The colts at the N8 club have responded well to the enthusiasm and dynamism of the six new coaches

Pratik Patel believes Crouch End CC are seeing the benefit of having more youth-team coaches working at the club, writes George Sessions.

The new head of colts cricket is looking to spread the word about the Calthorpe outfit and recruit more juniors ahead of the 2018 campaign, which will start in the coming weeks.

Crouch End recently hosted a taster session for colts on March 24 and managed to get 20 more children to sign up for the new season and Patel thinks it is linked to their new members of staff.

He said: “We know juniors can get bored quite easily, but the six new coaches we have now got at the club are really dynamic and enthusiastic.

“They can relate to the youngsters from the area and the juniors have responded really well to them which is great.”

Crouch End showcased their new coaches at the colts taster session last month and it provided some positive results.

Patel revealed the youth section at the Middlesex County League Division Three club is now the biggest they have had for a long time, but they are not ready to stop recruiting more just yet.

He added: “I would say we had about 50 older children at the taster session and the colts set-up has about 135 as of this year.

“We’ve picked up 20 brand new junior members to go on top of that now and we’ve never seen that before.

“I think a lot of that is down to the restructure of our colts set-up and also bringing on highly qualified coaches. We’ve also invested heavily in equipment, so that has all played a part.”

While Patel is focused on improving Crouch End’s colts section, he is also part of the first-team set-up and there is a clear pathway for progress at the club.

There are colts teams from under-fives all the way to under-17s and players will be given the opportunity to move into the senior section when they turn 16.

For more information on how to join Crouch End CC, who have teams ranging from under-five colts all the way to six senior sides, email crouchendcricket@gmail.com or call Pratik Patel on 07861 533 553.