Congratulations to two of our young girl cricketers. Evie Spreadbury has been selected for the Surrey u15 squad and Fiona Kehl is in the u13 CAG squad for winter training. Here is a picture of Evie playing at Malvern last summer.

‘A triumph’, ‘not laughed in so much in years’, ‘my sides are aching’ – just a few of the comments made following Dick Whittington, the pantomime staged by the Newdigate Theatrical Society, in aid of the appeal on the 6th and 7th December.. There were three sold out shows with the audience joining in from the very first scene. People from every organisation within the village took part in the production and it was a real performance staged by ‘Newdigate people for Newdigate people’. Everyone was taken by surprise when, at the end of the matinee performance, the Alderman (Robin Gardner) proposed to Queen Rat (Nina Zeigler) and presented her, on bended knee, with a diamond engagement ring. It certainly wasn’t in the script but when we got over the shock we all wished them a very happy marriage. The pantomime raised £1600 towards the appeal and it’s all happening again on the 3rd and 4th January.

November

Many people within the village completed the ‘Heart of the Community’ coupons on behalf of the Newdigate Theatrical Society (NEWTS) and as a result they came third in the Community section and have been presented with a handsome cheque of a £1000 made out to the pavilion appeal. Five members of the group attended a presentation evening at the Nutfield Priory on the 28th November. The event was organised by the Surrey Mirror Group and there were other sections for Environment and Education. Now there are just the last few rehearsals before the pantomime opens on Friday, 6th December.

Annette (Dick Whittington) and Barry Jordan (Idle Jack)

Rt.Hon Sam Gyimah MP, Caroline (Partnership – the Sponsors), Tina, Deanne (Surrey Mirror)

Barry, Annette, Tina Callcut (Fairy Codmother), Maxine and Phil Marlow (Directors)

The club’s annual dinner and dance was held at the Surrey Hills Hotel on the 16th November. 113 people attended a splendid evening which demonstrated the depth of friendship and warmth within the club. Michael Young said grace and in a short preamble made us realise that we have a lot to be thankful for. Andrew Major, our Chairman, welcomed the guests and especially mentioned Marion Hales, who in her 94th year looked absolutely lovely and thoroughly enjoyed her evening. The awards were made in between courses and Bill Turner recited an emotional and amusing poem commemorating John Callcut’s retirement from the game. The band, Hidden Agenda, kept everyone dancing till nearly midnight. There was a real cross-section of the club at the dinner, including present and past players from all sides, junior parents and villagers. Annette and Barry Jordan organised a tombola, Andrew Major an auction which raised funds for the pavilion appeal and Tina Callcut sold pantomime tickets. The two major auctioned items, a signed bat by the Lashings players and a signed picture of Garry Sobers were donated back to the club – incredible generosity. None of this would have been possible without the meticulous organisation of Roger Bailey. Looking impeccable in dinner jacket he ensured that the whole evening ran seamlessly. A full list of all the award winners can be found under the statistics section. Here are a few pictures taken during the evening:

Richard Callcut receiving the Saturday 1st XI Batting Award from Andrew Major

Shaun Roast and James Penfold crown a successful season as they pick up the Saturday 2nd and 3rd XI Batting Awards

Jack Bowley presents Matt Dilger with the 3rd XI Bowling Award

Paul Bettesworth presents the Sunday Bowling Award to Stephen Kehl

Ian Kehl collects the Brian Chamberlain Bowling Award on behalf of his son, Andrew.

Graham Capel presents a midweek award to Barry Wiles

Will Bowley receiving the 2nd XI Bowling Award from Andrew Major and Bill Turner

Roger Bailey receives the much deserved President’s Award for Clubman of the Year

Bill Turner mounted the ball used in John Callcut’s last ever match.

Mr. Ali from the Ali Raj presented a cheque for £450.00 towards the appeal. The formal presentation was made at the restaurant on Saturday, 9th November and the picture shows Mr Ali with some of the beavers and junior cricketers and their leaders.

On Friday the 8th November a group of us went to the Fuller’s Brewery Surrey County League dinner at Sandown Park. This was a mammoth event with nearly 500 people sitting down. Plaudits must go to Weybridge Vandals who had 40 members sitting down and most wearing a stylish green and black striped blazer. Roger Dakin was a hilarious master of ceremonies and the guest speaker was Mike Watkinson (Lancashire CCC and England) who is now Director of Cricket for Lancashire. We had a pleasant surprised when we were named as Club of the Month for May – we were unbeaten!

