With the cricket season fast approaching, the Bermuda Cricket Board Youth Development Committee is ramping up training for young cricketers.

Early training sessions intended to help young hardball cricketers be prepared to start the cricket season will be open to players between the ages of 11 to 18 and will start on Sunday at Warwick Academy.

The free sessions are open to all players, male and female, who are registered or considering playing cricket this season, regardless of club affiliation.

The training will be a combination of skill-building activities and match play, and will be hosted between Shelly Bay Field, Warwick Academy and Saltus.

The schedule for the sessions is:

Sunday, March 15: Warwick Academy — Orientation training session to meet players and view the playing abilities with sessions from 1pm to 2.30pm for ages 11 to 14 and 2.30pm to 4pm for ages 15 to 18.

Sunday, March 22: match Play or training session dependent on player numbers. Players aged 15 to 18 should head to Shelly Bay Field between 11am and 4pm, with those aged 11 to 14 going to Saltus between 1.30pm and 4.30pm

Sunday, April 12: match play or training session. Players aged 15 to 18 should head to Shelly Bay Field between 11am and 4pm, with those aged 11 to 14 going to Warwick Academy between 1.30pm and 5pm.

Sunday, May 3: match play or training session. Players aged 15 to 18 should head to Shelly Bay Field between 11am and 4pm, with those aged 11 to 14 going to Warwick Academy between 1.30pm and 5pm.

Players should be comfortable playing with a hard cricket ball, and have personal protective equipment required for batting such as helmet, pads, gloves, thigh pad, Abdo guard (box) and a bat.

A limited supply of protective equipment will be available for those who do not have any. Match play will be dependent on sufficient numbers or will be adjusted to a training session and a shortened time.

“We are excited to add another preseason offering for our more experienced youth cricketers in the build up to the league season and I thank all involved in this new initiative,” said David Horan, chair of BCB Youth Development Committee

Interested players are asked to register with the BCB via this link to assist with planning the sessions.