Welcome all to the 2020 season!
Ok I note that we are missing one essential element to our season which is the cricket itself, but that hasn’t stopped us dreaming and planning for the day when Speldhurst CC – in all its guises – can retake the field of play and resume enjoyment of the greatest sport known to man. Possibly a little over the top I know but, in my defence, I am missing cricket.
It seems like all too long ago that we were wildly celebrated the club’s 150th year of existence with a fantastic celebratory meal on the Saturday night (take a look at some of the pictures, here) and a wonderful day of cricket on the Sunday. In 2020, we also plan to celebrate our first recorded game (against Langton Green) and we have special fixture lined up against Langton in September – so keep an eye out for more on that!
More good news – we are eagerly anticipating that the ECB will announce that we can return to recreational cricket imminently, and they will provide us with the tools and advice to ensure that all activities are undertaken safely with protection of all at the centre.
The Kent County Village League have confirmed that whilst they do not plan to run the normal league format for the last half of the year, they are working on a local, shorter ‘late summer competition’ which will cut down on journey times and could possibly run through August and September. We sent out an email earlier in the week to all senior club members to check on likely interest in playing in that format, with a aim of confirming to the league how many teams we can field. If you haven’t received that email, get in touch!
On the junior front, 2020 started excellently for our U13s who won their winter league – beating the likes of Bells Yew Green and Linden Park on their way. Massive, belated, congratulations to them! Since lockdown has eased we’ve seen a return to training with ‘pods’ under strict supervision from their coaches and parents and we have received very positive feedback from those involved, as well as from the wider village community which is really encouraging. I would like to say a big thank you to Francis Booth and his team of excellent junior coaches who have been working all the way through the lockdown to devise creative, engaging and fun practice drills within the confines of the social distancing rules.
We have also seen some senior cricket informal practice session in our net facility with and without the bowling machine and I would encourage as many of you as possible to use our net during these times. To that end, we’ve created a Google Sheet for people to add their names to dates, to ensure we stay within the boundaries the government has advised. More on that below!
In committee news, our finance team has been expanded, and I am delighted to welcome Helen Yates and Ben Spokes to the fold who have kindly stepped up to help with the smooth running of our club’s finances. Thank you both, you time is greatly appreciated. This leads me on nicely to finances, the club continues to incur essential expenditure on our ground and equipment – both of which are in great shape for the start of cricket. To meet some of these ongoing costs we will be introducing a reduced subscription across all playing member categories. More information will follow in due course.
So, in the meantime, check out the latest player profile of our new 1st XI captain, Ben Brandt, and take a look at how our committee has been spending their time during lockdown, with some fun activities bound to whet your appetite for the cricket ahead!
Kind regards
Nick Coffin, Chairman
Speldhurst Cricket Club 