Saturday May 11th will see James Bird and his 1st XI team welcome Boyne Hill 1st XI to our Enborne Lodge Ground, to kick off their Thames Valley Cricket League 2024 Division 1 campaign, his 4th year as skipper of the team, and hopefully his most successful.

By James’ own admission, ‘Division 1 is a very tough league to gain promotion from’ but with a strengthened squad, some great new additions to the team and a renewed optimism, James’ overriding feeling is one of excitement for the season ahead.

The return to FCC by both Elliot Seddon and Bobby Brown, and the introduction of Lachy Field as our overseas player offers new dynamics, each bringing key skills to an already strong squad, and they can’t wait to get out on the field. Elliot rejoins the club from his home in New Zealand, having joined FCC through our player exchange programme, which while in its infancy, has already paid dividends with Elliot proving to be not only one of our leading wicket takers in 2023 but also a very popular and positive member of our club. Bobby comes home to FCC this year, after 2 highly successful seasons at Thatcham where he has further honed his craft, and he’s now looking to push himself in a higher division. Lachy joins us from Geelong in Australia. He’s a top order batter and bowls some handy overs. (Keep your eyes peeled for more overseas news coming soon!)

All this, as well as the many positives the 1st XI can take from their 2023 season, means the skipper is feeling confident that 2024 can be their year.

Go well 1’s!