Hello everyone,

Welcome to my latest update regarding what’s happening in and around the club as well as my own personal ramblings, or as some may view it, this week’s cure for insomnia…

My last update was way back in May as I composed my thoughts from The Met hotel in Leeds with a brief outline of me having embarked upon an apprenticeship. Whilst I have returned to be based from the north east last month, my experience of being mentored and the various other facets of my development into my new role have meant that I haven’t been seen at Blackfyne much this season at all. Between working weekends and the need for revision due to the plethora of written and practice exams I have undertaken since the beginning of May, I have pretty much had to forego any cricketing activity for 2024. All being well, I will be signed off as competent to this week and will be able to begin unsupervised working from next week. Although my new career does involve working 3 from 4 Saturdays and 1 from 4 Sundays so my record of 2 league games and 1 cup game in 2024 may not be improved much in 2025. 

I have tried to keep up to date with what has been going on at the club and have continued to do some of the unseen work in the background that most folk think happens by magic. 

I have been delighted with how others have stepped up in my absence and that the efforts of some of our committee members are seeing us doing everything we can as a club to push for an even brighter future for everyone. On a personal note, it was great to see Colin come back to the club management structure, his experience and knowledge are a huge asset to more than just managing the purse strings and he is always seeking to find ways to fund some of our more ambitious projects as well as being a leading presence at our summer All Stars sessions.

With this funding search mentioned, a little outline of what we are aiming to achieve with these grant applications (assuming they are successful) and how it will improve the club for everyone going forward. 

• The roof is an ongoing project, Prud continues to chase up the relevant paperwork from the council, I spoke to them myself just today and we are hopeful that we will have a conclusion in the near future that will allow us to fully replace the existing roof with something shiny and new. Should maybe give a free pint to the nearest guess to the eyewaterinw cost of this work..
• An application has been made to replace our tired old sight-screens. These have served the club for many years but are becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. If successful we will have four new screens instead of the existing two, also meaning the need for players to be constantly moving them for those pesky bowlers who go over and around will be a thing of the past.
• An application for funding to remedy the eyesore that are the front steps of the pavilion. This is something we have discussed for a few years without ever coming to a full solution. However the current proposal would see much of the wall knocked down, a two tier area created with new seating either side of the central steps to the field - one for players, one for spectators, and new fencing put around the area which would make it a much more welcoming and most importantly, much safer area for people to use.
• We are also looking to bring more of modern feel downstairs. CM Flooring are lined up to remove the carpet and fit new flooring, we hope to fit LED lighting in areas which don’t yet have it and give the downstairs areas a spruce up come the end of the season.
  
  Hopefully our Blackfyne facilities will be an even better experience for all from 2025 onwards.

Our junior sides have been fantastic this season. The feedback that I have been made aware of from parents has been first class and the results and performances from our juniors have been brilliant. I do feel slightly sorry for our U15’s as a lot of their league games have fallen foul to the weather and new rules have prevented many from being rearranged but I’m very thankful that many of our U15 players have been representing our 2nd and 3rd X1 sides this season and making telling contributions. Two of them even made debuts for the 1st X1 in a cup game against NEPL side Seaham Harbour and handled themselves very well. Hopefully it won’t be long before some of them are pushing for 1st X1 places in the coming seasons.

Our girls side won the tournament that we hosted at Blackfyne a couple of weeks ago and it is great to see the work that has been done to get a girls team up and running is starting to bear fruit, something that the club has been commended upon externally.

The work that has been done by our junior coaches is an enormous credit to the club. They give up hours of their free time (unpaid) to help develop our future stars on a Thursday evening, Friday evenings during the All Star programme and on the respective match days for the junior sides that they manage. It was also great to see that many of our U15 team had been helping out at All Stars this year - amazing what you can get for a hot dog and a can of pop!

Our overseas amateur, Alex, has been involved with all of the junior coaching sessions as well as teaming up with Ewan to run the U9’s. He hasn’t ran off back to the other side of the world early or gone on megabus tours of England to get out of it so his presence has been a very welcome inclusion for the 2024 season. 

