Our Pathway Programme
Our Pathway is an accessible and structured talent development programme that provides an appropriate and progressive developmental journey for girls and boys between 9 and 18 years of age. Our Pathway is for individuals aspiring to play representative age group cricket for Oxfordshire and is designed to provide appropriate and progressive transitions between ages and stages of development, targeting longitudinal development to grow a strong and sustainable talent pool.

More detailed information about our pathway programme can be found at https://www.oxfordshire.cricket/performance/pathway/. Please also make reference to our FAQ documents below;

Intra-County Age Group – Under 11 and Under 12 – FAQ’s

County Age Group – Under 13 to Under 18 – FAQ’s

We hope that this information will provide an idea of what involvement in our pathway programme will entail. Further information on our pathway programme in 2024/25 will be provided to nominated players closer to the time.

Pathway Player Recruitment
The Pathway is underpinned by a player identification and recruitment system that assists our search for high-potential players and the transitioning of players from Clubs, Schools and the wider cricket community into the Pathway.

To ensure that our Pathway remains accessible and inclusive for both Girls and Boys, we remain open to receiving player recommendations via our nomination process. We welcome the nomination of eligible players who fulfil at least one of the talent identification criteria below.

• A performing player whose current performances within the season have been above average, or significantly above their peers.
• A high-potential player with the capacity or potential to perform at a more advanced stage of development and level of competition within our pathway programme.
• A player who has a standout strength or point of difference within a specific skill discipline.

Player nominations can be submitted by any individual and we ask the following information is read and understood before nominating a player;

• Players who were deselected from the Pathway at Phase 1 in 2023-2024 WILL need to be nominated.
• Players who participated in the Pathway from Phase 2 onwards in 2023-2024 will automatically be invited to Phase 1 of the forthcoming year. Please click HERE for a summary of all the players that will be automatically invited – they will not need to be renominated.
• Players that are new to our pathway, have moved into the county, opted to exit the pathway this year, or have progressed since their prior involvement within the pathway require nomination.
• To qualify for Oxfordshire a player must ordinarily either have been born in Oxfordshire, live in Oxfordshire, play club cricket in Oxfordshire, go to school in Oxfordshire or have represented Oxfordshire at County Age Group level the previous programme year.
• Nominated players (both Girls & Boys) must be born between 01/09/2006 and 31/08/2015.
• Players born between 01/09/2015 and 31/08/2016 can be nominated but will only be accepted on a case by case basis and will require further information, which will be requested, prior to invitation.

Please refer to the below table which highlights what ages form each age group. You will note that some age groups capture multiple years;


Please submit one response for the player you are nominating using the online form provided. All nominations MUST be received by 19:00 on Sunday 28th July 2024. We ask that you provide accurate information and that you obtain consent to share any personal data before submitting a player nomination.  Please click the link to NOMINATE A PLAYER

Should you have any questions regarding the pathway player recruitment process then please contact one of the following;

• Performance Cricket Coordinator, Alex Westbury on [email protected]
• Pathway Manager, Sam Arthurs on [email protected]
• Performance Director, Matthew Barnes on [email protected]

Nominated Players will be directly invited to attend the 2024/25 Pathway programme which commences in the Autumn.

We thank you for supporting our search for high-potential players and look forward to receiving nominations for our Pathway.