At 6.30 am on the 7th November John Callcut drove to the Surrey University in Guildford and appeared on the James Cannon show on Radio Surrey, 104 FM. He was there to promote the new building and spread the news to the general public.

http://newdigatecricketclub.co.uk/radio_surrey.mp3

October

The weather was kind to us for the annual bonfire and firework display on Friday, 25th October. Heavy rain during the early part of the week put the event in jeopardy but fortunately the Gods smiled on us and we had a mild night and a good turnout of cricketers, their families and of course Newdigate villagers. The scouts and guides lit the fire and the fireworks lasted for twenty minutes. Burgers, sausages, cakes, toffee apples and mulled wine were served and John Hanson sold his fluorescent pendants and wrist bands. The bouncy castle and roundabout did good business as did the candy floss and popcorn stall. We always wait with baited breath to see how the event turns out financially as the cricket club invests a considerable amount of money on fireworks and food. Lsat year we made about £1500 and this year we were down on that figure by about £100. Congratulations to Roger Bailey and Paul Bettesworth who co-ordinated the event and all the members and friends who helped with the catering and the setting up and clearing away.

This autumn has been a bumper year for berries, acorns, conkers etc and under the five oak trees in the middle of the field the acorns had dropped creating a veritable road. They all started to shoot so we had a danger of a forest of oak trees sprouting up on the outfield and large bare patches where the grass had no chance of growing. These have all been cleared up and placed on the bonfire.

On the 19th October the Newdigate Friendship Group held a coffee morning in the Village Hall to raise funds for appeal. We had a stall, run by Nick Crawford and John Callcut, displaying the plans and selling cricket equipment. At the same time, two rather damp members of the Newdigate Theatrical Society (NEWTS) , namely the Fairy Cod Mother (Tina Callcut) and Idle Jack (Barry Jordan) were advertising the fund raising pantomime and pointing people in the direction of the Village Hall. As a result the hall was packed with people and we raised the princely sum of £500. Many thanks to the Friendship Group for making all the arrangements.

We have just received a generous cheque for £920.00 from the UNUM Charitable Donation Fund towards the cost of our replacement artificial pitch and netting. Thanks to Julian Ball for setting this up.

On the 14th October one of our vice presidents, Barbara Norman, sadly passed away. Miss Norman was headteacher at Newdigate Infants School from 1965-1981 and she oversaw the move to the present site in 1965 and was also there when the school ceased to be a primary school in 1976. She loved cricket and took a keen interest in the club. In 1994 she presented the Most Improved Award for the under 11s and a year later the Barbara Norman Trophy for Girls. The current recipients are Benjamin Ball and Kira Treliving.

Barbara Norman with the class of 1965.

Sunshine and showers, the perfect ingredients, and the grass is growing beautifully right across the square.

September

Our groundsman, Derek Heselwood, has been working hard on the square during the last few days of September. He has paid particular attention to the bowling ends and has significantly reduced the ‘hill’ running up to the popping crease. The square has been de-weeded and de-wormed, deeply scarified, double seeded, fertilised and loamed. Let’s now hope for some good growing weather.

Ross Hamilton, John Callcut, Nigel Spreadbury and Paul Griffiths attended the ECBCA Surrey Conference at Weybridge on the 29th September. The morning session was split into two separate workshops. One for new coaches which described the latest instructions from the ECB with regards to how to coach (replacing the coaching bugs which were deemed to be inflexible) and what to coach. The other session covered the latest coaching techniques for seam bowling. The afternoon consisted of an inspirational talk by the former England Ladies Coach – Mark Lane. His rapid rise from club coaching to producing the most successful Women’s team of all time was full of humour and and great ideas. Using such players as Graeme Smith, Graham Thorpe, Adam Gilchrist etc. as examples, he emphasised the importance of getting the face of the bat to the ball with perfect timing – how you achieve that does not necessarily depend upon perfect technique.

The annual end of season clear-up took place on the 28th September. With only five weekend cricketers, six midweekers and no juniors turning up it meant a lot of work for the few.

