Barney (1-7), Marco (1-11) and Jack (1-16) for Ventnor.

Lucas made 16 in reply for Ventnor, but two run outs and three superb catches saw Newport dismiss them for just 56, Jenson taking brilliant figures of 3-8, with Noah finishing with 2-8.

Newport will now play the Hampshire club winners on 14th July at Newclose in the Regional Quarter-Finals.

After topping the group table, our Disability Super 9s team took on second-placed Essex in the South East Regional Final yesterday at Northwood CC.

After being asked to bat first, the Isle of Wight made a shaky start as they lost their first wicket with the score on 14. However, a phenomenal partnership between Chris Hebberd and Kayton Evans followed - both batters retiring on 50, with the score rocketing up to 116-1 after 20 overs.

Pete Brown then hit three sixes in a knock of 19, with Jamie Saltzer adding 13 as the Isle of Wight posted 162-5 from their 30 overs.

Saltzer then took the first wicket of the Essex innings with a caught and bowled, before Brown reduced the visitors to 29-2 in the next over.

A fine partnership followed, but Saltzer (2-35) broke it with his second wicket of the afternoon, followed by two quick breakthroughs for Evans (2-18).

A wicket for Hebberd (1-30) - a third catch of the day for Brown - and two run outs then sealed the win as Essex were dismissed 29 runs short on 133.

Congratulations to all our Disability Super 9s squad!!

IWCB is delighted to host Southern Vipers as they  take on the currently unbeaten The Blaze in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.

Southern Vipers Squad

Southern Vipers have named a 15-player squad for their first-ever match on the Isle of Wight.

Maia Bouchier returns to the camp after England Women’s successful IT20 series against Australia in the Women’s Ashes.

Lauren Bell, Charlie Dean and Danni Wyatt remain unavailable on international duty.

Head over to Newclose County Cricket Ground for your chance to see some top limited overs action! 

 To All Players, Parents and Guardians ,

Today we have had to make a very difficult decision to cancel all the Under 14 and Under 16 ECB Competition games for the rest of the season.

I have been in discussion for the last week with the ECB who have had contact from several of the larger Counties questioning the appropriateness of them playing against our Under 14s and Under 16s as there is such a gulf in standards. 

The other Counties do not think it is to the benefit of the welfare and wellbeing of all the players involved.

The reality is that we have always found it extremely tough as a very small County but we have tried to ‘Box  well above our weight ‘  and had some  notable successes, but a lot of heavy losses. 

I am seeing messages from parents that their children are no longer enjoying cricket which is against the whole aim of what we hope to achieve. I have discussed with quite a few parents and Directors about the potential of going into a District Model with Hampshire next year for the lower age ranges up to Under 16 . 

Most are in support of us exploring this potential and Hampshire have said they are happy to talk it through.

We hope to rearrange some fixtures for the dates we have in our County diary so the players don’t lose too much cricket but that will be a challenge this late in the season. Hampshire have said if we send them the names and contact details for our strongest under 14s they will try to play them in their District model  this season and those that shine will get access to other pathways. If you think your child meets this criteria then please speak to your team coach who will collate names and forward to Hampshire.

Unsurprisingly we need to do some team building in the Under 14s as there have been a few incidents reported which fall below our code of conduct for players and parents. 

Please feel free to discuss any concerns you have with your team coach or with me direct.

Thank you in advance of your support at this challenging time. It’s a time at which we need to consider how we want to shape the future of Junior cricket and all of you as players, parents and guardians have a voice in this.

Kind Regards

Nick Heelan

CDM, IWCB

We intend to read and digest the report and its findings over the next few days and publish a more thorough statement in due course.

The IWCB maintains its commitment to ensuring that cricket is a game for everyone. There is no place for discrimination in our society – and we must all play our part in ensuring it is identified and eradicated.

To read the IWCB's EDI Action Plan click here

To access the ICEC report in its entirety click here

To view the ECB Chair's response to the findings click here: https://www.ecb.co.uk/video/3553780/ecb-chair-richard-thompsons-response-to-the-icec-report

 The Isle of Wight Cricket Board are delighted to announce they have appointed Nick Heelan as their Cricket Development Manager and that he commences in the role on the 19th of June.

