With 2016 behind us and as we look forward with anticipation to what 2017 will bring, it is my great privilege as Chairman of Upton Cricket Club to wish all members, friends and associates from other clubs a very Happy & prosperous (unless you’re playing against us!) New Year. Now I love a good quote, and when trawling through the myriad of them available on the internet, I came across this one – “We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.” Oxford born twentieth-century poet and pacifist Edith Lovejoy Pierce was absolutely spot on when she wrote this and it’s my belief that as a Club we can create write those new chapters as we come together in 2017.

Looking back on the ‘book’ that was 2016, as a whole Club we can look back with pride at what was a very good year – but 2016 has finished now and whilst the great memories we have will last and in some cases get etched into the club history, it’s about 2017 and building on the good work we have done so far on this pathway (I hate the word journey!!) we have chosen. No individual will write the new chapters on their own, it’s about working as a team whether that be on the field or off the field and together we will create great memories we can look back on in a years’ time and reflect on.

Looking back at December, there was no respite as it was yet again a very busy month which kicked off with the Annual General Meeting on the 1st. In my preparations I sought out advice from former Chairman (and my Dad), John Lamb whose simple message was, “don’t go on for too long!”. Thanks for those inspiring words Dad and they were always at the back of my mind as I prepared my report, but the biggest problem was that we’d done so much in 2016 that it was very hard to keep it brief and I even took some risks as I introduced a bit of technology to proceedings as I delivered my annual report with the aid of some PowerPoint slides – it’s about as high risk and exciting as a Chairman’s Annual Report can get!

During my report I did have to ad-lib ever so slightly as about 15 minutes before the meeting started I received confirmation that we had secured the services of Chris McArthur as our overseas player for the 2017 season. Having spoken with his coach and old friend of UCC; Chadd Porter, Chris comes very highly recommended and seems like a decent bloke having spoken with him on numerous occasions. A vitally important factor with our overseas players is making them feel comfortable as they leave ‘home’ and come to the other side of the world, and we seem to do that pretty well and I’m sure it will be no different as we welcome Chris. In the lead up to the season, we’ll catch up with Chris more and keep you updated with his progress for his club, Georges River. Talking of overseas players, it was good to see Nat Sariman catching up with Tom Marsland and Jay Williams at Ross Dixon’s recent wedding in Australia and looks like everybody had a great time. Congratulations to Ross & Elle and best wishes for your future together.

On the social scene, December saw a couple of great events at the club – firstly there was the Annual Christmas Draw which was run by Simon Simcox, taking over from Arthur Irwin who has run the draw for many years. Simon did a fantastic job with a phenomenal amount of prizes and a great quiz (which saw the team I was part of retain our crown!!). The following week, the present Mrs Lamb organised a family movie night and whilst the attendance was down a little bit, everybody seemed to enjoy the night and it was good for people to come together in the otherwise quieter time of year. With both of these events, it was great to see different people getting involved and organised and helps spread the load amongst the volunteer base and my thanks go out to both Simon & Debbie.

Completing my ‘duties’ for December I had two other meetings/discussions to take part in. The first one was to be interviewed for a community survey that is taking place and gave me the opportunity to offer my opinion on different aspects of Upton Village together with offering an insight into the role the club plays within the local community. It was a great opportunity to share some of the really positive stuff we have been doing and sharer some insight into the future for the club. The second meeting was Tom Marsland and a new kit supplier. All things being well we’ll have things set up by the beginning of February, and we will announce further details in the coming weeks on the website.

Looking ahead to 2017 there are a couple of things in the imminent horizon. First up, work will be starting on the lounge refurbishment project with a new ceiling being fitted. In preparation for this, the club has been stripped bear with all photos and other memorabilia put away and we will then take the opportunity to reorganise the layout of all that stuff. Secondly, John Scragg is working on a relaunch of the “100 Club” which has been running for 30 odd years now, so it’s about time we freshened things up a bit. The finer details are still being worked on, but having been privy to some of John’s ideas I can say that they are very encouraging and offer more than the current format does.

So all that is left for me to do is wish you well for 2017 and remind you that there is only 15 more Saturdays until the league season starts!

Cheers
Jez Lamb
Chairman