On Sunday, 22nd September the Colts played the Coaches in a keenly contested match. This was the last match of the season and was also John Callcut’s final match before retiring from the game. The match was followed by the junior presentation and barbecue (see junior section for pictures and a list of the award winners). Sarah Griffiths organised a raffle which raised £185, Andy Meads donated two bats which were auctioned for £135.00 and the Kehl family’s barbecue raised £160. All for the pavilion appeal.

At the recommendation of the ECB a Russian film crew came to the club. They are producing a series of programmes about England which will be broadcast throughout Russia in 2014. They recorded the girls training in the morning and the afternoon’s match against Cuddington Casuals. They also interviewed members and parents. This is John Callcut explaining the game of cricket to Vladimir Pozner.

On Friday, 20th September, Paul and Sarah Griffiths arranged a visit for us to the Surrey Hills Brewery at Denbies. We enjoyed the tour and the beer sampling. Sarah very kindly supplied the food and as a result the evening raised £110 for the appeal. It was a shame that no weekend players attended the event.

As a result of the Lashings game Newdigate had no less than three tables and Capel one table at the Lashings Gala Dinner at Lords on a wet evening on the 13th September. We had convivial chats with Phil Defreitas and Gordon Greenidge who both remembered their day at Newdigate with affection.

A ‘tale of two matches’ or ‘the changing face of cricket’ – During the weekend of the 7th and 8th September we played in two contrasting fixtures. The match on the Saturday witnessed a young and distinctly lively opening bowler making disparaging and uncalled for remarks to our two batsmen, ending up with the bowler squaring up to Ruky and having to be dragged away by other members of the team. Within 15 minutes of the end of the match all the visitors had gone without so much as staying for one drink. By contrast, the following day, the wandering side The Journeymen came. They have been playing Newdigate since 1999. After about ten overs the rains came down and the match had to be abandoned. They stayed for tea, had a few drinks and enjoyed a quiz ran by James Penfold. The founder of the team, Stephen Chalke, fined all his team members for various misdemeanours resulting in a very generous donation towards the pavilion fund of some £200. He also kindly donated a signed copy of his recent book entitled ‘Gentlemen, Gypsies and Jesters’ – The Wonderful World of Wandering Cricket.

There was a poignant moment on the Brocus at the end of the friendly match on the 7th September. John Callcut is retiring at the end of the season and as he walked off the field with Bill Turner they said farewell to 54 years of playing cricket together. Bill, though, who is keeping better than ever, will continue playing in 2014. This picture shows two old and true friends.

Does anyone remember Andrew Kleboe? – he has just sent us this message:

From: andrew.kleboe@gmail.com
Subject: Ex player

I played for your club when I lived at Keepers Cottage, Henfold Lane, in the late 50’s early 60’s.
I don’t know if there will be any records or score books still in existence, but a couple of names I recall are Jim Crutcher, Alan Shopland, Peter Sharples, there was an Eric —? who kept wicket.
I remember the skipper turned out early to prepare the wicket,(another Eric) for the home games with any one else that was available, Great memories .
I joined the Navy in 1962 and continued to play in the Fleet Air Arm at Yeovilton and in Singapore while on HMS Bulwark.
I am now retired and living in Thailand, but if anyone remembers me give them my regards,
Andrew Kleboe.

I think that the Eric he is referring to is Eric Faunch.

August

On the 21st August a group of our girls visited Lords to see the England versus Australia One Day International for Women. We saw some good cricket only for England to lose chasing down the final total. Mark Heath met us and kindly managed to get us transferred to the more commodious Warner Stand. He also very kindly bought all the girls a drink. We obtained passes to the museum so the girls were able to see the famous Ashes Urn. All in all a very happy day.

On the 4th August Richie Benaud and Pat Pocock called into the club to lend their support to the appeal. Richie gratiously presented the Barry Jordan Challenge Trophy which had just been contested by Newdigate and Capel under 11s and then he and Pat formally opened the new artificial pitch. They both inspected the new plans and signed many autographs. This was a real ‘red letter’ day for the club and thanks go to David Norrie who kindly made the arrangements.

July

The author, Richard Heller, came down to the club with the Bushmen and left us a couple of his books. He has sent us this poem.

