2013 Season Preview
Christmas is over and our thoughts must now turn to the preparations for the forthcoming season.
75th Anniversary: It is the club's 75th anniversary in 2013 and
there will be a number of special events held for you to enjoy and participate
in, plus a range of commemorative kit which will be sold from the club shop,
which will be opening from the start of the season. Dave Wright has joined
the committee as social secretary and Gavin Spencer has returned to the
committee to assist with all new business. Events, dates and details for
the 75th will be posted on the website and club noticeboards very soon.
Please take note of a busy year ahead.
Good news - match fees: As it is our 75th, we have been mindful as a
club to make playing cricket as economic as we can whilst making collecting
match fees as simple as possible, so we have reduced match fees for 2013 to
£10 per game for adults and £5 per game for Juniors/colts. There is a slight
increase in the subscription rates to help alleviate some of the shortfall,
but these changes mean that any senior member playing more than 10 matches
or junior/colt playing more than 8 matches, will be paying less to play cricket
in 2013, in comparison to 2012.
Congratulations: Toby Roland-Jones has been selected for the England
Performance squad tour of Australia in February. Paul Stirling was successful
in the auction for the Bangladesh Premier league, picked up for £30,000 for
three weeks fun in the sun alongside new teammate Tino Best. Toby, Paul,
Adam London and Stuey Poynter have all extended their respective contracts.
Bradley Erasmus has been selected again for the Middlesex Academy and Amar
Verdi for the Surrey Academy. Matt Nichols, Sean Ventham and Vishal Manro
are selected for their respective university first team squads.
Congratulations to them all.
New players: We have already identified seven new or returning faces
to play at Sunbury CC in 2013. The long awaited world tour of the fun boy
three has ended and Kevin Smith, Daniel Pope and Charlie Pearce are back and
champing at the bit for the cricket season. Scott Napier also returns this
year after the birth of his first child, whilst Nick Hampshire is back to
play following his university stint in Middlesborough. Elliot Shaw, unfortunately
missing through illness in 2012 will be eager to make up for lost time.
We also have a new contracted player to add to the 1st XI mix in 2013.
Shane Getkate is an opening bowler and middle order bat, who has signed
for the MCC YC's following four years at the Warwickshire Academy. Shane
has also appeared at three Under 19 world cups for Ireland, the first when
only 15. These and hopefully other additions still to come, will help make
2013, one to remember.
Playing XIs: Olly Roland-Jones captains the First XI for the fifth
consecutive season, hoping to go one better than the runners up spot achieved
in 2011 & 2012. The return of the two seamers from Australia and the acquisition
of a third seamer from Ireland should help to give plenty of options to Ollie
in the seam department, alongside the speed of Awan and the flight and guile
of Stanier and Granger. The wily spin Master, Matthew Todd will be ably supported
by the young guns Virdi, Aslem and Vishal Manro. The batting (Maunders, Stirling,
London A&D , Roland-Jones, Poynter, Spencer, Nash, Balbirnie, Hall, Ventham),
whilst very strong on paper, will need to be consistent throughout all 18 rounds
of matches. With reasonable draws in the National and Conference Cups this all
promises a very exciting year ahead.
Martin Miles returns to take the reins in the Second XI with his immediate
goals to rebuild confidence and achieve a swift return to the premier league.
He has a new VC in Ross Wright and a talented mixture of youth and experience
to conjure with to achieve this.
Curtis Higgins and Simon Young are the new Captain and VC for the 3rd XI and
they too will be charged with championship aspirations and the further development
of our young guns to achieve their potential.
Mugsy Sehmi takes over in the Fourth XI, with Nobby Clarke moving to VC to
ensure both continuity and experience. Captaining the 4th XI is probably the
most difficult role, having to balance the needs of the team with the needs
of the higher club XIs.
On Sundays, Matt Nichols takes over as head of the Chieftains, with Curtis
and Rhythm sharing the Development XI responsibilities and Nick Hampshire
any Optimists matches. The Squires continue to be led by Bill Kincaid with
Micky Serpant as VC.
Nets: John Maunders has been carefully tutoring our Academy charges
throughout the Winter at Cleves School in Walton. These are new for us but
we have had some very favourable reports, indeed Senior nets will commence
there on Sunday 17th February (17:00 - 19:00) and will run until the weekend
before Easter. After Easter, outdoor nets will commence as per the allocated
nights from 2012.
Colts: The age group indoor net sessions start this month, indeed
some are already underway. The Fixtures are being agreed for another busy
season ahead, with most age groups having early cup games in April. Outdoor
nets start week commencing the 8th April, more details on the Sunbury Website.
Working parties: We will be hosting two working parties before the
season commences on Easter weekend (30/31st March) and the weekend before
the season commences (6th/7th April). Please put the dates in your diary and
look out for further updates and requests from Dave Smith.
I wish you all good luck for 2013 and look forward to seeing you at nets
or at the sun laden Kenton Court Meadow , when the first matches commence
on 13th and 14th April.
Michael Lowe
Club Chairman
|