Moving onto our senior sides. The 1st X1 have had a mixed season. Consistency of selection has been a bit of an issue at times and while there have been some very high scores and impressive performances, 3 games being abandoned meant that they fell behind the leaders through no fault of their own which saw the team a little disheartened. I did manage to watch a couple of performances this season; an excellent run chase against Morpeth at Blackfyne,  solid team win in the Eric Topham Cup semi-final against Charity Bowl Champions Stocksfield and a narrow defeat last week at Derwenthaugh Park against Swalwell. There is little doubt that there is an abundance of talent in the side but the cricketing gods don’t seem to want a repeat of the 2021 title success. There is still the Eric Topham Trophy final against Shotley Bridge to come as the lads hope to retain the trophy after defeating Tynedale in the final last year.

The 2nd X1 have had a very good season. They currently sit third in the table with a game in hand over second placed Hexham Leazes who handed the side only their second defeat of the season last week. Two games have been lost on gloriously sunny days to ‘unfit’ grounds, costing the side a possible 50 points and meaning they likely have too much ground to make up on table toppers Greenside to claim the Division 4 title, although a second place finish would still be an excellent season and see them promoted to Division 3, something that can only be a good thing for the development of the younger players moving forward. Again they have been blighted by inconsistent selection which has seen a whopping 27 players represent the side in league games.

The Academicals have had a solid season too. They currently sit third in their division but look like they will miss out on promotion to Hylton despite being the only side to defeat them this season and Seaham Harbour. Cup runs saw them reach the quarter-finals in both competitions. The juniors have made telling contributions for the team all year. First senior 50 for Hayden, first senior 5 wicket haul for Oscar, and a ridiculous 182 not out from Will which is the leading score in the league and possibly the highest score ever made by a Consett player in senior cricket. Mike Rogers might be the man to confirm or deny this after the extensive research he put into his book - “The Blackfyne Story”

The club has been well supported throughout the season which is reflected in our bar takings. These could again see a new record made, something we will know more of when Colin does our year end accounts for our AGM in November. I can’t that everyone enough for their support as well as being grateful to our bar staff for keeping everyone fed and watered. We still have a few weeks of the season to go including the aforementioned final, a movies day on 1st September, a ladies day on 31st August (see Facebook for more details) and the remaining league games. The junior presentation day takes place on Sunday 8th September at 1pm at the club, there is lots to celebrate and the club looks forward to welcoming everyone along - sadly I will miss the day as I’m rostered in at work.

The Consett Carnival made a welcome return in July. Many people visited the club to take part in raffles, games, play on inflatables and come together as a community. A huge well done to Charlotte and the team behind the organisation of this. Days like this are fantastic for community engagement and make a big difference to being able to keep the club solvent going forward. I know she will already be keenly planning for next year’s edition….

As for next year, the management committee are already discussing what can be done for 2025 with planning for the winter on and off the field underway. Winter training schedules will be announced in due course for all ages, work will be done to ‘put the field to bed’ once the league programme has finished and no doubt many discussions will take place around the make up of our sides for the next season from our Under 9’s right up to our 1st X1. As always it would be great to see key players available just those couple of extra games per season as that might just reflect into slightly higher league positions or better cup runs and as always, the club will happily welcome and new recruits of any age.

Our senior presentation evening takes place on Saturday 5th October in the clubhouse, it would be great if as many players who have represented the senior teams as possible could attend, I will bring some ear plugs for the ribbing I will no doubt be subjected to but it’s always good to see the club full and everyone socialising together. 

The club will also field a combined X1 for a friendly game at Bamburgh on Sunday 15th September starting t 1pm. For anyone not in the know, the ground is very much a bucket list venue for players all over the country as it sits at the foot of the impressive Castle itself. The local side is usually a combined X1 from local sides such as Alnmouth and Alnwick so will provide decent opponents on the day. We have a coach booked and filled but would encourage anyone else to come along on the day and take in the game as well as the spectacular scenery. 

I hope you found the above both informative and exciting and do of course thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts. As always, if you have anything you need to get off your chest, have ideas for the club going forward or would like to get involved behind the scenes, please do get in touch via e-mail - consettcc@live.co.uk. I’ll not post my phone number as it’s switched off at work otherwise I’ll not last long in my new role! If anyone does desperately need it, ask someone at the club to pass it onto you :) 

Enjoy the last month or so of the season, hopefully I’ll see a few of you between now and then. Take care everyone, Ian