A Sporting Knock
by Richard Heller ( of The Bushmen CC)

“Leg stump, please.” The wicket feels hard.
Umpire wakes up to give me my guard.
Blistering pace from the bowler, who’s fast,
Eye on the ball if I’m going to last.
I look round the field. Have they left a short single?
Bowler runs in and my feet start to tingle.
Ball’s on its way (I feel slightly sick).
Play safe and push forward… Gosh, that was quick!
Just past the stumps and the bowler looks vexed,
Forget all about it and wait for the next.
I see this one clearly, it’s wide and it’s high.
A smile of disdain as I let it go by.
Ball on the way again (try not to fiddle,
Make sure you get forward). Ah, right in the middle.
That sounded sweet. I’m now in control
Batting today is an absolute stroll.
The next ball, I know, will just sit up and beg;
Here comes a boundary. Ow, that’s my leg.
From six miles behind I’m aware of a shout.
Don’t be ridiculous, that can’t be out.
It was miles off the wicket and terribly high
(I remember at once to start rubbing my thigh).
I glance down the pitch, but only to find
A finger well raised… that umpire’s blind.
A lousy appeal, those fielders are cheaters,
My bat hits the wall from a range of ten metres.
My captain (the twit) comes and mutters “Bad luck”.
The idiot scorer asks “Was it a duck?”
I’m going to sulk. I don’t care if they see.
“No, thank you. I really don’t want any tea.”
The captain’s made fifty? I couldn’t care less.
Starting tomorrow, I’m taking up chess.

Published in We Are The Champions, anthology of sporting verse for children, edited C Sheldon and R Heller (Hutchinson 1986)

As part of the Chance to Shine programme we were asked to select a school within Mole Valley to participate in the OCS Finals day at the Oval on the 16th July. We selected St Martins because teacher, Debbie Workman, has enthusiastically supported the scheme for three years and because under their own initiative they have set up a thriving boys cricket club. We duly arrived at the Oval by train and found that St Martins were drawn against Sacred Heart from Roehampton, Team Waverley and Westbourne from Sutton. The format was eight a side Kwik Cricket, with four boys and four girls in each side, the boys bowled to the boys and the girls to the girls. After good wins against Sacred Heart and Waverley, St. Martins lost to a very strong Westbourne side. Here are a couple of pictures of the youngsters enjoying their day out at the Oval.

In the past the annual 20/20 match against Headley Court has been played in, to say the least, pretty indifferent weather. This year was totally different as we had a perfect summers evening with lots of village folk attending. This year it was Headley Court’s turn to win and they did in a very close match which went to the very last over. Most importantly we raised £289 to support the incredible work done by Headley Court. Many thanks to Tricia Kehl who organised the barbecue and to Jackie Bennett and Andrew Major who donated the raffle prizes.

John Callcut presenting the trophy to Paul Elliot.

Village day was on the 6th July and we had a marquee, half advertised the cricket club and the other half was dedicated to promoting the new building. The stand was manned by John & Tina Callcut, SteveJones, Barry Jordan and Nick Crawford. Many people looked at the plans and felt that they wished to be involved. As we say ‘ Built by Newdigate people for Newdigate people’. Under 11 Benjamin Ball’s father Adam gave us a cricket bat signed by all the Sky commentary team specifically for the pavilion appeal and we raffled it at Village Day. We raised £120 and the winner, Roger Beale, donated it back to the club to be auctioned at the dinner and dance. David Norrie has Ritchie Benaud as a lunch guest on the 4th August and he will be bringing him to the club to meet our players. All in all a very successful day.

What a star we have in Chris Moon. Singlehandedly, he has strimmed the entire side of the pitch near the woods and the section under the trees in the middle of the ground. Not only has he strimmed the areas but he has removed all the cuttings – a job that has taken many hours.

The 2012 junior awards presentation took place at the club on the 1st July. See the junior section for all the pictures. Dan Jones is now bringing his son Aiden to coaching and here he is inspecting the trophy that he won in 1993!

June

Many congratulations to 16 years old Thomas Ball. Playing for the 2nd XI in a Fuller’s Brewery Surrey County League match he scored a magnificent 150 not out. This was his first century and the fifth highest innings ever recorded by a Newdigate batsman. He was watched by his very proud father.

The under 15s lost a close game at Guildford in the Surrey Cup semi-final. See junior section for report.

