As the hangovers are just about fading from the hugely successful Annual Hot Pot on Friday 21st November, it is right we look back and reflect on the evening with great pride.

In the build up to this year’s Hot Pot, evergreen organiser Pete Clark faced his biggest challenge in many a year; no not how he would limit his introduction to a mere 75 minutes, but that of how he would handle the dynamics the new tea room design threw his way. As nearly 100 officials, players, members and guests gathered in the clubhouse and perused the seating plan to see who they would be sharing the evening with, little did they know that they were reading version 73 of said ‘seating plan’!

With everyone comfortably in place, the evening commenced with a “brief” welcome and overview of the evenings proceedings from the host for the night; PDA Clark. With the risk of the starter going past it’s sell by date, the proceedings were handed over to the Chairman; Graeme McGowan to say grace. Preceding grace, Graeme took the opportunity to recognise the hard work and effort of all those who contribute to the smooth running of the club, drawing particular attention to those who had contributed to the fantastic new tea room and the tireless work undertaken by the “Tuesday & Friday gang”.

As the guests enjoyed their dinner, the acquisitive Gary Dixon worked his way round the room to capture anybody whom he may have missed from the raffle as they entered the building. In attempt to soften the blow of handing over their next month’s mortgage payment, our main attraction for the evening; Doddie Weir donated a couple of bottle of the finest wine Bargain Booze had to offer and ran an alternative version of ‘heads & tails’, with the worthy recipient being former 1st XI Captain Darren Warburton.

Following a sumptuous meal, carefully crafted by Barwise Catering PDA Clark guided us through to the hotly annual awards. First up was Young Player of the Year - with such a strong and talented bunch of young players coming through the ranks, the award was awarded to Dan Owen who has performed splendidly for both the juniors and senior sides this year. Next up was the Fielder of the Year – when you think about the kind of the physical and character traits that you associate with somebody who would win this award; quick, agile, youthful & fleet of foot, ticking most of these boxes was a man who defies his ageing years – well done Warbo!!

The keenly contested Bowler of the Year award could have gone to several worthy recipients across the teams, but the eventual winner; James Woods was the pick of the bunch with 50+ wickets an numerous 5 wicket hauls. The final playing award of the evening was the Batsman of the Year, and it was with great pleasure that Doddie Weir was to fulfil a lifetime ambition and present an award to a member of the ceropithecinae family who’s traits are more akin with swinging from trees. Well done Andy Beacher!!

The final award of the evening is where the club recognises the hard work and dedication put in by one of its members, and every year the club is graced with several worthy recipients of the Harry Cowley Award. This year’s winner; John Lamb received the award on the back of not only the endless hours he puts in week after week on the grounds, but also the years of service in various guises. Well done and thank you John.

Moving on to the main speeches for the evening, it was with great pleasure that the formal running order was interjected by former 1st XI Captain and current Chester Boughton Hall Captain Lee Dixon who very proudly presented the Club with his Cheshire shirt he wore on his debut where he scored a fine 169 against Oxfordshire. The Club rightly acknowledged this gesture with a rousing round of applause. Back to the formal proceedings, it was with great pleasure we were able to welcome Jim Law from Chester Boughton Hall to toast the Club. It was clear in Jim’s words he recognises the fine Club we have and this together with his poetry recital was well received by all.

In response, 1st XI Captain Andy Roberts gave a great run through of the season, picking out lots of highlights (and a few lowlights), but spoke from the heart about the desire within the Club to keep on developing and progressing. Andy concluded by toasting the numerous guests in the room, all of whom, together with those not able to make the dinner we would love to see throughout the course of next season.

And finally came the main attraction. Standing at a mere 6ft 7inches in his stocking feet, it was with great pleasure that PDA Clark welcomed George “Doddie” Weir to the floor. Doddie proved to be both an exceptional speaker but also great character, truly embracing what the Club is all about as he attempted to involve as many people as possible in his act. As the night progressed and the formal proceedings came to a close, Doddie joined the members in lounge and engaged in conversation and banter, and not forgetting a certain former 1st XI Captain and current ‘fielder of the year’ attempt at lifting this giant of Scottish rugby above his head – shame he was upstaged by one of the female bar staff who managed the feat.

So, a great way to go into the festive period and as we look ahead to what promises to be an exciting 2015 season, please don’t forget to support the Club in the coming week at the AGM (Thursday 4th December) and Christmas Draw (Friday 5th December)