Having recently retired from Hampshire Constabulary as a Senior Detective Nick is well known across the Island having played both Cricket and Rugby on the Island since 1998 when he moved here with his family. 

Kate Barton Chair of the Isle of Wight Cricket Board commented ‘I am delighted to have been able to appoint Nick in to this role.

The Cricket Development Manager role is responsible for delivering Cricket across the Isle of Wight and some of our key priorities include supporting our local clubs to thrive and grow, to deliver County Cricket across all the age groups, to deliver and develop Women and Girls Cricket and to continue to grow the Islands Disability cricket. 

Nick brings a wealth of Managerial experience with him to the cricket board combined with a passion for cricket and in particular Island Cricket so I look forward to working with him’

Nick said ‘ I am really delighted to have been offered the CDM role as local cricket is something very close to my heart and I wanted to give something back to the sport that I have loved since childhood. 

The ECB and IOW Cricket Board have a primary mission to ‘Make Cricket the Game for me’ and to be fully inclusive so I will strive to increase the size of the ‘cricket family' here on the Island and I send an open invite to anyone who would like to get involved in any way be it as a player, coach, Umpire , Scorer or as a volunteer to help with all the practical organisation required to please contact me at cdm@isleofwightcricket.co.uk

As the action came to a conclusion in the 2023 IWCB Junior Leagues, Ryde were victorious in the inaugural Under 14 Girls competition, whilst Ventnor celebrated double success, claiming the Under 12 and Under 14 titles in an action-packed finals night.

The evening began with Ryde U15 Girls facing Arreton Rebels, with the former winning the toss and opting to bowl first. It took just two deliveries for Ryde to strike, a sharp catch from Fev giving Izzy (1-13) an early wicket. Mia (17) played a fine innings to steady the ship for Arreton, but a wicket for Lily and a run out for Fev within three balls of each other saw Arreton reduced to 41-3. 

Mylea and Ava then began to build a partnership to get Arreton to a competitive total, but a run out for Evie and a second wicket for Lily (2-23) saw them finish on 86-5, Mylea ending with 14 and Ava 11.

Ryde's chase got off to a smashing start, with 27 runs coming off the second over, Evie (21*) retiring after just seven deliveries. Arreton did their best to pull back the run rate, Mylea going for just seven runs in two overs, but Lily (20*) also retired as Ryde got ever closer to their target. Mia took a fantastic caught and bowled to dismiss Willow (13) with the score on 77, but Ryde claimed victory by five wickets with seven balls remaining.

In the U12 Final, Ventnor elected to field first against Cowes Catchers and some extremely tight bowling put pressure on the Cowes batters from the start, with just fifteen runs coming from the opening four overs, including Ned running out in-form Barnaby for 9. 

The runs did pick up, with Joshua retiring on 20, but Ventnor were able to keep Cowes Catchers to 69-3, Barney taking 1-12.

Ventnor got ahead of the run rate early in on reply and despite the best efforts of Finlay, who went for just ten runs in his three overs, both Ernie and Lucas finished on 9* as Ventnor reached their target with three balls remaining to claim a six-wicket victory.

The final match of the season saw Ventnor's two Under 14 sides taking each other on. The A side opted to bat first and suffered a double blow halfway through the innings, when Alfie T (12) was run out by Tom and Ben (18) was bowled by James (1-4), leaving them at 47-2 after five. 

However, Thomas hit a composed 26 not out, Toby added 14 and James smashed a fine 20 retired from just six balls as the runs began to flow. There was a caught and bowled for Declan (1-21) and a run out for Alfie C, but Ventnor A still amassed 121-4.

Ventnor B made a decent enough start to their chase, but when Jess (10) was run out by Thomas, they soon started to fall behind the rate. Tom hit a fine 21 retired, with James making 13 before he was run out by Alfie T. A catch by Ben off Thomas (1-5) and a wicket for Toby (1-27) soon followed, Ventnor B finishing on 95-4, Declan 10* and Alfie C 6* as Ventnor A won by 26 runs.