Like many, I’m certainly hoping that 2022 is better than what we’ve experienced over the last couple of years. One thing for sure is that whatever 2022 throws at us, as a Club we will face it head on and make the very best of whatever situation we find ourselves in.

I’m conscious that I’ve not been keeping you as up to date as I have done previously due to a combination of several factors, but my ‘resolution’ is that I get back to monthly updates, so you’re fully briefed on all the goings on at the Club.

For this message, I’m going to extract some of the content I delivered at the recent AGM as it looks at 2021 whilst casting an eye, with optimism to 2022. Before I do, I’d like to wish all Captains well as they gear up for the 2022 season, together with our new President; Pete Clark who officially starts in the role today.

In previous years, a lot of the focus in my AGM report has been on our five-year strategic plan. Whilst that still plays an important role in how we move forward, events out of our control have had to put the brakes on things a little. Due to ongoing issues with Wirral Borough Council producing what is known as their ‘Local Plan’, we have had four meetings with our landlords; Leverhulme Estates rearranged this year. The next meeting is scheduled for February 2022 with a ‘promise’ that the Local Plan will be available at the end of January. When we do get to meet with our landlords, please rest assured we will be ensuring the very best outcome is achieved for Upton Cricket Club.

Before I move on, please allow me to offer my sincerest thanks for everybody that works so tirelessly to move this Club forward. It’s not just the thirteen people who sit on the Governing Committee, it’s those who fill the other offices we elected at the AGM, PLUS all the volunteers who put so much time in across a variety of roles. Without you, we wouldn’t be the Club we are, and long may that continue – thank you.

Moving on, we’ll now look at each section of the Club

Senior Cricket
I think it’s fair to say that the 2021 season didn’t deliver the results we would have wanted across a lot of our teams, but we won’t dwell on that as the focus very much has to be on the future. We have a very exciting future to look forward to and I’m confident that through the lessons learnt this year, 2022 will be a great season. I’d like to take this opportunity to formally thank both Tom Marsland and Ian Bruce for the outstanding efforts they have put in to captaining their respective teams over the years. Very contrasting I appreciate as Tom gets first pick and Ian gets last pick but each role places many demands on each of them and as a Club, we should be truly grateful for their hard work and dedication. Tom hands over to Matt Owen which has been in the planning for a couple of years now and I’ve every confidence that Matt will excel in the role and continue the great work Tom has done. Whilst on the subject of ‘thanks’, it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the tremendous support we receive. It’s commented on in many circles we are right up there across the whole of the Cheshire pyramid when it comes to our support base, and this comes from the way we welcome people into our club. We are a truly inclusive club and referring to a phrase I’ve used many times before, we are ONE CLUB.

Sunday 22 August, now what a day that was! When faced with the conundrum of hosting both the Cheshire Women’s Cricket League finals day and the Cheshire Shield, the easy thing to do would have been to pass up on one of them. Too easy, lets host both! I think it’s fair to say that both on and off the pitch that day, Upton Cricket Club was represented to its very best. When writing this, I took the opportunity to reflect on the team sheet that day and what stands out is that all eleven players had all started life as a Junior here. In fact, of the 27 players who represented the 1st XI this year, all bar 6 were Juniors with us. Looking across the entire Senior section, 99 players took the field this year 70% of them progressed through the Junior system. A record any club would be envious of.

Ironically, as I reference those players who have started with us, it was fitting that we recognised one of the 30% who didn’t start with us as a Junior when Ian Sharrock played his 1,000th game for the Club in the 1st XI against Broadbottom in the Cheshire Shield. Whilst he may not have started as a Junior with us, Ian represents what is great about this Club not only offering so much on the pitch but off the pitch with the roles he fulfils not only for us but also the Cheshire County Cricket League.

