Hi ! My son (age 9) is really interested in cricket and is playing at a good level (the coaches he has had so far and his school’s feedback to us) so we were looking for clubs for him to practice and get more opportunities to play matches etc. We signed up to one club last summer which was meant to be the oldest and best club in NW London but MY GOD the politics involved there is driving his mad. Preferential selection, parents throwing money for 1-1 with coaches in order to get selected to teams, boys with older siblings and parents who are club member betting preference etc. So much so, it has almost put us off continuing cricket for my son. Two questions - does cricket usually operate like this ? We also play a lot of tennis and have started competing but that seems like a much clearer, simpler and fairer structure. Second, if this is not how cricket operates, we might have just chosen the wrong club, in which case does anyone have recommendations for a good junior cricket club in Finchley, Highgate, Golders Green, Hampstead areas please. Preferably personal recommendations please :)
Thank you