Before we start dreaming of warm summers days (well…), there’s the small matter England playing in a World Cup final tomorrow morning and how amazing would it be to have a nation that is World Champions in two major sports. Just like the cricket World Cup there’s always talk about how these things inspire younger children to play the respective sport. Yes, you clearly see an upsurge in interest in the immediate aftermath of a major championship but for me it’s about the sustainability and the want and desire of the children to keep on coming back and playing that sport for years to come which is where we come in as a grassroots club in our sport of cricket to ensure that happens.

October was once again another busy month and as well as quite a few private bookings we had a couple of club social functions in the guise of a beer tasting and a family Halloween party. Having been involved in organising the odd event over the years I was so grateful when I was approached by a couple of the juniors parents who wanted to organise the Halloween party. Both Deb Cashin & Kath Jennins (and their band of helpers) put so much work in to make it a success and judging by the photos (I wasn’t able to make it as we were away) it looked a great night. I’d love to see more people step forward like Deb & Kath have and organise some events as it really keeps the club going, not just financially but with the family & community feel we are so rightly proud of. Thank you ladies.

Looking ahead of the social front we have the ‘Hot Pot’ on Friday 15th November and then the Christmas Draw/Quiz on Friday 6th December. Touching on the latter, once again there is a tremendous amount of effort that goes in behind the scenes from the likes of Charlie Ward and Frank McEntaggart and any support you can show for this event would be gratefully appreciated. The evening is FREE and all that is asked is you by a ‘square’ to be in with a chance of winning some great prizes (donations for prizes also welcome!). Pausing for a moment the name Frank McEntaggart might not be familiar to many but by taking on this event he epitomises what we are about as a club as he’s never played cricket for Upton but enjoys the club as a social member and wants to put something back. As I’ve said before, ask yourself what you can do for YOUR club to give that little bit back.

Onto the Hot Pot and it’s our major senior awards presentation evening where we reflect on the season just gone across all sides, and as per last year and with a shake up to what’s been done before, all six senior captains will have 5 minutes (get your stop watches out!) to share their views. As well as the captains we’ll also have Dean Headley speaking and he’s taking a slightly different tact as he’s inviting questions from the floor for the bulk of his speech so you get to hear what you want to hear – so get your questions ready (try and keep it clean Warbo!!). Disappointingly, numbers are down at the moment and with to weeks to go we have 79 people confirmed (capacity 100) so if you either haven’t committed yet or know somebody who wants to come please let me know ASAP.

Looking ahead on the cricket front, I know Nigel & Tom are working hard on plans to improve things on the pitch for next season and that may involve some new additions to the club but I genuinely believe we have a very talented bunch of players that are more than capable of acquitting themselves well in Division 2. Winter nets will be the first opportunity to get rid of the frustration for this season and hit the ground running so that 2020 is a season to remember across all the sides. From a junior perspective, Matt Owen informs me the coaching conveyor belt is in full flow with Madi Arthur the latest person signed up to attend the coaching courses. This is absolutely superb and I’m sure she’ll be a great addition to the coaching set up. If there’s anybody else interested in gaining coaching qualifications, please get in touch with Matt as the club will happily (sorry Mr Treasurer!) fund the coaching course.

To close, this week I was delighted to accept an invitation to be part of a national advisory group which has been set up to inform direction and act as un unofficial sounding board on key issues and challenges in cricket. It will be great to share views with fellow club Officers that will hopefully make a difference to the game that we all love and enjoy.

Right, time to sign off and I’ll hopefully see as many of you as possible at the Hot Pot on the 15th.

Cheers
Jez