ROYSTON Town Cricket Club has set its sights on competitive league cricket with the progress of its young players going from strength-to-strength. Formerly known as Royston Polaris, Town have spent the past three seasons learning their trade by playing f

ROYSTON Town Cricket Club has set its sights on competitive league cricket with the progress of its young players going from strength-to-strength.

Formerly known as Royston Polaris, Town have spent the past three seasons learning their trade by playing friendly fixtures, with their inexperienced squad gaining much-needed experience.

And after Royston moved out of the town to play their cricket in Therfield, Town are now the only team to play in Royston.

Club captain Steve Gywnne said: "We're extremely proud of the fact that we are the only club to play in Royston - it's a big thing for us.

"I spent 10 years playing for Royston and it was a shame when they had to move. I think that it's important to have a team based in Royston and keeping the cricket tradition of the Heath alive.

"We're mainly a very young side, with three or four experienced players like myself involved to pass on our experience and to give something back," said the 50-year-old.

"When we started the club up, we found that a lot of youngsters in the town struggled to find a club. In order to play, they had to go outside Royston, and that was also a problem because of transport."

"We set it up to give youngsters the opportunity to play," said club chairman Dominic Adams.

"That opportunity just wasn't there, and with the demand quite high it was just the natural progression. There's a real bridge in coaching from when they leave school and we wanted to address that.

"It's about giving players experience and confidence, in a fun and enjoyable environment. We're a club where players can learn and develop, and I except that they will probably move on at some point, but if they do go on to bigger and better things, then we'll know that we played a big part in that."

With 26 friendly fixtures arranged for their current season, as well as the experience of the popular Keatley Cup, both Gywnne and Adams have their sights set on competitive cricket next year.

"That's our aim," said Gywnne.

"It's difficult to be taken seriously when you play friendly games, but we're confident we can get competitive cricket next season.

"The friendly games have been a learning curved for our young players, some of whom had never even picked up a bat and ball before they started with us.

"But I think they're ready for the challenge, and although some of them might not be natural cricketers, they are improving all the time.

"We've gone from 17 all out to chalking up scores of 240! They're showing a lot of potential.

"Playing in the Keatley Cup has been valuable experience, and knocking out Bassingbourn in the quarter-final was a massive confidence boost for all involved.

"And the win has set up an interesting semi-final tie with Royston. That will be a very difficult game and a big step up for us."

Adams added: "We've come a long way in a very short space of time and the club is certainly moving in the right direction.

"Cricket is a game that I believe is rapidly dying out. More needs to be done to make it more accessible and clubs like Royston Town can only be good for the game!"

Royston Town faced Royston at Reed last night. The winners will meet last year's Keatley Cup winners Reed, or Buntingford in the final, which will be played on Tuesday, July 3, at Therfield.