issue 13 sutton coldfield cc story
TRANSCRIPT
I am extremely pleased to report our outstanding success both on and off the field. 2013 has
been an extraordinary year for the Club and I am very proud to be associated with it.
The Saturday 1st XI won the Premier League of the WPL accumulating a record number of
points and was undefeated during the season; the Saturday 2XI finished runners up; the
Saturday 3XI had its highest finish; the Sunday 1st XI won the league; SCCC also won the WCL
T20 competition; the Walmley Floodlit Cup and the Last Man Stands competition. Several
players represented the League; Aaron Thomason received County and England U17 honours
and the U13 andU17’s were runners up in the County Championship.
My thanks go to our Coaches and senior players who have worked so hard. The work ethic has
been excellent at all levels with a consequent improvement at all levels. Our Captains have
played a major role in player development and my thanks goes to them. Steve and Andy have
played an exceptional part in bringing the Club forward, my thanks goes to them and their
continued involvement is eagerly anticipated.
Mike Mackey has been tireless in improving the Junior Experience, particularly on Friday nights,
which must continue to be the main thrust of the junior section. Coaching in schools and Little
Batters has been an addition to our junior programme and has brought much needed benefit
to the club in the recruitment of junior players, especially in the younger ages.
We must continue to encourage interested parents to get involved with the Club and not let
any mention of interest go unnoticed by positively reinforcing their actions. The number of
players at the U18 level who have played senior age cricket this season has never been higher.
All credit to them for working hard with commitment and enthusiasm.
Our Club sponsor through Gary Lane, has been of immense support this season. The interest
shown in what we do and what has been have achieved, has given the club a great boost. We
extend our wholehearted thanks for this and look forward to their continued support in 2014.
Other people have provided financial support in 2013. The Club President, VPs., Life members
and individuals have dug deep to help us remain solvent and to provide essential kit. Our
appreciation goes to them.
We couldn’t do what we do without the many volunteers who give freely of their time to help
the club in groundwork, gardening, painting and decorating, a variety of odd jobs, routine
maintenance, bar work, refreshments, the organisation of social events, the provision of raffle
prizes, administration, and not least Teas!!!! Without this volunteer army the club would really
struggle. People have been brilliant in their responses, showing kindness in order to help the club
develop and complete the great many tasks that need to be done – all mostly behind the
scenes! Our recognition must go to them!
The Ladies section has progressed in leaps and bounds, and the response to Thursday evening
coaching has been very positive. Genuine progress has been made, mainly due to consistency
in attendance. Becky Batsford scored two centuries and Jessica Wright took a ‘five fer’! We
need to recruit at senior level to establish our independence in the local leagues in both the
eight-a-side and 11-a-side formats. We need to enhance the girls section so that they feed into
the ladies’ teams as they mature. If the commitment continues, then this bodes well for the
future. My thanks go to Kim Harvey for all of her efforts.
The Committee members have worked really hard is year, keeping the welfare of the club and
its membership at the core of decisions made. My thanks go to Steve Russell - a superb
Secretary, John Howard - involved so much as Cricket Chairman, to Jim Hobbis - a treasurer
who has kept the finances in pristine order, to Hugo Russell , Paul Heron , Mike Hepburn (CPO)
and to Robin Wheeler. The Text Link instigated by Mike Mackey has also been a valuable tool in
passing on essential information to members and this will be firmly embedded in our
administration.
The 2013 success must be a springboard for future success. We have a challenging time ahead
of us on our return to the Birmingham & District League and it will be necessary to draw upon
reserves so far untapped to gain further promotion. I have no doubt that we have the quality of
personnel to achieve this but we must continue to work hard and avoid any complacency.
On the agenda is a new five year Development plan which will be ready by January 2014,
SCCC is due another Club Mark Accreditation in 2014 and we need to develop a Social
Calendar which interests all of our membership, thus continuing to raise Club Spirit.
Thank you to everyone for all we have achieved and in anticipation of what is to come.
