Times have changed positively with the growth of our club and the player community over the last
few years. The growth in player community means there is healthy competition for both first and
second XIs. To elaborate a bit on the selection process: Firstly, all interested players need to be
registered members of the Club to be selected. Then by using the website functionality, they need to
update their availability for the fixtures listed on the website. The usual cut off for this is 6pm on
Tuesday and after this point the Selection Committee begins to review the details for the weekend
ahead. This year, the Selection Committee is the 1st XI captain, Vikram; the 2nd XI captain, Mohit;
Girish and Joost. Among us we believe that we have a comprehensive knowledge of OCC players.
The mandate we have received from the OCC Committee is to pick the strongest side(s) for that
specific weekend. With the note that, as a club, we would like to allow for juniors to have an
opportunity to represent OCC as much as possible in BCF matches.
For the BCF, in general, we have a policy of not picking 1st team regular players for the 2nd team
(not all BCF clubs follow this), but always seeking to promote 2nd team players into the 1sts if their
performances and team combination merit this. But the overall numbers mean that inevitably some
people will miss out each week. Experience shows that due to holidays, work commitments etc there
will always be opportunities opening up in both teams across a normal summer. If players keep
training in the nets and showing their eagerness and abilities, then opportunities in these teams will
come. Of course, what this means is that when players do get the chance to play for the club in BCF
competitive matches, there is a certain pressure to perform as there is a healthy queue of players
waiting for their moment. We believe this is normal for any healthy growing club. Also, a small note
on the 12th man, we normally select a 12th man only for Home matches; and the selection is
considering the need to field if a player gets injured on the match day, so not to replace a selected
player if he drops out before the match.
This coming summer there are plenty of games for us as a community and the performances in the
various leagues are duly noted by the Selection Committee. Let us continue the winning momentum
in Div 2 and 3. Good luck to those playing this weekend and to the wider cricket community - come
down to support the teams and keep the healthy competition going.
Any questions, please let us know.
Regards
Your Selection Committee