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[gdb19]

I completely agree with the comments on here, I'm out of touch with the way cricket is organised now but if you have ambitions to play county you really need to be performing in a good standard of senior cricket. Junior cricket is fine but I played with a lot of people in u18's and below who regularly hit a lot if runs and this was the northern league u18's so a pretty good standard - but some didn't do much in senior cricket.

I played senior cricket from 11, and for lancs league u15's and northern league u18's but I was nowhere near a county squad. I think only one of the guys at that age group made it to play first class cricket and even then only briefly.

You really need to be playing premiership standard at about 15 or 16 I reckon to be in with a shout of county.

[petehosk]

I never played cricket as a junior as I was busy with other sports (deprived childhood with no cricket!)
But I mirror what you say about having to play senior as it's a totally different level!! My main sports when I were a wee nipper was martial arts - Judo as a junior and Shoto Kai and Shoto Budo Karate as a senior.
Judo was very different as junior and senior! No strangleholds and arm locks, etc as a junior and very different game!! Didn't do Karate as a junior but helped teach it to juniors and the difference of intensity is on another level (the seniors are far more intense!) Even the best 17 year old black belt was easy pickings, no matter how quick they were! And they used to learn so much more from sparring with myself or another senior than they would ever learn from sparring with other juniors! I'm assuming that it would be the same with cricket - alot of it is mental application and concentration.
 

[dhackett89]

i completely agree with the majority of comments, a lot is about whether you play for a fashionable club or not. and who you know. I played district cricket under 14 and 15 and scored 2 centuries in 3 games at under 15 yet just missed out on county selection. i didn't play for the right club and probably didnt have the technique against really good bowling yet have always scored big runs against medium pace dobbers. (it didnt help that at 15 i had an awful attitude and thought too much of myself) i now coach junior district sides and i see the same thing happening. You see players who may score runs but as they get older you see they don't have the tools to make it, they just develop more quickly than others.

back to the original point i think the lad in question probably isnt good enough as he seems to have no reason to suggest he is. But at times even those with pretty exceptional stats will come to realise they havent got what i takes as you get older, as the most crucial time for develpment is between about 15 and 18

[dhackett89]

to add to that i played senior cricket from about 13 and scored a ton at 14 in my seconds then played firsts that season, and as a coach i would look more at how a lot of juniors have performed in senior games as it is generally a testiment to their charecter that they don't let the step up affect them

[petehosk]

Spot on to that!
The step up to a decent standard of senior will test the mindset and atitude of the junior for sure!

[richthekeeper]

i never got near the county side, because i were rubbish

[Buzz]

i never got near the county side, because i were rubbish

I was awesome and got nowhere near my county side !!

Actually I got picked once but didn't end up playing for some reason... I did captain a select public schools XI a couple of times and that was quite fun (except when we got smashed by a touring SA school side!)

[Burdy]

Here Adam. I posted this during last season. Take a look at the scores of batsman 1 & 3. these are the sort of scores that will get you noticed, be it against a poor youth team or good youth team.

http://wanstead.hitscricket.com/scorecard/fixtureID_190943/Boys-Under-16s-v-Buckhurst-Hill-26-Jun-2011.aspx

[Lions Pride]

Sorry but some people have a ridiculous idea of what county standard is. I know someone who is at Lancashire (who are national champions at his age group) who has never hit a 50 for his club, never mind his county, with best figures of 2/10 last season. He barely gets in to his club's 2Xi which not to mention is a very poor standard of 2Xi cricket. You would be surprised.

[roco]

Fully agree there I played against a lad who played Warwickshire u18 or 19 whatever the age group was as I took 20 odd more wickets than him in same league but his dad knew somebody so got in

A few lads that played age group were crap but at least only the decent ones seem to get through to 1stxi

[ajm90]

you do get some decent players though http://ashtead.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/scorecard.asp?id=11137376 15 year old in the surrey champ premier 200

[Buzz]

I have played with that guy.

some of the surrey "unders" are impressive.

[ajm90]

I used to play rugby with him and ive played against him and his Dad theyre quite a talented sporting family

[Bez013]

I don't know what the standard of age group county cricket or how you would go about getting picked. 

What I can tell you relates to hockey, getting to regional level as a junior requires you to be in the right program and you have to be nominated to JRPC trials at the various age groups, if you make it through JRPC trials you get to go to HiPAC u15/u17 or the Futures Cup u16/u18 and from there to the National Age Group squads.

I'm guessing cricket will have a similar set up and if you haven't been nominated I would guess that either means you are not considered good enough or the person who is supposed to communicate this stuff hasn't done it.

If getting to into a county age group is your dream then by all means persue it, by the sounds of it you may need to move to a club with an established history of getting juniors into the county set up, if you do move to one of these clubs then make sure you listen to the coaches, if they tell you that you need to work on something to get noticed then go away and work on it.

[roco]

Having played county u16 hockey for Staffordshire it can come down to what club you play for as only 5/6 out of the squad were not from Cannock it seemed to all us if you were from Cannock you got in if not you had to work harder so not to dissimilar to the cricket round there

But I can't be bitter as before my knee went I was on warickshires radar as had trials for u19 and was asked back but after knee went could not bowl so fell off cricket really for couple of years so I had my shot