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Posted on Wednesday May 20 9:00:00 BST 2009 A pretty good start league wise for the club as Saturday league cricket continues to prosper throughout the country. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about Sunday cricket where a combination of the current recession and the demise of top club knockout cricket has made our availability pretty poor so far. Our trial season in the Fullers Griffin League remains just that (and will be reviewed at the end of the season) though there appears to be some good news on the horizon.
The demise of the Cockspur National Cup in 2009 saw the ECB introduce a new unsponsored national competition which looks to be going slightly better than forecast. Nevertheless, many clubs opted out this year but I hear a rumour of new sponsorship in 2010 and we would probably want to be a part of that.
The Evening Standard Trophy was, easily, the most popular tournament in the south east and the new Club Cricket Conference Trophy could well prove to be an excellent alternative, especially if a sponsor can be found for next year. Therefore, it looks likely that we will return to top knockout cricket on Sunday's in 2010 and along with our Surrey Trust League commitments and some better quality 1st XI friendlies, (with the likes of Eastbourne, Horsham, Brighton and Hove , etc etc being touted), things look much better next year.
Our commitment to the Shepherd Neame 20/20 competition was underlined as a strong side defeated Beddington last week in the gathering gloom. The overall winners of the Surrey section go forward to the Cockspur National 20/20 with the four finalists appearing on Sky TV at either Canterbury or Cardiff in late September. Coupled with generous prize money, no wonder clubs such as Sutton are keen to do well!
My personal disappointment in having to cancel so many lower level matches already this year has taught me a valuable lesson in that one season is very much different to the next and I wont be making the same mistakes again.
My mood is tempered somewhat by some good cricket that I have witnessed and the joy of not having to bang my head in our excellent new scoring facility.
The ground is looking pretty good and the wickets are fine and with good weather, this could prove to be another great season for the club.
I am finding time to add to this blog difficult but I will do my utmost to contribute something every Wednesday evening, which provides me a rare evening at home and some respite for my "evil liver" which, according to The Bear, deserves to be punished!
Finally, my deepest condolences to Neil and Nick Clark and their family on the sad loss of Eric, their father, last week.
Next Friday's funeral (29th May) will be acknowledged at our opening midweek game v Arcadians Cricket Club from Belgium. (1.30pm start).
Miz Posted on Wednesday Feb 11 15:00:00 GMT 2009 So, the winter nets are up and running, (and by all accounts they are pretty good), the new covers have arrived and the digital scorebox has been ordered. The grounds however are waterlogged following the worst spell of weather I can remember in 20 years or so. Yet, all is calm at Blighty, even though we are just over eight weeks away from playing cricket in 2009!
February is a miserable month at the best of times with the only redeeming feature being that it only lasts twenty eight days this year. Once March arrives, the grounds begin to take some shape and an extra one or two members can be seen in the bar occasionally, usually huddled around the heaters which have not been switched on, (funny how they are always on in the height of summer)!
Most of the TV football (and dare I say rugby?) is pretty turgid stuff but at least we have the Windies cricket tour to cheer us up! Er, well no!!
The media continue to give us the blah blah about our national football team and their world cup expectations in 2010 when in truth, both our national games (and teams) are in turmoil. And there is little sign of improvement.
Quite frankly, I give up with international sport. I really can't wait to see some honest club cricket being played because I feel that money has, finally, killed sport, or at least what it should stand for, worldwide. The safety net of a central England contract means little opportunity for most cricketers that could do as good a job as many of our embarrasing current mob. The tone of this spout may change come Friday in Antigua but I am not holding my breath. Likewise, I am not expecting too much from our footballers this evening in Seville; quite what we will learn from seeing Beckham jog to a record equalling 108th cap (and further insult to Sir Bobby Moore and others for good measure) I do not know! If Owen and James are the basis of our 2010 challenge then stop the world I want to get off.....NOW!
Overseas players (many of them are average at best) continue to deny our young up and coming stars places in top league football and county cricket whilst the spineless FA and the ECB continue to kowtow to the media (Sky and Setanta mostly) as money and image continues to alienate most of the true fans.
UK jobs for UK people? Yeah right!
Maybe it's just the weather getting me down so I'm off to watch some horse racing in the West Country on 16th March (Taunton, Exeter and Chepstow).
I promise I will return in a better frame of mind OK.
Right, I'm off to the club for a beer to cheer myself up........yeah, that'll do the trick :( |
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