Welcome to the Western District Cricket Union website.  The Union organises and promotes cricket to half the population of Scotland, from Dumfries & Galloway in the south-west, up the west coast, and across the central belt to the Forth Valley.  We co-ordinate with the West District Junior Cricket Union, local authorities and Cricket Scotland to encourage youth development and provide a structured developmental pathway with the aim of allowing the game to flourish and grow at all levels.  From the Premier Division to the Greenwood Trophy, the Union provides competitions for all its member clubs, from 50-over Saturday cricket to competitive T20 competitions.

Latest news and notices

• New Umpires wanted!! (18th December 2018)

  If you can’t play cricket any more, or never did for that matter, what better way to get close to all the action than becoming an umpire!  More umpires are badly needed  in the West so you will never be short of an opportunity to utilise your new skills. Details of the training courses are listed below and all you need to do now is have a look at them, apply and get along. If you sign up and attend all 3 courses it’s a snip at £40. if you choose to attend an individual course then it is £30 a course.

  The courses are all being held at Clydesdale CC where access is straightforward and a convivial learning experience is guaranteed. For further information please contact Shaun Els at the is address:  whoels78@gmail.com

  Introduction to Umpiring – Tuesday 5th February 2019 –   https://booking.ecb.co.uk/c/express

  Its your Call Umpire Education Stage one – Tuesday 12th February to Tuesday 5th March 2019 – https://booking.ecb.co.uk/c/express

  Its your Call Umpire Education Stage two Tuesday 12th March – 26th March 2019 –  https://booking.ecb.co.uk/c/express

  All courses are held between 7.00 and 9.00pm

   

• Cricket Scotland – Development Vacancies ( West /Central) (18th December 2018)

  Two cricket development vacancies have become available in West/Central Scotland. Are you the right person for the job? Take a look at the job descriptions below and if you think you are get applying! Its great to work in the sport you love!

  Position Description – CFV Development Officer

  FINALPosition Description – Wicketz Development Officer FINAL

• Cricket Scotland – Female Cricket Pathways 2018 and beyond.. (22nd November 2018)

  Please see below a link to the new female cricket pathways document which shows current programmes for females at participation and performance level.

  To ensure growth it is vital to provide several entry points into female cricket, covering all ages, and you will see these in the document’s left column under FIRST EXPERIENCE.

  Next to this is the “traditional” club pathway, incorporating competitions like the Women’s Premier League, “Beyond Boundaries” Women’s Scottish Cup and “The Wee Bash”.  Cricket Scotland will be promoting a new concept in 2019 – the “Female Cricket Hub”, watch this space!

  The regional programme consists of two women’s teams: the Eagles representing the east and the Stormers representing Caledonia and the west. Below that sit four regional Under 16 teams aligned with the male pathway Eastern Knights, Western Warriors and Caledonian Highlanders North, and South.

  The National pathway is self-explanatory with an ever expanding programme for all teams involved.

  Cricket Scotland is committed to increasing female participation in clubs and schools and taking our representative teams to new heights. The document  provides clarity for anyone involved or interested in female cricket in Scotland how it will be achieved.

  The Cricket Scotland female participation team consisting of Rosy Ryan (west), Madison Garland (east) and Nic Wilson are here to help and happy to answer any questions that might arise . The west local development officer or regional manager will also be able to help.

  Female cricket pathways, 2018

• WDCU end of season forum, October 2018 – summary document (15th November 2018)

  The report from the WDCU end of season forum has now been completed and is available to view. You can access the document via the link below. The information from the forum and the captains survey will help inform future developments for cricket in the west.  Many thanks to everyone who participated in any way.  Your time and contribution is very much valued.  If you would like to feedback on the document please send all comments to administrator Iain Kennedy at this address: admin@wdcu.co.uk.

  The WDCU forum – summary report

• Rosy Ryan – Role model of the year 2018! (12th November 2018)

  Congratulations to Cricket Scotland’s West Region Women and Girls’ Development Officer, Rosy Ryan, who has been recognised at “Role Model of the Year” at the recent Scottish Women in Sport Awards dinner. The dinner took place in Glasgow, on Friday 9th November 2018, and was a celebration of a great year of female success in sport in Scotland.

