At lot has happened at Kew CC in the last few weeks - great wins from the U17s over local rivals, a Mens and Womens Sunday T20 double header against Shepherds Bush with a BBQ interval, multiple net sessions and corporate events, a busy Saturday at the club for Shane’s birthday, brilliant chases from the 3s and not quite so brilliant ones from the 1s.
One thing that hasn’t happened is grass growth.

The all important Duck Pond update! The combination of dry weather and some mismanaged water companies means the Kew Duck Pond is now the biggest remaining reservoir in the country. And, its flock has been growing rapidly - 50 ducks so far have settled down, with 12 of the golden variety. Twice as many ducks as wins so far for the Kew senior sides.

Thankfully it is all for a good cause - raising money for the Sivan Arul Foundation.

This Saturday the club is hosting a Sri Lankan themed charity night with food, raffles and an auction all in aid of the Foundation. Prizes to be won and bid for include local Three Course Meals, a personalised note and signed bat from Kumar Sangakarra, hospitality tickets for Brentford, Cricket Coaching Sessions, Rounds of Golf and much much more! The event is from 6pm on Saturday but the club will be open earlier if anyone wants to come down to support the 2s!

Tickets are still available here for £20 per person and can be purchased just as a donation if you are unable to attend.

Alternatively you can donate through the JustGiving link here. The JustGiving page includes more information on the charity and the event too.

In cricket news, there have been more strong performances across the club with the honours board looking more full than any time in the last five years.

• We have added 5 more hundreds to the board since the last newsletter and we are now up to 11 for the season - 3 hundreds from Sreshtjot including back-to-back ones in July (102*: 2s vs Ickenham, 163: 2s vs Royal Ascot, 102: 2s vs Uxbridge), Krishan 100* (Sunday team vs Oundle Ramblers) and Sreejith 100 (3s vs Datchet).
• And 8 more five wicket hauls in the last few months taking us to 9 for the season - Suren 5/38 (Sunday team vs The Roving Goats), Sreshjot with two 5/55 (2s vs Hillingdon Manor) and 5/51 (2s vs Slough), KP 5/49 (1s vs Beaconsfield), Kailis 5/74 (2s vs Uxbridge), a big month for the Kalia family in July with Rahul and Dhruv both securing 5 wickets hauls (4s vs Uxbridge, 4s vs Chesham) and finally Kam with 6/35 (1s vs Chesham) who now has the clubs best figures for the season. Will anyone be able to take it off him?

We also nearly had the hallowed “full win weekend”. The 3s chased down 234, the 2s defended their total, Krishan and Anuj put on an over 100 run opening standing on Sunday, but sadly the 1st XI couldn’t secure the win. I chose to run out Kirby rather than hitting the four needed in the chase.

Despite the unavailability both events caused; we would also like to say congratulations to long-time clubman Chip and his wife Liv who got married at the end of June! Congratulations also extended to Andy and his fiance Louise who recently got engaged! Exciting times for both couples.

Our social media team has also been busy keeping the instagram up to date. Lizzie has consistently been able to grow our followers and put up some great posts while in a 10 hr different time zone.

We have also continued to host our Friday night T20s. We have played three since the last newsletter and all have been fun games.

• First, was the annual T20 vs Portsmouth OBs which continued long into the evening.
• Second we welcomed an international side to the Green with VRA Netherlands touring XI playing in full yellow Chennai Super Kings kit - who knows, could there be a Kew CC side playing in Amsterdam in a few years?.
• Finally, Kings Road managed to just beat the weather and played on the Green last Friday.

There is one more Friday T20 in the calendar for the year on the 8th of August vs Australia House - get your availability in on Pitchero so we can get an early one over the Aussies before the Ashes.

With some big matches coming up, please keep making yourself available when possible for matches and using the Pitchero to let the captains know. Also, summer nets are continuing to help perfect those skills before the weekends - look out on Pitchero and the WhatsApp groups for the latest news.

Our next newsletter in August will be an Umpire special before an end of season wrap up in September.

The umpire special will feature Q&As not only with our favourite umpire Raj, but also an ex-England player who took over 900 professional wickets, and an umpire who sits on the ECB’s Professional Umpires’ Team. If you are looking for tips on how to get on an umpire's good side or a few stories about our club treasurer, you won’t want to miss it.

The rest of this month’s newsletter covers:

• An update on the Women’s team
• A mid-season cricket update following a more mixed June and July across the club.
• A note from the Juniors following the end of our Sunday morning coaching sessions.
• Key dates for the diary
• Summer nets

An update from the growing Women’s team

The Women’s Wednesday evening training sessions are in full swing!

Taking advantage of the warm summer evenings on Kew Green, Sania is putting the squad through their paces with focused drills in batting, bowling, and fielding. The team spirit is fantastic, and the improvement in skills is clear to see.

In addition to the softball tournaments, the team recently played their second ever hardball match on home turf - securing a thrilling 7-run win against Shepherd’s Bush. It was a great day that was part of a T20 double header for the club with a BBQ in-between matches.

With four more matches coming up, including a mix of friendlies and tournaments, we’re looking to keep the momentum going.

New players are always welcome - training takes place every Wednesday, 18:30 - 20:00 on Kew Green. First season is free for new members. Come give it a go!

