DAN HOUSEGO says promotion to the Home Counties Premier League is just the start for this young Wokingham side.
The Oaks sealed the Thames Valley Division One title on Saturday, despite defeat to Gerrards Cross, bringing to an end an eight-year exile from the Home Counties system.
Among the leading lights for the title-winning campaign have been 16-year-old batsman Archie Carter and young bowlers Lewis Sharp and Jacob Clark.
And player-coach Housego (pictured) believes that with a couple of additions, the team can continue to flourish even at a higher level.
“Although it’s club cricket, you want to play at the highest level you can,” he told The Wokingham Paper.
“That’s certainly what my intentions are.
“Next year we don’t just want to stay there, we want to win that as well, which I believe we can.
“We just want to keep evolving and keep pushing forward.”
Needing only six points from their contest with Gerrards Cross to guarantee the title at Sadlers End, Wokingham won the toss and put the visitors in to bat.
Clark got the early breakthrough, before Gerrards steadied and made it up to 181 before the third wicket fell.
A target of 237 was set to win the match with Paul Dewick (3-40) the pick of the bowlers.
The Oaks started well but in only needing 100 runs to clinch the final bonus point required, it was perhaps no real surprise to see them collapse from 139-3 to 172 all out.
And Housego remembers the moment when Wokingham knew the title was theirs.
“I think it was me batting actually,” he recalls.
“I nicked it through the slips, which was good!
“We lost which is not ideal, but just to get over the line was the main thing.
“You try and motivate everyone, but it’s just not the same. I would have liked to have won, but it’s not the end of the world.
“We had a few beers after-wards, I think it’s important to embrace the social side as well.
“But we’re not getting ahead of ourselves.
“We’ve got to start preparing for next year now.”
This weekend’s trip to Falkland rounds off Housego’s second year involved with Wokingham.
Having spent the earlier years of his career playing county cricket for Middlesex and Gloucestershire, Housego, 28, has switched his focus to coaching.
His arrival at Sadlers End signalled a clear gear change, moving away from signing overseas players but instead promoting young talent.
And he insists that model will continue next season.
“We’ll bring in a couple more players,” said Housego.
“A couple more batters I think and maybe another spinner. Not necessarily for the immediate first team, but just to add a bit more depth throughout the club.
“But these will be young guys. We won’t be bringing in experienced overseas players or anything like that, or paying players.
“We don’t want to go down that road. It will be young players who have the potential to develop.”
He continued: “I think if you’re in the right environment, you can achieve anything, especially with club cricket.
“With overseas they are hit and miss. I’ve played at a lot of clubs where they’ve had really good overseas and a lot have been not so good, so it just depends who you get, which is why we’ve probably gone against it.
“And also, some of them don’t buy into what we’re trying to do.
“It’s a family club environment. Sometimes overseas come in and take the money and that’s it, which is not the culture we want to create.”
Wokingham’s second team are also looking to win a league title this weekend, facing off against Wargrave in a Division 3a top-of-the-table showdown.
Housego confirmed the club may shuffle the pack for the final week of the season to give teenage bowlers Toby Barker and Calum Creighton the chance to play in the first team.
