A sunny start to the season for Royal Navy Cricket

The Royal Navy Cricket Association (RNCA) held a training and conditioning camp in Gibraltar from the 18th to 25th of March 2023 to showcase their suitability for selection in their respective Inter Service tournament.

The Royal Navy Cricket Association (RNCA) held a training and conditioning camp in Gibraltar from the 18th to 25th of March 2023 to showcase their suitability for selection in their respective Inter Service tournament.

Five staff and thirty-four male and female players from various Royal Navy ships, air stations and Royal Navy/Royal Marine units bases attended the camp, where they held five days of training sessions at Europa Point Stadium.

The training provided representative players with an excellent environment, both indoors and outdoors, from which they were able to develop their technical, tactical, physical, and psychological disciplines.

The women’s team played the Gibraltar Women’s XI’s, in a friendly spirited match, on Wednesday 22nd March, ending in a win for the Gibraltar Women’s XI by forty-seven runs.

This was followed the next day, on Thursday 23rd March, with a tightly fought competition for the men’s team against the Gibraltar Men’s XI, resulting in a win for the Royal Navy by sixty runs. The Royal Navy team performed well, displaying determined fielding and aggressive running between the wickets.

Once all the training sessions and matches were complete, the team recovered by taking part in some fun water sports activities and treks across The Rock. 

Lt Cdr Steve Blackburn said: “We have thoroughly enjoyed our time in Gibraltar, the weather has been perfect for outdoor training, coupled with the superb facilities at the Europa Point Stadium, it has resulted in an intensive and very positive training programme, helping us prepare for the upcoming season.  

We also greatly benefitted from two well fought matches against Gibraltar Cricket Club, and we very much would like to make this a regular training event.

We would also like to pass our thanks to the Commander of the Devil’s Tower Camp, for allowing us to be accommodated there and to Gibraltar Cricket Club for allowing us to use their facilities."