Mid-season cricket results - captain and players insights

Most recent fixture on the right-hand side - “|” separates months

1s - WWLL | WLLL | LLC - currently 7th

After kicking off the mid-season strongly by beating the rain and beating OMT, we have fallen on the wrong side of some tight games in the last few weeks with a string of three matches going to last wicket partnerships where we haven’t quite been able to get over the line, or remove their last batsmen.

There have been some great bowling and fielding efforts amongst the losses and there will hopefully be more luck for the rest of the season.

2s - LLLW | AWWL | LLA - currently 7th

In the last newsletter Manpreet correctly predicted the start of a winning run. But it didn’t quite last as long as we all wanted it too, despite four hundreds from one player!

In June the 2s were on a bit of a roll - a few wins on the trot and, even better, some lively performances from blokes who’ve done bugger all for years (you know who you are!)! The energy was good, the cricket has been fun, and the team was in a great place. Only thing left in June was to learn how to catch and to stop making matches so tight - some of the team are dangerously close to developing high blood pressure (spoiler this learning is still in progress).

July started with two close, tough games where we just ended up on the wrong side of the result. It was also the first time a match ended at 9pm on Kew Green!

Young overseas Sreshtjot is continuing his batting and bowling efforts. He is currently top run scorer across the whole of the TVCL with 890 runs so far!

It is all pretty tight in the table and we are aiming to push our way up during the rest of the season.

3s - WWLL | ALWW | WLW - currently 3rd

Rising to the challenge!

It’s been an exciting month for Kew 3rd XI, filled with moments of resilience, brilliance, and team spirit. While the road hasn’t always been smooth, the 3s have consistently found players stepping up when it matters most, delivering clutch performances in crucial moments.

One of the standout achievements this season has been our 100% (nearly) winning record in run chases — a testament to the team’s determination and composure under pressure. This month added more glory to that record, highlighted by some memorable individual efforts. The only time we fell short was when we hit 307, chasing 312 - Crofty couldn’t quite hit the 6s needed!

A special mention goes to Sreejith, who notched up a brilliant century, showcasing class and control. Equally impressive was Zee’s explosive innings against Slough, helping seal a dramatic chase against the league leaders — a match that could prove pivotal in the campaign.

Sunil, with over 500 runs at an average of 80, has been one of the top run scorers in the league and continues to anchor the batting lineup with remarkable consistency. His contributions have been vital to the 3s’ success so far.

On the bowling front, new addition Ali Mumtaz has made an immediate impact, spearheading the attack with pace and precision. He’s been well supported by Shaveen, who continues to deliver with the ball and apply pressure from the other end, and Alex when available.

The squad continues to build momentum, growing stronger with each outing. With eyes firmly set on breaking into the top two of the league (Currently 3rd in the table), the 3s are moving from strength to strength — united, focused, and hungry for success.

4s - WWWL | AWWL | WWC - currently 1st

Kew 4s have continued their early season momentum and are currently top of the league!

They had a rocking June—marked by rain, runs, wins, and took a solid grip on 2nd place in the league table.

Suren, our guest of honour, has been on a wicket-taking spree; the Kalia family continues to impress with both bat and ball; Rex showcased his batting brilliance with a magnificent knock; and Pete added “wicketkeeper” to his all-round CV—alongside solid batting and no-turn beauties with the ball.

The 4s continued collecting the wins in July with runs mainly shared, Pete hitting a brilliant 83 against Chesham and Rahul and Dhruv delivering great 5 wicket hauls for the Kalia family and the 4s!

Dropped catches are on the rise, ducks are in retreat, and our ability to chase big scores is the best it’s ever been.

Bring on the rest of the season!

Sundays - LL | LWWL | WLLWL | LWA

The season has been fun and enjoyable so far, with some strong performances and plenty of additions to the Duck Pond from both us and the opposition! We have seen juniors scoring hundreds, incredible catches from Shep and Inge and some great bowling efforts in the field.

We even took part in our first Sunday T20 for a while (that wasn’t rain enforced) on the Double Header day, despite the murmurings of “Its not proper cricket” from some regulars in the side.

We are welcoming some great long running oppositions to the Green in the next few weeks and are looking forward to the rest of the season. Stukins is hoping to nail more drives over mid-off and cover and take the win/loss ratio positive while Suren is away!

Our Sunday morning junior sessions have been brilliant, but have now ended for the year.

We would like to thank all the volunteers for their support through what has been a fun, hot and particularly dry summer!

We have welcomed lots of new players and hope to see them not only next summer, but developing into fine players for Kew in a few years time.

Our U9, U14s and U17s have been competing in local matches - The U9s have won their last 3 games in a row and the U17s even secured local bragging rights with a close win over Ealing.

Key dates for the diary:

• Charity Evening - Saturday, 26th July. 6pm. Ticket link above and on website.
• End of season event: Saturday 6th September, evening (as matches finish),
• Presidents Day: Saturday 13th September.

Summer nets

Outdoor nets are continuing to run on Kew Green every Tuesday (weather permitting) until the end of the season.

Women’s training takes place on Wednesday evening on Kew Green.

Look out on the App or WhatsApp groups for latest information. Nets are also available to use on other nights of the week.