I’ve been fortunate to spend the last couple of weeks in the baking Tunisian sunshine on our family holiday and in between bombing down water slides I’ve been checking in on activity at the club and was delighted to see the Ladies XI win their first bit of silverware when they defeated Nantwich in the T20 final. Whilst many have known there is some real talent in the squad, to achieve both this success and the results they have in the league is a tremendous achievement for their first full season together and bodes well for the future. My sincerest thanks go out to Matt Owen & Cath Williams on their hard work and effort in coaching and running this side, you’ve both done an amazing job and one you should feel rightly proud of.

Onto the Saturday sides and to still have four of the five senior sides battling hard at the top of their respective tables is something to really shout about and I make no apologies for my repetitiveness when I say that. Heading into the last three league games, Chris McArthur will be looking to become only the second player to score 1,000 Cheshire County League runs with him needing 131 (and 139 to beat Gary Dixon’s record of 1,007 set in 1995). On the bowling front, the Dixon name is once again in the limelight as Ross became the first Upton bowler to claim 50 CCCL wickets since his dad Gary did so in 201x. Since achieving this feat a couple of weeks ago Ross has gone on to break the record for the most league wickets in a season and with 57 to his name currently, he’s got the opportunity to set a really challenging record for bowlers in the future to chase down. We’ve seen some great individual performances and whilst there’s obviously been some stand out players in terms of their rankings amongst the leagues elite, the deliberation that myself, Brian Shenton & Matt Owen have to go through when voting on the Yog Bar ‘Performance of the Week’ makes it tough week in week out.

What has really encouraged me this year is the strength we are showing in the 4th XI and their current standing in sixth place really demonstrates the strength we have right throughout the club. What is a real concern however is the inability of other sides within that league to fulfill their fixtures and it’s a real shame for the guys who look forward to their game each week to have the opposition cancel. I’m not sure what the answer is here but I’d like to see stronger action taken as I’m sure these clubs didn’t start the season with the intention to concede fixtures but the repercussions can be quite debilitating for the game locally.

Off the pitch, we saw a healthy turnout for the Past Players & 1901 Club Lunch who were entertained with probably one of the best games of cricket for many a year when the 1st XI narrowly lost to champions-elect Hyde. As with the Ladies Day we hosted earlier in the season, It’s great to put these kind of events on as they are both great opportunities for old friends to come together but the big crowds also spur on the players. My plans are that we do a few more of these types of events next year and really build on the great support we have, so if anybody has any ideas or even better, wants to get involved please let me know.
A few weeks ago I got the opportunity to pop into the ‘commentary box’ during the Last Man Stands World Series at Chester Boughton Hall and I’m unashamed to admit that i used that time to promote Upton Cricket Club and despite there being an ‘international’ cricket match taking place in front of me, in my ten minutes on the mic I didn’t make reference to it once! With the tournament running for the full week, it was also good to hear Chris McArthur being interviewed, and given the fact earlier in the week how he’d hate being on mic, once he was on there you couldn’t shut him up. Once again, more great exposure for UCC and if our stints on the mic have got a few people taking a look at who we are and what we are about then job done.

Whilst I believe we are doing relatively well in what we’ve set out to achieve during my tenure as Chairman, I’m always conscious the views of our members are so important. Myself and the committee can point the ship in a certain direction, but we recognise that we may need to either take a detour or change direction every now and again. With that in mind, before the end of the season we will be publishing a link to a short survey. This will only take a couple of minutes to complete and I would really appreciate as many people as possible completing this. If the results of this are a big pat on the back to the committee, then great, but of equal importance is us getting the necessary feedback to help us improve.

Whilst away on holiday I’ve done the rare thing for me and I’ve actually read a book! Whilst reading Black Box Thinking - marginal gains and the secrets of high performance I stumbled across this sentence that read, “it is by testing our ideas, subjecting them to failure, that we set our stage for growth”. This struck a particular chord with what we’re trying to achieve as a Club, that is that not everything we try will work first time but we can learn so much that will undoubtedly help us in the long term and make us a better Club both on and off the pitch.

So, just 3 more league games to go - if you’re a player, savour them, give everything you’ve got as whatever team you’re in, the next 3 weeks will define the season. Across all the sides there is the opportunity to have one of the best seasons we’ve had in recent times. Don’t leave anything out there, and if you can look yourself in the mirror at the end of the game and can say you’ve given it your all, that’s all I can ask. No regrets guys, these last 3 weeks are huge. If you’re a spectator, keep up the amazing support and cheer the teams on, and if you’re one of our great volunteers, keep doing what you do best as you’re the heartbeat of our club and without you we wouldn’t be where we are.

Cheers
Jez Lamb, Chairman