Hello everyone,
It’s been a while since i’ve done an update so I thought it was time I provided you with some insight into what’s happening (or not happening) at the club so far this season. Please bare in mind that anything written in these pieces is generally intended in good humour or is my personal opinion rather than that of the overall club structure. Always best to start with a disclaimer just in case!
We are now 6 match weeks into the season or roughly a quarter of the way through for those of you who prefer a pre decimalisation style equation. There are lots of things to be positive about at this stage and some that even the most optimistic of folks would struggle to put a positive spin on….
The junior section is currently looking fantastic! Thursday night training sessions are extremely well attended, the kids in attendance appear to be thoroughly enjoying the sessions and the results from their games so far this season have been very good. We have a steady stream of new children coming to join us and they are all contributing to the success of their individual sides. I have been able to get down to the club a lot more so far this season so have seen the sessions in action as well as a great number of parents and guardians being able to enjoy the surroundings of the club while the kids are both honing and learning new skills. I must give a huge thanks as always to our dedicated team of volunteer coaches who make it possible for the future stars of the club to learn the game.
Our All Stars sessions started back up on Friday, having sold out in record time this year. I’m always pleased to see those that help out with this doing so in order to give some kids their first ever taste of cricket, especially pleasing that a lot of our Under 15 side come along to help out, i’m told they aren’t just doing it for a free hot dog and a can of pop…
This week will see Punit and Ste taking a 3 day holiday cricket camp, it’s great to see Punit being so pro-active in wanting this to happen. All being well there will be another of these in the summer holidays too.
The club continues to be well supported socially and it is always great to see so many people down at matches and training nights, taking in refreshments and making new friends along the way. This is exactly the sort of community feel that I am proud to see the club taking, a welcoming place for everyone to enjoy.
Sadly, I can’t be quite so enthusiastic about our senior cricket at present. Somehow the 1st X1 sit in third place in Division 1, despite not being even close to full strength in any of their games so far. As a result of issues with availability, our 2nd X1 have really struggled so far this season, including having to concede two league games at this early stage in the season. In the winter, we were asked as a club if we were getting a gun pro for 2025 and we did our bit by signing a player with five years previous experience in England, who has won all domestic trophies in India and is an extremely keen coach. Punit has been excellent around the club, helping to coach, doing one to one sessions, passing on guidance on match days and gets on very well with everyone at the club. As ever in winter, we had ‘promises’ of players being available more often, players joining the club or maybe even returning to the fold. However, the fact that I have played half of the first team league games at this stage of the season speaks volumes about where we are. As always, there has been an endless list of reasons for not being available – work, injuries, holidays, spa breaks, eating pizza, not interested, retired, i’m sure those who have been involved in running clubs or appointed as captains can relate to the frustrating nature of this.
When games don’t go ahead, it prevents our juniors from gaining valuable experience in 2nd X1 games as well as letting down our opponents who had been looking forward to a game. If it is a home game, it removes any revenue from the club on the day of that game, preventing us from having the finances to continue to make the kind of improvements that we have once again worked hard for over the winter. Personally, I would love to see both of our Saturday teams competing each and every week, but if our current situation continues, the committee are going to have to have some very difficult and uncomfortable conversations over the coming months. Our Sunday side have made a good start to the season, with several juniors playing each week and all finding ways to contribute and learn. I’m just home from watching them lose an extremely close cup game against Division 1 side Gateshead Fell, which although resulted in defeat, was a great performance to take the game as close as we did.
Ideally, it would be great to see people striving to make themselves available as much as possible and helping out what is actually their own club. Of course, new members are also always welcome to join. Perhaps some people don’t feel that they are getting a fair crack at their current club or maybe just fancy a change of scenery. The seniors generally train on a Tuesday at 6pm, you’d always be welcome to join us for a try out and see what you think.
Off the field, we will be looking to host some social events and fund raising events throughout the season. We started the season with our Easter Egg Hunt, which again was a great way to invite families to the club as well as being able to welcome Will O’Burn along to join in the festivities. Our summer ladies day will take place on Saturday 26th July, tickets are now available, please check Spond for the members pre sale link before we release these to the general public. This is always a great day out and I’d strongly encourage you all to try to attend. Let your hair down, join in the party games and enjoy the food and entertainment. We also hope to see another family fun day which is always a fantastic way to welcome our local community along to the club, a summer junior cricket festival and a couple of other socials which details will be released for in due course. We also hope that we might be able to work alongside local councillors to put on some other community related activities, again any details on these would be published once plans are finalised and put in place, keep an eye on our socials as always.
As always, I thank our sponsors for the support that they have given to the club. This has enabled us to make improvements to our facilities which have been very well received by all visiting supporters and players alike this season. The changing rooms had a spruce up, the pavilion front is a marked improvement, and our roof no longer leaks! We also have new screens so our batters now have no excuse for missing a straight one (in theory) with two huge new screens at each end. Of course none of this would have been possible without the co-ordinated and continued efforts fo Stu, Prud and Prud’s apprentice – Will. Our band of wise men have been severely tested so far, they’re currently looking at the skies in a very confused manner given how little rain there has been so far, something even the pro has commented on, he’s unsure as to whether he’s in Delhi or Durham! They continue to do their thing in the background and keep the ground in good order and make sure that all teams have a place to play. There’s so much cricket these days, they don’t get much time between games to prepare. It’s also nice to see John back tinkering on behind the scenes to help Geoff, Gordon and Keith.
England’s men have just started their home season with a big win over Zimbabwe before hosting India over 5 tests, let’s see how long relations stay friendly in the 1st X1 dressing room depending upon who is on top in the series as it goes on. They will be in action in a couple of weeks time at Durham too as they host West Indies in a T20, I hope those of you who are going enjoy the experience, although it’s not quite the same as a Wednesday at Blackfyne with Red Stripe on tap of course!
The football season also drew to a close today, with both local ‘big teams’ having cause for celebration. I only hope and pray that there isn’t a Tyne-Wear derby in the fixtures during the cricket season otherwise clubs won’t be able to turn one team out, let alone two. I’m sure the summer will be a delight for all local supporters to wind each other up, analyse their transfer dealings and place wagers with each other over who will have the better season.
Hope that you all managed to get through this without nodding off. As always, you’re more than welcome to come to me with suggestions, questions or anything else if you see me at the ground of you can always drop messages to the club, our social media pages or even fire me a message on Spond. I do get down to as many games and training sessions as work will allow me to, it’s always good to speak with those in attendance.
I hope to see plenty of you all over the coming weeks and months, fixtures being fulfilled and more wins being posted from all teams right through to our Under 9s up to the 1st X1. Hopefully i’ll squeeze a few more games in sometime soon, although i’ll be rifling through bags looking for a bat after breaking mine again last weekend.
Hope you all continue to enjoy the season and thanks for taking the time to read this update.
Cheers, Ian