Last month the annual Dinner Dance and Awards ceremony brought a close to another fantastic season at RCC, a season that saw the first team record the highest ever finish for a Redbourn team, the 3rds winning the Division 8 West and the 4th team earning promotion from 13 West. The season was full of outstanding team and individual performances, too many to mention here, but below is a summary of the senior season at Redbourn Cricket Club.

1st XI

The first team had a difficult start to life back in The Championship with early defeats against the eventual champions and runners up, Broxbourne and Old Owens, before recording their first victory away at Reed, winning by 1 run with new recruit Samir Jordan taking the all important final wicket, much to the delight of the large crowd watching back at the club on YouTube.

The team would go on to win a further 8 games and finished 3rd in the league with a highlight being a 6 wicket win at home to Preston, successfully chasing 323 thanks to 93 runs off just 47 balls for Ed Hales and a maiden club century for another new recruit, Tom Edrich. Both players would feature heavily in the second half of the season, with Tom hitting a further 2 centuries and Ed 3 including a magnificent 129 from just 48 balls in a 5 wicket win over Hoddesdon.

Tom would finish with 900 runs at an average of 69.2, an excellent first season, and was voted Player’s Player of the year. Ed scored 873 at 51.3 and was given the ‘Captain’s Award’ from captain Alex Salter.

With the ball, Alex Salter was leading wicket taker with 22 wickets, closely followed by vice-captain Adam Pritchard with 21 and Josh Arnold with 20 which included a best of 7/15 in the close loss to Shenley Village while Corben Oriel impressed, taking regular wickets with the new ball.

The National Village Cup run ended in the regional final, losing by 6 wickets to Reed. This came after a comprehensive 9 wicket win over Sharnbrook & Bromham in round 3 where Callum Moyle (5-21) starred with the ball before Conor Yorath smashed 66 from just 33 balls to secure the win in just 9 overs.

2nd XI

It was a difficult year for the 2’s but the team successfully avoided relegation on the final day, consolidating their position in division 3b. New captain Dan Roe led the way with both bat and ball, scoring 285 runs and taking 16 wickets. The highlight of the season was the 2 wicket win over Dunstable which came thanks to an entertaining 103 not out from Lewis Hewitt, a performance that would go some way to him being receiving the Captain’s Award. Highlights with the ball included Freddie Johnson’s 5/33 in the win over Cheshunt and a first 5 wicket haul for the club for Jason Bryceland away at Northchurch.

3rd XI

After finishing 3rd in division 8w for the last two seasons the 3’s were determined to secure promotion this time around and started with a comprehensive 72 run win over Berkhamsted with Chris Hawkins starring with 104 not out, ably supported by Lewis Hewitt’s 96 from 67 balls. They then went on to win all 9 of their fixtures in the first half of the season with highlights being a 17 run win at Luton thanks to 4-2 from captain Jon Fleming followed by two 1 wicket victories with firstly Martin Benfield (42*) and Jon putting on 60 for the last wicket to beat Rickmansworth and then 3 weeks later Jon and Ellis Gill seeing the team over the line chasing just 118 against Preston.

After a mid-season wobble with losses to Berkhamsted and title rivals Harpenden the team then went on to win their final 6 games with further nervy run chases again against Rickmansworth and Preston before an excellent team performance saw them over the line in the final game, sealing the title and promotion to division 7.

Chris Hawkins was top run scorer with 544 runs including five 50’s and a 100. Jon Fleming was the leading wicket taker with 26 which, along with hitting the winning runs no fewer than 4 times would earn him the Player’s Player of the year award. Martin Benfield won the Captains Award on the back of his amazing innings in the victory at Rickmansworth plus taking 13 wickets in the last 4 games, becoming a key player in the title run in.

In total 33 players were used over the course of the season and the younger players certainly played their part with Max Waddington, Bertie Roe, Aryan Sharma, Freddie Yerbury, Krrish Sharma, Hugo Crowley, Ellis Gill and Callan Riches all putting in eye catching performances leaving the team well placed for the challenge of division 7 in 2026.

4th XI

The 4th XI also enjoyed a successful season, finishing 2nd in division 13w, earning promotion to division 12. They started with a nail biting one wicket win over Hatch End on a lively early season pitch. Having bowled Hatch End out for 83, they made it over the line thanks to a dogged 34 not out from Richie Cann.

The following week saw an amazing performance from Jack Blair against Leverstock Green. Jack took 9 wickets for just 7 runs in bowling Green out for just 42 and they were the best bowling figures anywhere in the country on that day, a fantastic achievement and well deserving of the ‘Performance of the Season’ award.

The team would go on to win 13 of their 18 games. Highlights including the 57 run win against Dunstable, where chasing 196, Dunstable raced to 100 inside 8 overs before Tom Foster took 6 wickets in just 4.3 overs to turn the game in our favour, and then beating champions Kings Langley on the final day of the season thanks to 57 from just 28 balls from Amit Mathur.