Colin Greetham – Chairman SCCC
View from the Chair Inside This Issue
1 View from the Chair
1 Winter Nets Alert
2 WCL Awards Evening
2 Meet the Chairman
2 AGM Report
3 Jim Troughton Evening
3 Winter Nets’ Details
3 Junior AGM Report
3 BT Challenge
3 SCCC Junior Award Winners
3 Annual Dinner Details
4 SCCC Senior Award Winners
and Pictures
Sutton Coldfield CC Story
ISSUE 13
December 2013
Winter Nets Alert!
Junior Nets start on 14 January
2014 - book now to avoid
disappointment
Senior nets start on 16 January
2014
All sessions will take place over
12 weeks from the above dates.
SCCC is sponsored by Lane
Builders
SUTTON COLDFIELD CC STORY
More than 320 people attended the Warwickshire Cricket league’s Annual Dinner and Awards evening on Friday 25 October in the Tower Suite, at Drayton Manor. Some 25 of the assembled throng were representatives from SCCC. The speaker at the event was Geoff Miller, the ex-England Test player and until recently the Chairman of England’s Cricket Test Selectors, who made an hilarious (clean) speech without reference to copious notes which had the audience (including many ladies) falling about with laughter at Geoff’s cricketing anecdotes. Amongst the long list of winners was SCCC itself (the Premier 1st XI League trophy), the SCCC 2nd XI (the 2nd XI Premier League Runners-up trophy), Graham Clarke the WCL Premier League Leading Bowler (SCCC had three bowlers in the top four positions), and SCCC for the Warwickshire T20 trophy. SCCC’s Lee Thomason was also asked to accept, on behalf of the Warwickshire Cricket league, the three county tournament trophy won by Warwickshire (a result mainly due to Lee’s performances in the tournament). These are a few of the images taken at the Dinner.
WCL Awards Dinner – A night to Remember!
SCCC AGM Report The SCCC AGM took place on Tuesday 12/11/2013 at Rectory, when a relatively small gathering heard the Chairman, Cricket Chairman and the Hon. Secretary of the Club all comment favourably on the successes achieved across the board by all senior and junior playing members of SCCC during the 2013 season. In addition, the plans for 2014 and beyond were discussed with a new five year development plan promised for early in the year. The annual financial statement of SCCC was presented by the Treasurer, Jim Hobbis, with the news that the Club achieved budget during 2013 due to an increase in senior and junior membership, an excellent level of income from advertising in the Fixture Card, invaluable sponsorship for the Lane Group, and the Annual Dinner, together with a great deal of care taken by the Committee in adhering to the Club’s planned expenditure. The Club Chairman’s report and that from the Junior Chairman can be read elsewhere in this Newsletter, but the Cricket Chairman in his round up of on-field matters made particular mention of the fact that the average age of the 1st XI in 2013 was only 20 years, and that a record number of junior players had made their debuts at senior level during 2013. He went on to say that both of these facts bode well for the future of SCCC. At the AGM, the election of Club Officials took place, and for 2014 these are: Chairman – Colin Greetham; Hon. Secretary and Social Secretary – Steve Russell; Cricket Chairman – John Howard; Membership Secretary – Robin Wheeler; Treasurer – Jim Hobbis; Fixture Secretary – Hugo Russell; Fund Raising and Sponsorship – Paul Heron; Grounds Sub Committee- Phil Mist; Ladies Representative – Kim Harvey; Saturday 1
st XI and Club Captain – Graham Clark; Saturday 2
nd XI Captain – Aaron
Evans; Saturday 3rd XI Captain – Andrew Lee Parker; Saturday 4th XI Captain – Bob Mewis; Sunday 1st XI Captain – TBA; Sunday 2nd XI Captain – Aaron Evans.
Meet the Chairman of SCCC
If you are one of the very few people that does not know or recognise SCCC Chairman, Colin Greetham – then read on: Respected by everyone, current SCCC
Chairman Colin Greetham joined SCCC in the
early 90’s. Colin was born in Birmingham In
1944 and attended secondary school at Great
Barr Comprehensive School. For the last two
years of his school career he was appointed
Head Boy and after leaving he attended
Loughborough College of Physical Education
where he studied PE and Science. On leaving
College, Colin became a school teacher taught
in West Bromwich and then Sandwell,
eventually becoming Deputy Head Teacher
before retiring in 1996.
