Worcestershire County Cricket Club

Sport has always been my biggest interest. I have been playing sport from a very young age, starting football at the age of three and cricket at the age of six, I even attempted judo, badminton and basketball to name a few. My family are huge cricket fans and they themselves have represented at local, regional and county level. I was always keen to follow in their footsteps with my love for the sport as well. Hence, I grew up watching cricket whether it was on TV or at Edgbaston cricket ground going to watch India and England international matches.

I began playing at Old Hill Cricket Club, five years ago in the under 10’s team, quickly progressing to play for under 12s, 13’s and currently playing for under 14s. My cricketing ability has enabled me to play for other clubs too such as Dartmouth Cricket Club and recently playing adult cricket with Wolverhampton Asian Sports, which is a great experience and most importantly, I am managing to hold my own against adult players.

Three years ago, Old Hill put me forward for trials at Worcestershire County Cricket Club. After a morning of challenging tasks and activities, my hard work finally paid off and Worcestershire County Cricket Club selected me for their Youth Academy. This was a fantastic achievement for me and made me and my family extremely proud as well as giving my friends a lot of inspiration.

Juggling two sports as well as my education has always been challenging. However, I know these sports are good for me both physically and mentally keeping me fit and as well as being enjoyable, I learn so many other different aspects such as team building, leading and increasing my confidence.

Captaining teams has really helped me to work together better and also become more assured in my leadership. Now I listen to other people’s opinions and try to understand their point of view which benefits the team as a whole.

All was good, until the pandemic started, and my normal routine became even more difficult: My daily timetable was work, train, eat, sleep and repeat. Balancing my time between school and cricket was hard, my county was adamant that the pandemic was not going to hinder our training and practice and even though we couldn’t meet face to face they provided regular exercises and activities to complete at home, to continue our learning. This included obstacle courses, batting, fielding and bowling exercises in addition to online learning. This was a different experience for me but fun at the same time as I enjoyed training and playing the game I love, although I was eager to get back on the field and play with my team again.

During this time, I began studying for my 11+ which was also difficult as I was home schooling and training. Fortunately, I managed to undertake all the tasks and when the news was finally announced about the place at King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School, I was ecstatic. However, I knew this also meant it would get even harder juggling my education and sport, but when you are trying to accomplish a goal, there are no obstacles or hurdles!

Gaining a place in Worcester’s Youth Academy does mean I have to continue to retrial every year to ensure I maintain my place and I pleased to say for the last 2 years I have been doing this successfully. I am looking forward to Christmas before my busy weekly training schedule begins on Sunday mornings from January-April to get ready for the upcoming cricket season in the summer.

Many say that the tasks I do at a young age are outstanding and they are amazed at of what I have accomplished. At times, even though I feel drained, I think about all my achievements and listen to my coaches, which keeps me motivated, makes me work even harder and achieve significant things.

I hope the future brings me more successes in cricket and other sports as well as successful academic achievements too.

Milan Patel (7W)