End of Season Newsletter - November 2006
The President Writes...
I welcome the opportunity to write this foreword to the end-of-season newsletter for a number of reasons.
Firstly, as it may be the last chance of this year; a year of sadness for me with the loss of my youngest daughter, Sue, I am mindful of the great support I have received from my many cricketing friends, especially those within the Club. Sincerely thank you all.
Incidentally, I shall be abroad over the coming Christmas/New Year period, so I apologise in advance for not sending out cards and similarly would appreciate not receiving any, as the volume of mail might be a burden for my ‘house minder’! In any event, as I sun myself watching cricket I shall be thinking of you back home with the hope that you enjoy a wonderful festive season.
Secondly, I would like to pay tribute to Paul Chambers who is standing down as Chairman at the forthcoming AGM. Paul has made a significant contribution to the development of the Club over recent years and fortunately will still be ‘on hand’ to help put into place some of the initiatives with which he has been involved.
This year has been a particularly busy one for the Club, and I would like to commend the Committee for the time given in administration with a first class club secretary in Martin Firbank. Putting aside the present worries over the proposed ‘flood wall issue’, there are a number of other projects being attended to and supported by hard working Club members. The most exciting one is the Long Lane playing facility now being developed by the Club with the help of lottery grant-aid. Again, all connected (especially leader Nick Allcoat) deserve great praise for their efforts. I hope all these examples of the Club’s progress encourage more of our younger members to get involved. After all, the future of our excellent club depends on them.
Finally, let us remember that we are first and foremost a cricket club. We cater for cricketers of all standards (some good and some not so good!). This season we have performed creditably, retaining our position in all weekend leagues, winning the Nottingham Evening League and providing some enjoyable sociable ‘friendlies’. We have also seen the emergence of some exciting young cricketers, a vindication of the Club’s commitment to youth. Let us all continue to pull together to further enhance the Club’s fine reputation.
Geoff Gooch
Electronic Scoreboard
Geoff Gooch purchased an electronic scoreboard for the Club in memory of his daughter, Sue, who very sadly passed away this year. The official opening of the scoreboard was held in September, and we were very glad that Geoff, his eldest daughter Sally and her husband were able to attend. The Club are very grateful of Geoff’s generous gift.
Youth Section
Another enjoyable season for the juniors with many successes evidenced both on and off the field.
Junior membership this year increased by 60% on the 2006 figure, with 112 youngsters between the age of 7 and 15 enjoying the opportunity of playing cricket in a safe and friendly environment. The membership comprises of boys and girls drawn from 24 different schools, which illustrates the high regard with which the Club is held in the provision of Youth Cricket and is a tribute to all those involved. Thanks go out to all those who have helped both on and off the field.
Monday and Friday evening training was very well attended, with the players’ parents enjoying the chance of a drink at the bar while watching the next ‘Andrew Flintoff’ hone his/her talents.
On the pitch the teams collectively enjoyed their best results for many seasons.
The Kwik cricketers enjoyed good success when matched against other local sides, winning half of their fixtures. Matthew Sharples was awarded the Player of the Season for this group.
The Under 12s showed great improvement this year, beating Carrington and Arnold and suffering narrow defeats in three other matches. It was pleasing to see this group actually compete, as it was not always being the case in the previous year. Player of the Season was awarded to Callum Taylor.
The Under 13s finished 3rd in their league, playing 10 matches and winning 6. They benefited from strong performances from Dominic Harvey who won the Player of the Season award. James Hallam was given the Most Improved Player award and his season was topped when he was selected to play for the League Representative side, taking four wickets in one of the matches.
The Under 15s finished 6th in a strong league of 11 teams, winning five matches. The team was well led by Dominic Terkowski, who won the batting award, with the bowling honours going to Dominic Harvey. The success was based on excellent all round team performances with a variety of players headed by Arjun Sandhu and Charlie Smith making good contributions on various occasions. It was good to see many of these players progressing to play for the senior teams during the season.
The Club continued to benefit from employing Tony Bettridge, Nottinghamshire County Cricket Coach, in leading quality training for various age groups. It is pleasing to note that our good reputation and success has led to several young players joining the Club from other local clubs.
On the County scene, the Club was represented by Dominic Harvey and Dominic Terkowski at U13 and U15 levels respectively and Steve Allcoat played for the Notts U19 and Emerging Teams. Sophie Occleshaw, Amy and Emma White and Laura Brown played for the Notts Girls U15 team. Dominic Harvey and Dominic Terkowski were both involved in the Midlands squads in their respective age groups and both train with Notts Academy.
The ‘fun day’ was a huge success and was blessed with fine weather.
During the latter half of the season the Club secured funding to enable the installation of a grass square, artificial wicket and redecoration of the changing rooms to take place on Long Lane, Attenborough. The work is scheduled to be completed in time for the start of the 2007 season. It is intended that this becomes the new home for our 3rd XI and also to provide a quality cricket facility in Broxtowe to help young cricketers through further development of existing Club/School links.
It is worth noting that one of the main reasons that the Club was able to secure Lottery funding for this project was due to the fact that it runs a thriving Youth Section and has become a key player in developing young people’s cricket and social skills in the Broxtowe area. The continued support from members of the Senior section of the Club, particularly in coaching the youngsters is therefore very important to ensure that the Club continues to prosper.
Thank you to all those who have contributed to another successful season for the Youth Section and we now look forward to developing our Young cricketers’ skills further in 2007.
Nick Allcoat
Director of Youth Cricket
Tour
It is suggested that the 2007 tour takes place during the last weekend in July (Bryan Aplin’s 50th birthday!) and the proposed location would be the Cotswold or Oxford area.
Commitment at this stage it is key if you wish the 2007 Tour to go ahead. Please let Phil Wort know by the end of January of your intention to tour, along with a non-refundable deposit to confirm your place.
Annual General Meeting
The AGM will be held in the pavilion on Friday 24 November at 7.30pm. Minutes of last year’s meeting, the Club’s financial statements and batting and bowling averages will be available on the night. All members are welcome to attend and we look forward to seeing you there.
Christmas Raffle
The annual Christmas Raffle will be held in the pavilion on Thursday 14 December from 7.30pm. Tickets are currently being distributed, and give people the opportunity to win some top quality prizes, including a digital camera. All members are welcome to attend and the event is a good opportunity for the Club to get together before Christmas.
2006 Annual Awards
Chairman’s Trophy - Mike Aplin
Club Service - Martin Firbank
Saturday 1st XI Batting - Tom Murray
Saturday 1st XI Bowling - Martin Rayner
Saturday 2nd XI Batting - Joe Gates
Saturday 2nd XI Bowling - Chris Allcoat
Saturday 3rd XI Batting - Martin Firbank
Saturday 3rd XI Bowling - Martin Ashton
Sunday 1st XI Batting - Steve Allcoat
Sunday 1st XI Bowling - Martin Rayner
Sunday 2nd XI Batting - Tom Murray
Sunday 2nd XI Bowling - Rod Kitching
Midweek Player - Sam Clulow
Best Performance - Steve Allcoat
All rounder - Sam Clulow
Sixes Tankard - Steve Allcoat and Steve Schofield
Senior Colt - Dominic Harvey