Farouk Hussain
Head of ABCC Bears Junior Cricket
ASTLEY BRIDGE BEARS
Welcome to the new and revamped Junior Team Section ... 2026 is set to be a great year!
2026 Astley Bridge Bears information coming soon...
Junior Cricket
Carrying on from last season, we field six junior teams starting from our Astley Bridge Cubs (School Year 2 & below), U9s, U11s, U13s, U15, U18s.
Meet new people, make new friends and learn to play cricket in a caring and safe environment.
We have been awarded the ECB Clubmark Accreditation for 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 which shows that the club is sustainable, well-run and provides the right environment for its members and players.
All our coaches are ECB Qualified and DBS-checked.
Club Policies
Please ensure both you and your child/children have familiarised yourselves with the club policies, especially the Codes of Conduct. These can be found by clicking here.
Club Clean Up
Over the weekend of the 11th April, the club will host it's Bears Club Clean Up Day ahead of the new season.
Registration day took place on the 8th March, however, there will be times during the season when this can be done with any new players or players who missed the designated day.
It's essential that you have registered your child via the online link above and made the correct payment using the details in the link before the player can join both training and matches.
Bears Friday Night Training
Our Bears Friday Training Evenings will commence on Friday 17th April 2026.
The timings are:
Astley Bridge Cubs (School Years 2 and below) – 6:15pm to 7:15pm
Under 9s, Under 11s, Under 13’s and Under 15’s – 6:15pm to 7:45pm
Under 18s train with the senior teams on Wednesday evenings from 6:15pm – 8pm
Please arrive by 5:45 pm as the first session will be extremely busy.
Following on from the last few years, we have a good number of coaches available this summer, including our returning 1st Team professional, Dhanushka Dhamasiri. We are also delighted to welcome Morgan Duffy, our new Overseas Amateur from New Zealand. We look forward to their arrival and working with them over the season.
Both Danu and Morgan will be available for private 1:1 coaching. More details will be available soon.
Astley BriDge Bears
Junior Cricket Memberships
School Years 2 and Below |
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Membership Fee (includes match/training shirt) £35.00 |
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Friday Night Training Fee* £40.00Total Price: £75.00 |
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* The weekly training fee is £5. Paying the £40 up front is great value compared to paying the weekly fee. There are around 20 sessions over the course of the summer. |
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Payment can be made by cash or card. Bank transfer can also be used to the following account. Astley Bridge CC 40-12-41 51546694 Please use the child's membership number (reach out to any of the Bears team to find this), initial (of first name) and surname, followed by "JNR" as the payment reference, e.g. "6 J BLOGGS JNR". This will allow the club to match the payment back to your membership application. |
School Years 3 and Up |
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Membership Fee (includes match/training shirt) £35.00 |
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Friday Night Training Fee* £50.00Total Price: £85.00 |
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* The weekly training fee is £5. Paying the £50 up front is great value compared to paying the weekly fee. There are around 20 sessions over the course of the summer. |
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Payment can be made by cash or card. Bank transfer can also be used to the following account. Astley Bridge CC 40-12-41 51546694 Please use the child's membership number (reach out to any of the Bears team to find this), initial (of first name) and surname, followed by "JNR" as the payment reference, e.g. "6 J BLOGGS JNR". This will allow the club to match the payment back to your membership application. |
Junior Cricket Matches
The club has entered teams at all the junior age groups in the North West Cricket League - Under 9s through to Under 18s. The league’s website can be found here: nwcl.co.uk.
Bear’s games are scheduled to commence towards the end of April and are played on different days across the week, dependent on the age group.
All the club’s fixtures and results can be found on the club’s Play-Cricket website: astleybridge.play-cricket.com
The eligibility criteria for the different age groups are that players must be “under” on 1st September 2025. For example, if a player is currently 15, but turned 15 after 1st September 2025, he/she can play for the Under 15s. Girls, however, can play 1 year below their “natural” age group.
League Registration
To play in league matches, players must be registered with the league.
All existing players from last season are automatically registered for this season.
Any new players to the club will have to provide an up-to-date photograph and a form of identification (usually a photo of the photo page of their passport). Please provide this to the relevant team manager as soon as possible.
Kit
Players should play matches in their Bears kit.
A match / training shirt is provided free with Bears membership. Sweaters and tracksuit bottoms are available to purchase and subsidised by the club to keep the price at an affordable figure.
If there are any issues with this, please speak with a club coach.
Equipment
In Under 11s matches and older, a hard ball is used and therefore protective equipment is required. As a minimum, this should include a helmet, batting gloves, batting pads and an abdominal guard. Wicket keepers will also need wicket keeping gloves. This equipment is available to purchase at some sports shops and specialist cricket shops, such as Cricket World, based at Astley Bridge Cricket Club.
Astley Bridge Cricket Club
Bears Coaches 2026
Krish Patel
Head Junior Coach
Syd De Silva
1st Team Captain
Dhanushka Dharmasiri
Overseas Professional
Morgan Duffy
Overseas Amateur
Tahira Gangaat
ABCC Bears Junior Cricket Secretary
Jean Darby
Junior Coach
Ismael Patel
Junior Coach
Safwaan Gangaat
Junior Coach
Richard Northrop
Senior Player
Millen Patel
Senior Player
Hasan Patel
Senior Player
Akbar Mallu
Senior Player
Sajid Ismail
Senior Player
Asfak Patel
Senior Player
Jake Bailey
Senior Player
Bears Managers 2026
Under 9's Manager
Hasan Patel
Assistant: Akbar Mallu
Under 11's Manager
Safwaan Gangat
Assistant: Tahira Gangat and Asfak Patel
Under 13's Manager
Sajid Ismail
Under 15's Manager
Jake Bailey
Under 18's Manager
Femieda Patel
Assistant: Ismael Patel
We expect parents to be in regular communication with their respective team managers. Most of the coaches and managers are volunteers, and all have day jobs. Any assistance parents can give is greatly appreciated. Training sessions and matches are organised in advance. If you cannot attend, please let your team manager know as soon as possible. Whilst at training or matches, please let the coaches coach and do not interfere with the sessions and distract your child. This not only disrupts your child, but potentially affects the whole group and could undermine the coach. Players should play matches in their Bears kit. If there are any issues with this, please speak with a club coach.