Tom Foster was the leading wicket taker with 29 wickets which earned him the Player’s Player of the year award, closely followed by Alex Owen who picked up 26 wickets with a best of 5/15. Elliott Bryceland was top run scorer with 281 runs with Simon Foster, Amit Mathur and Richie Cann all contributing over 200 runs.

The 4th XI regularly fields 4 or 5 juniors in their side and as with the 3’s there were many stand out performances with Stanley Jenner, Jack Borland, James Cheetham and Mattie Johnson all contributing throughout the season. Eddie Haines received the Captain’s Award from captain Crispin Hedges for some excellent spells with the new ball including a best of 3/12, and also some handy contributions with the bat towards the end of the season.

5th XI

In just its 2nd year, The 5th XI finished a respectable 6th in division 14 in a league that was dominated by the top 3 sides. The aim of the 5th team is to introduce junior players to senior cricket and at least half of the 46 players used were under 16.

The team won 7 of its games, the highlight being the 142 run victory over Pinner. The game was in the balance with the 5’s struggling at 76-6 before 14-year-old Henry Roe hit a fantastic 105 to turn the game around. Henry faced just 70 balls and hit an impressive 18 boundaries taking the team up to 222 from their 40 overs. Not wanting to be out done by his cousin, Bertie Roe then took 3-4 in helping the team to bowl out Pinner for just 80 and a comprehensive victory.

The senior players in the side led the way with the bat with captain Dave Irwin top scoring with 324 runs, followed by Andrew Gibbons with 282 and Ben Roe with 266. Andrew’s runs included three 50’s and a best of 83 and he would go on to win the Captain’s Award, a great first season at the club. There were also some excellent performances from the junior batters including 71 from Will McDonald in the victory over Chorleywood and 50’s for both the 4th & 5th teams for 13 year old Teddy Carson.

The junior players in the team did the work with the ball with 13-year-old Rafferty Walsh leading the charge, claiming an impressive 17 wickets including a best of 5/12 and his efforts earned him the Player’s Player of the Year award. Bertie Roe also shone, taking 11 wickets at an average of just 8 before going on to make debuts in the 3rd and 2nd teams later in the season where he continued to excel and he was awarded the ‘Best Junior in Senior Cricket’ at the end of season celebrations.

Women’s Cricket

Women’s cricket continues to grow at RCC and the team had a great season this year. The hardball team did extremely well in finishing 4th in the first year of the new Herts Championship League, winning 4 of the 8 games played. A positive aspect of the season was that the team managed to field 11 players in every match with a total of 24 different players playing during the season. The whole team played extremely well across the season with runs and wickets being shared across the board.

Eloise Dixon won the senior Player’s Player award, ending the season with 9 wickets for just 55 runs including a hat trick in a very tense tied game against Luton Town and Indians. Eloise also made her debut for the 5th team this year. Aroush Azad was junior Player’s Player after an excellent season with the bat and ball as well as being a very positive influence in the field. Special mentions also to Sophie Bourne who hit 14 off the last over to win the game against Berkhamsted, and captain Abby Harris’s magnificent 50 not out against Ickwell.

This season was the first year that the softball team entered the league. They started off well with a win against St Albans but unfortunately couldn’t continue that form. However, the number of players coming to practice each Wednesday grew as the season went on and the future is looking bright for the team next year.

Lastly, the annual Redbourn Softball Tournament continued this year with a great turn out on the hottest day of the year!

Sunday XI

The club continued to field a regular Sunday XI playing social friendlies against local sides and we had another successful season, winning 10 of the 13 games played. Again our younger players were the star performers and it was great to see three 14 year olds scoring their first centuries for the club with Freddie Yerbury making 102 against Great Gaddesden, Mattie Johnson 102 v Harpenden Cavaliers and Callan Riches scoring 128 in the last game of the season against Croxley Guild, an innings that included 8 6’s! With the ball 12 year old Toby Irwin picked up 12 wickets and was joint top wicket taker with Bertie Roe.

We once again celebrated Presidents Day with an inter club 100 competition which was enjoyed by all, with James Mckay’s ‘Gaddesden Guardians’ defeating the Callum Oriel’s ‘Rec Royals’ in a tense final in front of a lively Bank Holiday crowd.

A heartfelt thank you to all the volunteers who continue to keep our club thriving. We are a huge club now, well over 100 people played senior league cricket this year, and a lot of work goes in to fielding teams each weekend so thanks to all the captains, coaches and committee members who help to make that happen. The work doesn’t stop here as we prepare for 2026 including finding a temporary home for the 3’s and 4’s as the Recreation Centre undergoes extensive renovations.

We look forward to seeing you then. Not long to winter nets!