The club held its first training session of the season on Wednesday night and chairman Dave Sparrow welcomed last year's players and new players to what he hopes will be a very successful season.

Over 120 players attended and these have been placed in various groups according to their ages and will remain in these groups so our qualified coaches can work on the areas that players need improvement. With this amount of players, the future of cricket in this area looks strong.

The club say their events look good, and hope during the season to bring some of the top professionals from the NYSD league to their ground to give support to their over worked coaches.

The big event of Barnard Castle's season is on Sunday, June 29, Gala Day. They hope to make enough money to continue investing in new equippment which helps coaches to improve players, while they welcome all help parents or supporters can give.

On July 3, with Durham Cricket Board, they are running a schools Kwick Cricket competition, more information will be forthcoming.

New players may join at any time with training nights always on Wednesdays with a prompt start at 6.30pm ending at 8pm, a charge of £1.50p is made to help cover expenses.