We had a very busy day on Sunday, 16th June on a day that had drizzle for a couple of hours and ended in glorious sunshine. The Newdigate girls u11s represented Mole Valley in the Surrey Youth Games at the Surrey Sports Park in Guildford. Twelve teams from eleven boroughs participated. In our group we lost to a well organised Guildford side whose running between the wickets was excellent. Our girls took this on board and beat Runnymeade to come second in their group. In the play-offs for 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th place we first of all beat Epsom and then we beat Mole Valley 2 (Ashtead) in two very close encounters. In the finals Elmbridge beat Surrey Heath and Woking 1 beat Guildford. So we came a creditable 5th place winning three out of our four games. We were a very young side and apart from the captain, Mimi Slater, all the girls will still be qualified to play in 2014.

Whilst the girls were performing at Guildford our u9s and u11s went to Capel for the Capel 6-a-Side competition. This is the 11th year that this excellent tournament has been run and once again we were blessed with good weather particularly in the late afternoon. Both sides had a mixed day, winning some and losing some but they had lots of fun as can be seen from these pictures taken by Nicki Giordan.

On Friday, 14th June, on a beautiful afternoon, we hosted the Dorking Schools Kwik Cricket Competition for Girls. Teams from the Weald (A & B), St. Joseph’s, Surrey Hills and St. Paul’s (A & B) participated and some excellent cricket was witnessed with St. Paul’s ‘A’ beating Surrey Hills 235 – 234 in a nail-biting finish.

The report of the Lashings match is in this week’s Dorking Advertiser.

Unfortunately we didn’t make the finals of the Tetley Tea competition – thanks to Tricia for trying.

Congratulations to the Newdigate u15s. They beat Epsom in a nail biting Surrey County Cup match and have now reached the semi-finals. They have to play Guildford at Woodbridge Road on the 21st June starting at 6.00 pm

The 2nd June will go down as one of the highlights of the history of Newdigate Cricket Club. On a glorious sunny day the famous Lashings World Cricket XI came to Newdigate and entertained a crowd of over 500 supporters. A full match report can be found under fixtures and reports and a photo gallery can be found on the home page. This was the cricket club’s contribution to the new building appeal.

the spectators enjoying the cricket

A surreal picture – the great Gordon Greenidge sitting on our roller!!

May

On the 25th May we set up a promotional stand outside Bob’s Shop with leaflets and drawings of the proposed new building. Here is the team.

Just recently a box of Tetley tea bags appeared right out of the blue along with an invitation to enter a ‘best cricket teas’ competition. Tricia Kehl duly entered and we have been shortlisted. If we make the semi-finals we will be filmed and then the final is judged at Lords by no less a person than Michael Vaughan. The winning prize is a £10,000 kitchen – now wouldn’t that be brilliant?

We helped organise the Dorking Schools’ Kwik Cricket competition which took place at the Weald School on the 21st May. Six local primary schools competed on a bitterly cold day. There were two pools of three teams and the Weald came out victorious with a win against St. Paul’s in the final. Here is a picture of the group.

On the 18th May our 3rd XI were playing away at Ockley. Ockley played out for the draw but Dev Patel produced the most amazing bowling figures. In fifteen overs he took five wickets for just seven runs. Congratulations Dev.

The 10th May saw our first matches in the Fuller’s Brewery Surrey County League and the 1st XI had a good win against Effingham, whilst the 2nd XI were rained off after 18 overs.

On the 5th May our girls went up to the Oval to see the Surrey vs Yorkshire one day women’s match. During the break they were invited to play on the pitch and here are the girls pictured along with coaches, Paul Griffiths and Nigel Spreadbury in front of the iconic gasometer.

April

Well done the u15s who beat Dorking in the first round of the Surrey County Cup on Sunday, 28th April. They were due to play Merstham on the 12th May in the next round but they had to concede the match so now we play Reigate Priory on the Brocus on the 26th May in the quarter finals.

It was decided that all matches on the Brocus for the weekend of the 20th/21st April should be cancelled but on a beautiful afternoon the away match at Leigh was played, so the season is now officially UP AND RUNNING..

During the morning of the 20th April, Roger Bailey and John Callcut set up a display outside Bob’s Shop illustrating the new building. It created quite a lot of interest from passers-by and increased local awareness of the project.

