Sunday saw our final home match and our hastily arranged end of season awards. The sun shone, the wicket played beautifully and the outfield looked terrific. 24 players took part which is as many as I can remember for such an event.
So, a season that looked like it would not take place for much of the year ended up seeing playing numbers increase and a number of significant improvements at the ground including an expanded outfield and new fencing.
Brian was unable to attend, as were most of the committee due to the Covid restrictions. However, Brian did ask me to read out the following note.
I would like to thank everyone who has supported the Club playing, coaching or helping out.
A big thank you to Gareth for his hard work on the square especially during the lockdown without which no cricket would have been possible.
Martin for cutting the outfield, Andy for his work on the fence and especially to the coaches for training the Colts on Wednesdays.
I am sorry that we are unable to have the usual BBQ. Next year hopefully.
We then moved on to the awards. With one match to go there is a clear winner in the run scoring, but the wickets prize is a little closer. Joe Ash has had a stellar season and is top of the run scoring with 344 runs (more runs in half a season than winners have achieved in some full seasons). Joe also leads in the wickets column with 12, Malcolm Featherstone is second with 11 and Luke Stedman third with 10. So all to play for heading in to the final game.
Nick then presented the following awards;
Young player of the year (year 11 and below) Sam Brichieri-Colombi 'fine performances as captain of the under 13s and also playing well in the Sunday team (rocket arm).
Junior player of the year (year 6 and below) Hugo Juggurnauth 'many great performances for the under 11s and captain in the summer games.'
Jack Petchey Achievement Awards - recognising young people who have gone above and beyond to achieve.
James Schilder - 'captain of the under 11 indoor team and for playing really well when called in to the Sunday team'
Oscar Phipps - 'very strong performances in the indoor league as an attacking batsman and wicket keeper'
Bill Bruty Club Member of the Year - 'This year it goes to a young man who travelled up from London every Wednesday to help with the colts, has played nearly every game this year, Sat & Sun and has so much enthusiasm win or lose.' Will Goold - Club Member of the Year
You can see the winners here
So there you have it. Sanitisation every 6 overs, social distancing, Covid audits, register of names for track and tracing. For some clubs, it was too much and they did not play any cricket this year. But our committee was determined to get out there and put on a show. We fielded teams every Saturday and Sunday, got more young players involved than ever before and provided structured coaching midweek plus more colts matches than ever before. We don't get everything right, but I do know what we do is always with the best intentions and aimed at spreading this great game to as many people as possible.