Information for New Players
Our friendly club welcomes new players of all ages and abilities. Our focus is on ensuring the kids have fun, make new friends and participate as much as possible. We appreciate that those new to cricket may have lots of questions so we’ve attempted to answer as many as possible below.
What age can my child start playing cricket?
The Smash Play cricket programme is suitable for kids aged 4 to 7 years. This is a fun introduction to cricket facilitated by an experienced coach and focuses on the basic skills of bowling, batting and fielding.
If your child wants to play in an organized team, our Soft ball grades are open to school kids in Year 1 and above.
Does my child need to have any previous cricket experience?
Absolutely not; new players are always welcome and we will endeavor to place them into teams that match their abilities.
When does the cricket season start and finish?
The cricket season is divided into 2 parts. The first block of games start on 14th October 2023 and runs until 9th December (but no games Show Weekend). The second part of the season runs from 3rd February 2024 through to 16th March 2024.
Are there games during long weekends?
Yes we play over some of the long weekends, but with some alterations to the game days. Labour Weekend is game as usual on Saturday 21st October. For Show Weekend there is no game.
What kind of time commitment is there with cricket?
While cricket is traditionally perceived to take a long time to play, that is simply not the case for junior cricket. Most junior cricketers will have a practice session for one hour a week and a weekend game lasting from 1 hour (for our younger members) up to 2.5 hours for our older kids.
What cricket clothing is required?
For game days, players are required to wear a Halswell Junior Cricket Club black polo top (available at Anderson & Hill in Barrington Mall for $40), with black shorts or pants. The club will also provide a Halswell Junior Cricket Club cap to all new players free-of-charge.
Anderson & Hill also sell Club Hoodies ($45 or $55 with a personalized name) but these are optional for players.
The above uniform is not required for children enrolled in Smash Play Cricket.
Does my child need to bring their own cricket equipment?
No, all cricket gear is provided. However if your child has their own bat, they are welcome to use it too. Please note wooden bats are only permitted in grades Year 3 and above.
When and where are the practice sessions on?
Practice sessions, including the time and venue, are determined by the coach of each team (which is usually a parent volunteer). However, most teams usually practice at Halswell Domain (or other nearby parks) for an hour during the week.
When and where are the games on?
All Soft ball games (Kiwi, Year 3 & Year 4) are played on either Saturday mornings or the occasional Friday evening and usually last around 1.5 hours. Kiwi cricket starts at 9.30am, and 3rd and 4th grades start at 9am.
Most Hard ball games are played on Saturday mornings and usually last between 2 and 2.5 hours. The top grade in Year 6 and Year 7 play in the afternoons, starting at 12.30pm.
Our home games are usually played at Halswell Domain (or other parks in Halswell). Away games for soft ball grades are generally played at a venue in the south of the city to minimize travel time. Your child may even be lucky enough to play on the hallowed turf of Hagley Oval from time to time! Away games for hard ball grades can be anywhere in Christchurch.
My child is keen to play but wants to join the same team that their friend plays on. Is that possible?
While we endeavor to facilitate requests for new players to play in a particular team, we cannot always guarantee this. Our approach is to give first preference to existing team members to rejoin their team from the previous season. In addition, we will also balance the number of players per team in each grade to ensure each team has sufficient numbers to field a team and to maximise the amount of game time each player gets.
We will also consider the player’s ability when considering requests. For example, if the child is new to playing cricket but their friend is in a highly-graded team, we are unlikely to put a novice player into this situation, for safety and enjoyment reasons.
If your child has a preference to play in a particular team, please state this in their registration form but as this is not guaranteed, they should also be prepared to play in the team that they are allocated to.
For any further queries, please contact us at [email protected].