  Rosy’s effervescence, passion and commitment are clear for all to see – and these characteristics have made her a significant driving force in the recent growth of the game in the West Region.  Rosy is able to provide a great first experience for everyone trying our sport for the first time and she has created a new training programme called CricHIIT to encourage more women and girls throughout the country to keep fit, socialise and develop some new skills – while having lots of fun.

  More information about Rosy’s fantastic success is available on the Cricket Scotland website.

  

• West Regional Participation Forum, 2018 – hosted by Cricket Scotland (12th November 2018)

  Cricket Scotland hosted a first-ever West Region Participation Forum on Sunday 11th November 2018, at Titwood (Clydesdale CC). Led by West Regional Participation Manager Tim Hart and West Region Women and Girls’ Development Officer Rosy Ryan, the forum focussed on All Stars Cricket (specifically the “Money Can’t Buy Experience”), provided an overview of latest range of programmes available within the Women’s and Girls’ environment (including a big reveal of a new, and exciting, development), invited feedback on the Junior Formats (which were introduced for the first time in 2018) and re-capped on other support available to clubs through other key partner organisations.

  Thanks to Clydesdale CC for hosting and to all 16 people, from 12 different clubs, who attended and provided some very valuable feedback for Cricket Scotland.

   

• Cricket Scotland participation forum – 11 November, 2018, 3pm to 5pm, Titwood (23rd October 2018)

  Cricket Scotland is hosting a junior participation forum in the west region in November.  All details can be found in the link below. Please get along and contribute if you can!

  Cricket Scotland participation forum, November 2018

• WDCU league reports, 2018 – Third Division (22nd October 2018)

  Here is the final report in the series compiled by Ricky Bawa from the CMC.

  Season 2018 saw a revamped format with some second elevens integrated into the league structure. Division 3 had a mixture of first and second elevens.  The league was certainly closely contested with two stand-out teams in Motherwell CC and Whiteinch battling it out for the league Title.  Ultimately the fact that Motherwell defeated Whiteinch twice (the only games the latter lost), meant that Motherwell were deserved champions.  East Renfrewshire CC finished third and GHK|Strathclyde fourth as they fought hard, but ultimately fell short, against the big two teams. The next six teams were evenly matched and scrapped it out to see who would finish in the bottom two. There was only 9% separating the teams at the end of the season. The unlucky two teams eventually finishing in the bottom two places were Kingholm and Glenpark.

  The batting star in the league was Ali Qazi of East Renfrewshire who hit an astonishing 671 runs in ten innings, including four hundreds at an average of 95. The league winners Motherwell had two batters score 500 plus runs for the season: Alaguraja Pichaimuthu with 662 runs, including two hundreds, and Radhakrishnan Palanismy with 594 runs.

  On the bowling front Khurram Fawad from Motherwell was the leading wicket-taker with 26 wickets. Ahmad Mumtaz and Derek Heron were also consistently in the wickets, with 25 and 24 wickets respectively.

  Congratulations to Motherwell on winning the league with just one loss from their fifteen games.

• Save the date – WDCU AGM – Wednesday, 5 December 2018 (17th October 2018)

  TO ALL CLUB SECRETARIES & OTHER NOMINATED CONTACTS

  This is a “placemarker” to advise that the WDCU AGM will be held on Wednesday, 5 December.  The full notice and papers will be issued nearer the time.

  In the meantime, a reminder that any nominations for vacant positions on committees, or any position up for re-election, should be made in writing (email sufficient) to Mark Colman and copied to the WDCU Administrator no later than 14 November.  There are likely to be two vacant positions, plus two others up for re-election (the incumbents are standing for re-election) on the CMC.

  Mark Colman
  WDCU Secretary

• Clydesdale CC – RS Weir, 1953 – 2018 (16th October 2018)

  Clydesdale CC intimate that former club captain Scott Weir passed away last week. His funeral will be held at Linn Crematorium on Thursday, 18 October at 9.30am. Scott was an iconic player and an inspirational leader. A tenacious top order batsman he represented Scotland 26 times with a hundred at Lord’s being his career highlight. He played in three successful Scottish Cup finals and captained the club to Western Union league success in 1995. Scott was a highly decorated RAF helicopter pilot and will be remembered and missed by many.