The snow melted and that started problems in the pavilion. A joint under the sink in the scout hut toilet burst and water gushed out spreading right through the hut and into the mower store. Another joint burst above the home team changing room, water gushed through the light fittings bringing the ceiling down, and flooded the room. Our Bowdry came in very useful.

Who’s for a net???

Jazz afternoon at the club on the 11th December. Warm inside but freezing outside.

We have had heavy frosts and even a sprinkling of snow. Perhaps the grass will now stop growing!

November

Surrey CCC held a farewell dinner at the Oval for Richard Thompson who has now become the Chairman of the ECB. You will recall that Richard opened our new nets in June. The key speaker was Sir John Major and Richard Stilgoe composed and played a witty song about Richard. In his response he even gave Newdigate a plug.

I thanked him for the evening and a part of his reply was:

‘the memories will live on and the desire to make our great game better, stronger and more popular will drive my sense of purpose. Thank for your kind words John, they mean a lot. We must stay in touch and if I can help you or Newdigate in anyway I am here for you. With my very best wishes, Richard.”

JC. – He has an unenviable task but if anyone can make a success of the job then he is the man.

Lewis Davies has announced that he will be stepping down as Saturday 1st XI skipper. The good news is that he still wishes to play on a regular basis.

October

Hundreds of people visited the Newdigate village bonfire on the evening of the 28th October where they enjoyed a magnificent fire, fireworks, funfair rides, food, drink and mulled wine.

The hedge by the nets has been trimmed, dead trees, branches and thousands more acorns have all been put on the bonfire.

We have now received our Clubmark Certificate for 2022-2025.

On Sunday, 16th October the under 14s gathered at the club for an afternoon of pool, table tennis, pizzas, playstation and watching Liverpool beat Manchester City. We also discussed the controversy over backing up and how we expect Newdigate players to behave.

The grass is growing well on the square and thousands of acorns have been lifted from the outfield.

September

The annual dinner and dance took place on the 30th September at Stanhill Court Hotel. It was a great success, good food, drink and company. the raffle and auction went down well. Here are some pictures.

After the excitement of the day before it is back to work. Here is groundsman Derek and his assistant James cutting and scarifying the square.

The coaches versus juniors match took place on the 18th September followed by a barbecue (thanks Andy) and then the junior presentation. (see Junior Section for details of all the winners and more pictures) This was the final game of the season on the Brocus.

The two captains toss up and Pierre Tartari and Mark Bishop officiate

The Juniors

The 'Coaches'

The trophies

Dan Jones officiates

On the 11th September the Sunday team played at Merton and as a mark of respect following the death of Queen Elizabeth II both teams held a minutes silence.

James Penfold and John Callcut received an invitation from Surrey President David Pakeman to spend the day at a reception in the Prince of Wales Suite at the Oval on the 4th day of the test against South Africa. Here they are pictured with former England and Surrey paceman Alex Tudor. The day was marred as on the way back we heard of the death of the Queen.

The league season came to an end on the 3rd September with a win for the 1st XI at Woodmansterne and Wandgas conceding the 2nd XI match. It has been a very tough season with both teams getting relegated but were we downhearted? You wouldn’t think so looking at these pictures with players celebrating Allan Cooper’s 40th birthday into the early hours.

August

On the August Bank Holiday Monday we ran our annual 6-a-Side competition in aid of the Little Roo Neonatal Fund. Six sides participated and the winner was the Dorking Grizzlies. This was a very happy day enjoyed by a big crowd.

The second week of our Summer Camp is up and running. Here are some of the children having a good time lead by Anna Lewis.

An amazing match took place on the Brocus on the 21st August. Newdigate scored 301 and in reply the Bushmen amassed 291. See ‘reports’ for the full details.

Centurion, David Callcut

The Surrey Slam finals were held at the magnificent Valley End Cricket Club on the 21st August.

Newdigate played against Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth (AMY) who batted first. After a patchy early start we settled down well. Jagadeesh Subbiah and George Warne taking excellent catches in the outfield and Dave Arnold taking a very smart stumping. Valley End is a large ground so sixes were the order of the day and AMY had some powerful hitters. After their 20 overs they scored 190.

Allan Cooper and Dave Arnold got us off to a steady start but then wickets fell at regular intervals against AMY’s excellent seam attack.

We were all out for 136 in the 20th over so our dream was over.

The Bowls Club invited the cricket club to play a match on the 18th August. Great fun was had by all and thanks to the bowls club for supplying a nice supper.

Wow!!

Congratulations to the Newdigate Earthquakes in the quarter finals of the Surrey Slam. Godalming set a daunting total of 192 to chase and Newdigate set about their target with aplomb. Despite two early run outs they carried on regardless. Big hitting from Jagadeesh Sabbiah (36), Tom Collard (55), Joe Haynes (27) and George Warne (18) saw us home with an over to spare. Spare a thought for Andy Kehl who collided with George Warne going for a catch and ended up in hospital.

Congratulations Andrew Major.

There were seventeen nominees for the Lifetime Achiever Award at the Grassroots Cricket Awards ceremony at the Oval on the 7th August. Andrew Major was shortlisted along with six other nominees. At a tense and emotional climax it was announced that Andrew was the winner. He follows John Callcut who achieved the same award in 2018.

Newdigate Earthquakes secured a good win against Cobham Avorians on the 2nd August and have moved to the quarter finals of the Surrey Slam.