Falkland Cricket Club captain James Bird talks Home Counties League, pre-season and Elliot Seddon return
Falkland Cricket Club are entering the 2025 season with a new challenge on the horizon.
Last year they won the top division of the Thames Valley Cricket League, sealing promotion to Division Two of the Home Counties Premier Cricket League.
They’ll now face off against the likes of Oxford Cricket Club and Slough, as they look to consolidate last year’s incredible promotion.
Captain James Bird is optimistic that his side can quickly adapt to the new division.
“It’s really hard to judge, because we haven’t been at that standard for a long time,” he said.
“But there was a team who were in our position last year, Stoke Green, who actually went on to win the league straight away.
“So it goes to show that you can be successful going up into that division.
“I played in it myself a few years ago when I was at Wokingham.
“Brandon Gilmour, Richard Morris, James Morris have played at that level.
“For a few of them it’ll be a new experience, but it’s one I’m sure they’ll step up to.”
For Falkland, the aim this year is to gain experience at Home Counties level, with no overarching goals being set.
“I’m not going to say ‘we’re going to win the league’ or whatever,” he said.
“We’ll just take it game by game and see how we get on.
“This season will be a really good learning curve for the season after.
“We’ll have a better idea of where we can go from there.
“I’m quite excited to play at new grounds, getting the same ones every year can get repetitive.
“In the Thames Valley League they’re all over towards Slough.
“But in the Home Counties there are a lot more towards Oxford, so we just haven’t played against them.”
Falkland’s success last year was aided by an Australian, Lachie Field, and Kiwi Elliot Seddon, the latter of whom did not count as an overseas player.
This allowed Falkland to essentially have two players from abroad, despite being permitted only one, but promotion has complicated these arrangements.
“Elliot Seddon is confirmed, he’s coming back for next season which is good news,” he said.
“But because we’re in a different league, the rules on overseas players are different.
“So actually Elliot is now an overseas player in the Home Counties League.”
This means that Lachie Field will not return for 2025, but Falkland will be confident that they can make up for his absence.
One way of doing this is to turn to the club’s youth system, something Falkland pride themselves on.
“The aim is to get as many players in our first eleven as possible that have come through the age groups,” he said.
“They play for our development team, then threes, twos and the first team.
“It doesn’t matter that we’ve gone up a league, the players will still be good enough to come through.”
The side are already back in training, with the squad aiming to carry on that 2024 momentum.
“We had our first session late in January, so we’ve been back for a few weeks,” he said.
“The sessions have been good. The squad is good.
“There’s a really good vibe and high momentum from last year which is carrying on.
“We’ve got winter nets until the last week of March.
“As soon as April hits we want to get outside, but with the weather you never know.
“For pre-season we have an inter-club game in the first week.
“Then we go into friendlies against Burbage & Easton and Basingstoke.
“We have a home counties T20 competition day the week before the season starts.
“Then the league gets going.”
Fundraising remains of vital importance to Falkland, with plenty of opportunities on offer for fans to get involved this season.
“I think it’s a great place to come and watch cricket,” he said.
“We’ve got The Bowler’s Arms Pub, which is always a good attraction on a sunny day.
“The fundraising committee is doing a really good job.
“It’s a really good atmosphere.”
For further information regarding Falkland’s events throughout the year, visit falklandcc.co.uk