Junior cricket started on the 15th April and despite the chilly weather it was good to see so many young people enjoying themselves on the Brocus. The girls started the next day with a record 25 registrations.

The 13th/14th April signified the start of the cricket season with fixtures for both the Saturday and Sunday. On the Friday there were puddles across the entire ground so all matches were cancelled – it is looking ominously like 2012!

On the 12th April, Notts Sports came and installed the new artificial wicket and netting. They worked in appalling conditions but they left the ground in immaculate condition. Funding was provided by the Gatwick Community Trust and Lord’s Taverners.

Congratulations to Barry Jordan who, on the 7th April, had his final assessment for his UKCC2 coaching examination … and passed. .

On a rare fine day on the 6th April the club was buzzing as a good crowd of members turned up to open the club. Sadly the groundsman is really struggling with the wicket as the temperature has been so low that the grass has just not grown. As a result the first batch of fixtures have been cancelled.

March

The Newdigate Lasses took part in the Swimarathon on Saturday, 9th March at Dorking Leisure Centre. They were magnificent and swum 126 lengths in 55 minutes and as a result raised £706.02 towards the appeal. Many thanks to Dorking Deepdene Rotary Club who organised the event.

February

Congratulations to Hiten Patel and Will Bowley who have both completed their UKCC1 courses. Barry Jordan is doing his supported practices prior to his final assessment for UKCC2.

The quiz at the Plough at Leigh on the 21st February was a huge success. We were fully booked with a wide range of local people and raised about £700 for the appeal. We thank Sarah for the excellent quiz and food and it was her generosity that enabled us to make such a handsome sum. We would also like to thank the Horley Motor Company who so kindly donated a free service to the winner of the head and tail competition. Ann Jones was the lucky winner. So as to avoid embarrassment to some of the favoured teams we will just say that the competition was won by the youngest team there! Thanks also to those who donated the wine for the first prize.

With snow lying on the ground the central trees on the Brocus have been trimmed back by Dave Ford on the 11th February. This should encourage grass growth on that side of the field and lessen the number of twigs that have to regularly be cleared up, let alone assisting fielders who won’t have to fear that a ball will get lost in the branches and land on their head! This picture was taken a day later!

The Ali Raj restaurant at Parkgate has made us a very generous offer to assist with the development appeal. They have agreed to donate 40% of the food profit to the appeal on the following dates – 27th February, 27th March, 30th April, 29th May, 26th June, 31st July and 28th August. All you have to do is phone the restaurant on 01306 631664, book a table, mention the pavilion appeal and enjoy a nice dinner at the same time as helping raise money. Nigel Spreadbury took these pictures outside the restaurant.

Did you see the picture of Henry Warne outside Ashcombe School in the Dorking Advertiser ? He has received an offer from Cambridge University to read Human, Social & Political Sciences ….. that’s why he didn’t play much cricket last season. Congratulations Henry !

Richard Arlett is leaving his post as Sports Development Officer for Mole Valley to take up a position in Brent. We are really sorry to see Richard go as he has been very supportive towards the club over the years but we wish him well.

Versatile mid-week cricketer. Fred Korner, exchanged his whites for the sinister black costume of Abanazar in the Ockley Dramatic Society’s production of Aladdin. Fred had the audience hissing and booing …. oh yes he did !!!!!!

Update on the pitch. Derek Heselwood has inspected the ground again. After the end of season preparation we had continuous rain which resulted in quite a bit of the seeding, particularly on the batting ends, rotting. We also had problems with rabbits getting in through the netting and eating new shoots. Derek has re-seeded the top end and has put down a large fertilisation sheet and the grass is beginning to come through. Once the weather is kinder he will do the same on the bottom end. The square and outfield were de-wormed and de-weeded in the autumn and the ground has clearly benefited from this work. The rest of the square, with the exception of the ends, looks weed and moss free and there are no worm casts. If we have a reasonable spring then Derek is confident that the pitch will be as good as last year. We do need a work party to clear the leaves around the square and under the trees on the wood side. We have asked the Community Centre to examine the five central trees with the aim of cutting back the lower branches and they have agreed to undertake this work. The artificial pitch is 12 years old and needs replacing. The Gatwick Community Trust has promised us £2000 and we have put an application in to the Lord’s Taverners for £3000. If this is successful then we should be able to have it replaced in time for the start of the season. Unfortunately our application to Sport England to replace the batting and bowling ends in the nets was not successful.