One player who definitely started with us as Junior and who’s talent has been recognised at a higher level is Sophie Morris. As we all know, Sophie is a superb cricketer with a real level head on her shoulders who takes it all in her stride, and it is wonderful to see her recognised by Lancashire and I’m confident she will go on to achieve great things in the game. As a Club, we should be rightly proud as one of the purposes of our existence is to ensure we provide the platform (and springboard) for players to progress to the highest possible level. Yes, we might not have the benefit of Sophie playing as much for us moving forwards but what an opportunity she has, and we all wish her well.

My thanks go not only to those mentioned previously, but to all Captains for the time they give up ensuring we get sides out every week and the games run smoothly. Alongside our Selection Chairman, you are fantastic servants of the Club.

Our Ladies XI continue to flourish and the goal when we started this section was for them to be self-sufficient as per all the other senior sides in the Club. Lily Scudder took over the captaincy from Cath Williams and you can see the progression week in week out as they narrowly missed out on promotion. This squad continues to build and develop and with a steady flow of younger girls coming through, coupled with the more experienced players these are exciting times for Ladies cricket at Upton Cricket Club.

Looking ahead to the 2022 season, you’ll have already seen we have secured the services of a top overseas player in Lachlan Ford. Bringing in a player of Lachlan’s calibre not only adds to our playing strength but the other aspects he will bring around the Club won’t go unnoticed, and I look forward to seeing our junior players develop as they work with him.

Junior Cricket
After the limitations placed upon us during 2020, it was fantastic to see us back to as close to ‘normal’ in 2021. It’s pretty evident the boundless energy and enthusiasm that the kids have on a Friday evening, however that is only possible because of the boundless energy and enthusiasm shown by the coaches. Matt Owen steps down after an extremely successful period as Junior Cricket Chairman but hands over to an extremely safe pair of hands in Madeleine Ward. My thanks go to Matt for his tireless work on our Junior section and I know he will be on hand to support Madeleine if needed – I doubt she’ll need it though!

I touched on it earlier that 70% of the players who played Senior cricket this year had played junior cricket here, but to throw another stat at you, of the 99 players to play senior cricket, 25% of them are still playing junior cricket. It’s always been important to me that we provide a pathway, and this is testament to that as we’ve seen some great new talent coming through and once again my thanks to the captains lower down the teams for giving these players the opportunity. Numbers are great however we have to have the right amount of quality coming through if we are to push ourselves as a club to the heights I believe we should be at. Natural talent only goes so far, and to ensure we are constantly producing the best players possible we need to have top quality coaches. Looking at our membership, we have some fine cricketers amongst our ranks with lots of cricketing experience. Please consider if you could give up just a couple of hours a month to help. It doesn’t need to be every week but I’m sure Madeleine will happily take any offers of help put forward.

House & Grounds
I’ll combine the two sections together as whilst they have their respective Chairs, they do work very much hand in hand. Before I delve into the detail, my thanks go to Ken Barrett and Ian Bruce for the outstanding work they do to ensure our facilities are the best they possibly can be. This work wouldn’t be possible without our amazing volunteers who come down every Tuesday & Friday, whatever the weather and just crack on with a variety of jobs.

I think sometimes we don’t appreciate what we’ve got, and I must admit I may be over critical at times but on a visit to an away ground (which I won’t name) last season I became very aware of how good our facilities are. The club house was run down, the place was dirty and basically it was a dump. Please take a moment to appreciate what we have and if you see one of the volunteers who make it this way, stop to say thanks or buy them a drink. They really do deserve it.

Looking at some of the focus areas and aspects of the last year, the biggest challenge we have faced is that of preparing the wickets. With Les Atwell suffering with ill health and then sadly passing away, Brian Shenton ably supported by Derek Pennell stepped into the breach. I think it’s fair to say that for a lot of the jobs that happen throughout the club, if one person can’t do it then somebody will step in, but when it came to the wicket preparation, if Brian hadn’t offered to help, we really would have been in trouble. Brian was quite rightly recognised at the Hot Pot with the Harry Cowley award but once again, thank you Brian. I’m delighted to say that Brian can enjoy his retirement as we now have Tom Curtis in as Groundsman. Tom is currently the Assistant Groundsman at Neston and comes with a good reputation. He’s already started work on the grounds and has been involved in the end of season works and planning for 2022.

