Chairmans Remarks

What a fantastic April. Dry, warm and a reminder that summer is just around the corner……
And so is the new season at Worplesdon and Burpham Cricket Club.

The season is only a few days away now with the 3rd X1 starting their league campaign on Sunday 29 April and with a club friendly the day before the season will be in full swing before you know it.

We will have two teams in the Fullers Surrey league, playing Saturdays as usual, and our third eleven will be in the Village league again this year which with a mixture of Saturday and Sunday games.

I would like to welcome 2 new captains on board this year, Jon Wells and Andy Wye, who will be captaining the 2nd and 3rd X1s respectively.

I would like to say a big thank you to Richard Kitt who is stepping down as first X1 captain after 4 years at the helm. We would all like to thank him for all his hard work over these years. Contrary to the fixture card he will not be vice captain as this position will be held by Brian Frost.

Please make their jobs, and mine, as easy as possible by letting us know your availability as early as possible. With emails, and mobile phones it is not too difficult these days.

The colts are getting older and more experienced which is always promising and hopefully they will improve on the solid foundations and hard work which have been put in by Mike Black, Simon Jackson and Richard Kitt in recent years.

Mike is our Welfare Officer and also Colts Manager for the Under 9s and I know he is always looking for help at the colts training sessions on Friday nights at Burpham if you can oblige, even for just a couple of evenings a season. And of course Parents and players are always welcome too, just a quick pint or two, as many of you do!

Please remember that all the home games will be played at Burpham this year due to the proposed building of a new pavilion at Worplesdon.

On this note our application for the new pavillion at Worplesdon is at the very latest stages of final agreement now and we are extremely hopeful that everything will be in place to start the building some time over the summer. This really will be a considerable project and all being well we will have a brand new pavilion for next season and probably one of the most impressive facilities in the area.

With this in mind I think a well done should go out to everyone who has helped the cricket and football clubs raise over £100,000 towards this project so far – quite an amazing effort for a small club and village - But we still need to keep raising money! So this season, more than any other season, we need your support at fund raising functions and social gatherings and of course donations and bequests are always appreciated!

I would like to remind you that the Annual subscriptions are due now and prompt payment is always appreciated.

You will also notice in the fixture card that the Dinner Dance has been moved forward to the end of September and the location has changed too so please get this in your diary early.

We have updated our website and this will now be used to post all the match reports and news on upcoming events so please bookmark it for regular visits.

Finally, make sure you enjoy your cricket this year and enjoy playing for a truly successful club!! Good luck to us all!!!

Peter Grant
Chairman
Email: peterjgrant@ntlworld.com