Dear Cricket Lovers,
After an extremely testing time for families, businesses and our amazing front line workers I'm delighted that it has now been deemed safe enough for us to return to playing recreational cricket.
If, like me, you've been pacing like a caged tiger behind bars to get out onto the field of play the wait is nearly over!
Finally we will be able to see the new team kit out on the field! We will all proudly wear the logo of our new principal club sponsor, Rountree Tryon Gallery, who share our vision for Petworth Park CC's bright future. The club is also pleased to have continued support from our regular sponsors Oakapple Trading, Clutton Hughes and Rugs of Petworth. If you’d like to join our team of sponsors please get in touch.
As a club our finances have been badly hit by the impact of Covid-19 and as a result we are now behind in our objective to install cricket practice nets in 2020. Hopefully we can now begin to turn things around and get back on track with some great times ahead during what remains of the season.
Although we haven’t been able to practice or play for the past few months our members have made a fantastic effort to keep the ground maintained and make improvements to the pavilion. The results have been extraordinary and we will reap the benefits of this over the rest of the 2020 season and beyond. Thanks to everyone who has helped whilst remaining safe and adhering to the government’s rules and guidelines.
I'd like to pay special thanks to Leconfield Estates for retrenching our water supply to the cricket square, this has increased our flow and pressure hugely and we are now able to irrigate more effectively in a shorter space of time. I'd also like to thank Dudmans Group, who were extremely generous in supplying us with 20 tonnes of sandy top dressing to smooth part of the cricket outfield which would otherwise have been dangerous to field on. I'm very grateful to everyone involved.
So, what’s the plan for Petworth Park Cricket Club for the remaining part of 2020?
We will shortly be announcing our programmes for Juniors, Women's Softball Cricket and Adult Cricket:
Junior Cricket
We will run programmes during the summer holidays for ages 5 and over. ECB All Stars is likely to be delivered in a reworked format for 5-8 year olds and sessions for 9 and over. Hopefully we will get some ad-hoc friendlies in the diary over the summer too!
Drew Clark is stepping up to do some really important work with our older juniors and aiding the progression to hard-ball cricket for our young ones. Drew is a well experienced and qualified cricket coach (and more than proved his credentials last season when he hit 146 against Petworth Park CC for Ebernoe!). Our aim at Petworth Park CC is to build a junior academy to serve the community of Petworth and its surrounding villages and Drew is taking on this exciting challenge. I look forward to the day when I watch from the boundary as a young Petworth Park CC player scores a debut century for the adult team! If you'd like to be involved in helping with this or become a coach please get in touch as we'd love to hear from you.
Women's Softball Cricket
Training is already underway on Wednesday evenings. This is a fun form of cricket, new comers are very welcome and no experience is required! Please get in touch and Tessa will welcome you along. Again we hope that there will be a couple of tournaments or friendly matches announced shortly.
Adult Cricket
Our Sunday programme will resume with the existing friendly fixtures being honoured.
The T20 tournament, previously planned for June/July, is being reworked and we should squeeze it in before we lose the light.
This year we were due to enter the Sussex Cricket League for the first time, unfortunately this has been cancelled. We may use Saturday to rearrange some of the cancelled friendly games on an ad hoc basis.
Sadly we are saying goodbye to our Junior Cricket Coordinator, Jennifer Thorpe. I'd like to pay tribute to the incredible work, commitment and energy that she has brought to the club, having established a vibrant junior section since we restarted the club in 2016. Jen has decided it's time to focus on other things and, I suspect, she is looking forward to getting her Saturday mornings back! Jen's organisational skills will be greatly missed and we're now looking for a keen individual to step up and help take Junior Cricket forward, please get in touch if you feel you might be interested.
So, with the delay nearly over, there is a lot to look forward to for the rest of this season and in the coming years.
You will shortly be able to sign up for a reduced year's membership, either as a playing, social or Vice President member, and I look forward to a safe, socially distanced pint with you at the pavilion very soon.
There will be lots of exciting announcements in the coming week so stay tuned.
Over to the players now to not miss the first straight one...
Best wishes,
Alex Rees
Chairman, Petworth Park CC