Clearly one area we need to do something about is the sightscreens. The recent storms have caused severe damage and Ian and the team are assessing the options to replace these ahead of the 2022 season.

Earlier this year, due to a very kind, and generous donation we were able to purchase new covers for the back pitch which make our grounds the envy of many for the outstanding facilities on offer. At the risk of embarrassing the two gentlemen who made the donation, as a club we owe a huge thanks to Ian Bruce and John Scragg.

Bar/Social
It would be easy to say that running the bar this year has been easy as we’ve effectively been shut for half the year, but it’s probably been a harder time than ever as Ian and the bar team have had to deal with all the challenges that come with dealing with the various Covid guidelines. I can think of no better person to have in place to ensure we do the right thing and as we’ve said before, everything that has been implemented has been done to ensure we provide a safe environment for our members to enjoy.

Deepest thanks go to Ian for all he does to ensure the bar runs smoothly and I’m looking forward to things getting back to normal next year.

We do plan to have a range of social events for 2022 and would welcome any volunteers to step forward to help form a Social Committee, of which more details will be announced soon.

Club Administration
A lot of what you see, and probably even more of what you don’t see is down to the hard work of one man – Rob Chapman. I couldn’t wish for a better Secretary who not only offers me tremendous support (even when I come up with crazy ideas) but is always on top of things. Whether it be legislation, dealing with external bodies or handling requests for room hire, Rob just goes about his business quietly and effectively. Thank you Rob.

Community
Whilst it’s not been as easy to enhance our community links, we have continued to try and make the club as welcoming as possible for everyone in the community and I think the huge support base I referenced earlier is testament to that. We’ll continue to look at ways we can help develop those community links and we were delighted to make a donation towards the Christmas lights in the village.

Looking ahead to 2022 we will look to reignite the charity work we do and whilst we can’t confirm anything just yet, we do hope to be able to announce more details soon.

Strategic Planning
As I mentioned at the start, we have had to press the pause button on a lot of things due to both Covid and the lease position but my vision for 2022 and beyond is that we get back to operating from a ‘5-year strategic plan’. This has proved to be a successful vehicle to give us a focus and for delivering against a plan and I’m keen we get back to that. With some powerful new additions to the Governing Committee in the guise of Dave Smith and Rob Kalitkin who bring considerable business acumen & experience we are in an incredible position to steer the good ship UCC into unchartered but exciting waters.

Finance
Treasurer Richie Simcox gave a detailed update on the state of our finances, which reported the Club in a healthy position. However, at our last Governing Committee meeting my message was to not let complacency set in. Yes, we are in a good position and that is down to firstly the outstanding work Richie does in keeping us all in check, and secondly the work the rest of the committee does in managing their respective areas.

In conclusion…
The slide deck I used at the AGM had a nautical theme. This wasn’t just picked randomly, there was a purpose behind this.

Otto Neurath, an Austrian-born philosopher of science, sociologist, and political economist, used the simile known as “Neurath's boat” on several occasions, the first being in his text "Problems in War Economics" (1913) where he wrote…

“We are like sailors who on the open sea must reconstruct their ship but are never able to start afresh from the bottom. Where a beam is taken away a new one must at once be put there, and for this the rest of the ship is used as support. In this way, by using the old beams and driftwood the ship can be shaped entirely anew, but only by gradual reconstruction.”

Developing Upton Cricket Club can be seen very much like this. We replace the old with the new but recognise that all the other aspects of the Club support this, but as Neurath says, it’s “gradual reconstruction”.

All the best 2022, and let’s collectively make it a memorable one for UCC

Cheers
Jez