With Colin’s chosen profession of teaching
and his love of sport, it was inevitable that he
became a coach in his spare time. He played
cricket to a decent club standard initially for
Four Oaks Saints then ultimately joining
SCCC in the early nineties when he rapidly
became Junior Chairman.
His real expertise came to the fore when he
began coaching juniors at SCCC as he was
able to call on all of the experience gained
during his teaching career and his cricketing
prowess.
Having been a well-respected Committee man
for many years and Junior Chairman virtually
since he joined SCCC, Colin became Club
Chairman in 2011/12 with remarkable results!
Having suffered relegation on a couple of
occasions prior to his becoming Chairman, the
Club just missed out on promotion in his first
year which near miss has been followed by
two successive promotions. The turn round in
the Club’s fortunes is due in no small measure
to Colin’s Chairmanship and this success has
been recognised by him being nominated in
2013 in the BBC Community Sports Awards
process in the ‘Unsung Hero’ Class. Watch
this space!
SUTTON COLDFIELD CC STORY
The SCCC Clubhouse was full to capacity on
Friday 29 November when welcoming Jim in aid
of his Benefit. The bar staff had done a great job
in putting up Christmas decorations thereby
adding to the atmosphere in the room which
was very warm and convivial
Three County players Tom Milnes, Tom Lewis and
Paul Best came along to make up a Troughton
team for the Quiz. Brian and Anne Wright made
excellent Quizmasters and Ellie did a sterling job
BT Challenge On Wednesday 4th December 2013, BT sent approximately 20 people from
its BT Challenge programme to SCCC to help carry out a variety of tasks at
the Club. The visitors worked extremely hard on our behalf for several
hours. SCCC offers its sincere thanks to BT for this fabulous gesture.
in relieving everyone of their money for raffle tickets! Our thanks must go to the
people who sponsored the evening, to those who worked hard to organise and serve
food, and to those who generously donated prizes for the Raffle.
Thanks also to the Club members who helped with the organisation and room
preparation and in particular, a special ‘Thank You’ must go to Paul Greetham who
compered the evening, ran the auction and interviewed Jim in the Q&A session. He
did a fantastic job in pulling the whole evening together.
Altogether this was a very pleasant and successful event for the Club and thanks must
also go to everyone who attended the event and supporting SCCC.
2013 Junior AGM Report – A Chance to Shine! Attendance on Friday nights in 2013 saw a massive increase over the previous year, due to better weather, the Chance to Shine programme, our investment in local schools cricket (free cricket coaching) and an improvement in coaching with a number of new coaches. Junior membership is up 55% on 2012 and we hope this will continue and have already received interest from a number of parents and coaches who wish to become part of SCCC next season. Friday night coaching will be further improved with dedicated coaches for each age group including a ‘girl only group’ if possible. Excluding the U15 and U17 age groups, SCCC had nearly 80 youngsters from the age of 9 to 13 attending Friday night training sessions. A Chance to Shine resulted in 23 children attending eight of whom became club members, and Little Batters helped in the recruitment of 18 children aged U9. This latter process was helped by having Sam Sargent at the club on a Sunday morning to provide refreshments, answer questions and help parents and their youngsters. We will continue to extend our links with local Schools and hope to expand our free coaching sessions in the New Year. In 2013, One SCCC junior player represented England at the U17 level; five juniors represented Warwickshire; three the district sides, four juniors made their senior team debuts, and two of our junior teams reached the final of their County Cup competitions. A truly terrific result! All of our age groups need to play more games - we have developed good links with Whittington Four Oaks Saints and Aldridge at various ages, and the junior committee is looking at improvements for next season including better communication