January

The Fuller’s Brewery Surrey County League AGM took place on the 31st January and Allan Cooper has sent in a summary:

Claygate voted in for 2014 season. Full application from Englefield Green to join received and two other clubs are likely to push the league to 40 teams in 2014- meaning a complete split to 4 leagues of 10 will be in place for 2014

League format changes – For teams playing home and away (div 1&2) they will play 9 timed and 9 limited overs games (one of each against each oppo) starting with limited overs for 4 matches, 9 timed and finishing with the remaining 5 limited overs games. (That might be the other way round- but doesn’t effect us yet) Points for timed will remain the same, 20 for win and bonus points for batting and bowling etc., it will be the same for the limited overs matches except you can’t get a draw, so no winning/losing draw points available. 10 each for a tie. Points for a abandoned match will remain at 4. There will be no field restrictions put in place for the limited overs games Start times for all matches will be 1pm throughout the season all leagues. Overseas players can only represent 1st XI unless with authorisation from a league official.

League Cup – First round to be played on Saturday 4th May, and we have been draw against. our old foe West End Esher this is a home match. All other rounds will be played on Sundays. Meaning we potentially need to fit 4 further Sunday games in if we keep progressing final at the Oval

AOB – New teams should be considering buying at least 1 additional box of balls for upcoming season available at a discounted rate from Reader. League will help with this.

The Ali Raj restaurant has very kindly agreed to donate 40% of their food profits to members of the community who book on the allocated dates and mention ‘pavilion appeal’. Here is a group of us enjoying a delicious meal on the 30th January.

Who’s for cricket ?

COACHING IN 2013

Most of you know that over the years the junior section has become the lifeblood of the club. On a Saturday or Sunday as many as fifteen players can be identified as having come though the system and it is no secret that our bar takings are at their height on a Monday coaching evening. We are indebted to the dedicated coaches who attend every Monday, without whom this just would not happen. As an accredited ECB Clubmark and Focus Club we have to abide by some fairly strict rules with regards to the coach/player ratio. In 2012 we achieved a ratio of 4.5 players per coach which was excellent.

We are now having to plan for the 2013 season and following the coaches meeting on the 8th January 2013 we have entered teams in the East Surrey Colts League and appointed coaching managers and team managers for each age group.

We would, however, now like to appeal to the membership for help. We would like to build up a team of coaching assistants who would attend on a Monday evening say once a month to assist a qualified coach at various age groups (We coach at levels 9,11,13 and 15, although matches are played at more levels). We would not demand that you go through the time consuming ECB coaching courses, although we would help if you wished to attend. We would just need you to be CRB’d (one of our coaches can attend to this easily) and preferably attend a child protection course (again this is not essential but we would require you, at least, to read the ECB’s ‘Safe Hands’ book) and if there is sufficient demand we could arrange for a First Aid Course to be held at the club. This is not only informative but very enjoyable.

Coaching cricket is a very satisfying occupation as gradually you see the juniors develop into decent, young human beings. It is no coincidence that the members of the Surrey Downs League have awarded the Sportsmanship Trophy to Newdigate on three occasions – 2005, 2008 and 2009 and we attribute this, in part, to the principals we establish at a young age.

So, if you would like to join the team please contact John Callcut on 01306 631148 or john.callcut@btinternet.com for further information. We look forward to welcoming you.

David Harris from deepest Herefordshire says hello to everyone who remembers him.

The AGM was held at the Newdigate Bowls Club on Sunday, 13th January and we had a pretty good attendance. The meeting started with an update on the pavilion appeal and a request for more help from the membership. The Chairman, Andrew Major, presented his report and made it very plain of his intention to retire from the post. It was agreed that the committee would discuss possible nominees and approach them to establish their willingness to stand. The treasurer presented the accounts and despite the dreadful weather in 2012, due to prudent cost cutting, we managed to make a profit of £1728.00. Reports from various committee members and captains were read out. A number of changes to the committee were voted upon and can be found in the Who’s Who section.

Our Club Development Plan is available for viewing. Go to the Play Cricket site and connect to the Newdigate CC page and you will see it there.