with team managers and parents, better contact details and the payment of subscriptions. We do need new members for the committee, drawn from the parents of the younger age groups who have an interest in the junior section. Malcolm Roper has expressed an interest in joining the Junior Committee and Phil Mist has agreed to act as Junior Secretary for 2014. The Teachers 2 Parents text service has helped keeping junior members abreast of social events and training cancellations and has eased pressure on coaches. Subscriptions, match fees, winter nets and Friday night coaching costs will not be increased. These are: the membership fee remains at £40 (Siblings £15), match fees at £3 per person per match (U9’s £2), U9’s membership at £20, Friday night training at £4 per member (siblings £3), and junior winter nets at £60 for 12 sessions. There are a number of vacancies for Coaches and Team Managers for 2014 namely: U10 Boys; U14 Boys; U17 Boys; and U13 Girls (if we run a team). Finally, we received many positive comments from parents about our Friday night sessions, on the improvements made to the coaching sessions and on our administration, with many also approving of the bar facility and the BBQ, but especially on the friendly atmosphere in our club together with our welcoming policy for the youngsters who attended. Mike Mackey – SCCC Junior Chairman
SCCC Junior Award Winners At the recent SCCC Awards Evening the
following presentations were made to junior
players – these youngsters are the future stars of
SCCC:
U9 Batsman – Jack Hurrell Woodward
U9 Bowler – Felix Haines
U9 All Rounder – Jack Hurrell Woodward
U10 Batsman – Harry Cook
U10 Bowler – Troy Mukhergee
U10 Most improved player – Rohan Ram
U11 Batsman – Lewis Sturdy
U11 Bowler – Manraj Chohan
U11 Clubman – Luke O’Brien
U12 Batsman – Stan Pigott
U12 Bowler – Ashrit Chohan
U12 Coach’s Award – Archie and Sam Bogle
U13 Batsman – James Lunn
U13 Bowling – Ashrit Chohan
U13 Fielding – Joseph Hewston
U14 Batsman – James Lunn
U14 Bowling – Spencer Gray Nimmo
U14 Coach’s Award – Connor Greaves
U15 Batsman – James Lunn
U15 Bowler – Raul Ram
U15 Clubman – Isaac Mackey
U17 Batsman – Joe Berry
U17 Bowler – Jon Sargent
U17 Clubman – Jamie Humpage
Congratulations to all of the above young
players!
Annual Dinner! The SCCC Annual Dinner will take place at Moor
Hall Golf Club on February 7th 2014 at 7.00pm.
Following the Ashes series in Australia, Sutton
Coldfield CC presents an ENGLAND themed
Annual Dinner. Guest Speakers will include
England star Chris Woakes, plus further guests to
be announced (hopefully including a returning
Ashes player!). Menu will be announced in due
course. Smart dress only please!
Tickets £30 for adults and £20 for juniors
Order tickets from Paul on 07792794427 or
[email protected]; John on 07846 697521
or Aaron on 07825554838 or
(NB. Some content may not be suitable for
younger juniors).
SCCC is sponsored by Lane Builders
Jim Troughton’s Benefit Evening
SUTTON COLDFIELD CC STORY
SCCC Awards – A Veritable Cornucopia!
These are just some of the images taken during the recent SCCC Awards Evening
SCCC is sponsored by Lane Builders
SCCC Awards Evening Winners! On Friday 11 October, more than 120 people crowded into the
Clubhouse to celebrate the fantastic 2013 season just experienced
by SCCC.
On this page are just a few of the photographs taken on the night.
Both Junior and Senior players received their awards which were
presented by Gary Lane from Lane Builders, the Club’s 2013 and
2014 sponsor.
The Senior Winners list comprised:
1st XI Saturday Batsman Lee Thomason
1st XI Saturday Bowler Mark Guest
Special Batting Awards: Jack Smith, Lee Thomason, Mark Guest
Special Bowling Awards: Mark Guest, Graham Clark, James Hunt
2nd
XI Saturday Batsman Kamran Fazal
2nd
XI Saturday Bowler Martin Ball
Special Batting Award: Kamran Fazal Special Bowling Awards: Martin Ball, Sam Sargent
3rd
XI Saturday Batsman Steve Russell
3rd
XI Saturday Bowler James Lunn
Special Bowling Awards: James Lunn, Jack Holland
1st XI Sunday Batsman Tom Wright
1st XI Sunday Bowler Raul Ram
2nd
XI Sunday Batsman Jamie Humpage
2nd
XI Sunday Bowler Tom Wheeler
Special Batting Award: Jamie Humpage
Special Bowling Awards: Harry Wright, James Lunn, Tom
Wheeler