Newsletter - April 2018
Cricket Force 2018
Cricket Force 2018 has been the best so far – and it’s not over yet!
If you’ve been down at the club, or following us on Facebook and Twitter, you’ll have seen our new deck emerging from the ground. We’re on track to have this completed and opened early in May. This has been an immense effort for us – with well over twenty members having contributed to the work so far. It just shows what can be achieved when we pool our talents and efforts. So – looking forward to enjoying the view from the deck very soon.
In addition to the deck, our Cricket Force efforts will have seen us achieve much more. Work is still going on, but by the time we finish we should have:
- Repainted the small sight screens – they’re looking much better now from whatever direction you view them
- Repainted the dressing room floors and the storage boxes
- Cleaned up the area behind the green shed
- Installed new lighting switches in the bar
- Laid a new floor in the tearoom kitchen
- Put a fresh stain on the veranda floor in the tearoom
- Tidied up and done some fresh planting in the garden area
And much more.....
A huge thanks to everyone who has given of their time to help all of this to happen.
And a special thanks to colleagues from Cricket Scotland who came along to assist on our Cricket Force weekend.
You might not believe it, but we’re already at an early stage in planning for next year.
Welcome to Michael Shum
After some small delays getting things organised in South Africa, Michael Shum, our overseas amateur for the season, has arrived and debuted for the club in Perth on 28th April 2018.
Michael is a top order bat and off-spin bowler. He comes highly recommended by his coach, the club he played with last year and our very own Stevo.
I’m sure you’ll all make Michael welcome and help ensure that he has a great experience here at Strathie – on and off the field.
Opening Weekend
Both 1st & 2nd XIs got their league campaigns underway at the weekend:
- On Saturday, the 1st XI lost out in a closely fought encounter at Doo'cot Park.
- On Sunday, the 2nd XI were comfortable winners at Forthill. The victory was set up by a maiden century from Imran Saim who put on an unbeaten partnership of 183 with Ed Taylor. The pair also had an unbroken century stand in the corresponding game last season meaning they are now past 300 runs unbeaten as a partnership at Forthill! Congratulations to both batsmen.
Congratulations
A big well done to Nigel Hazel for completing part two of his Level Two Coaching Award – just the practice assessment to go now. Since the turn of the year Nigel has trained as a Coach Assistant and All Stars Activator. He’ll soon be a fully fledged coach and able to help out with all of our Junior cricket.
Anyone else interested in helping out with coaching – whether or not they have playing/experience – we’d love to hear from them. Drop us an email at Strathmorecc@hotmail.com, contact us via the website or join us any Friday evening from 4 May onwards.
Membership Letters
Membership letters are now out – by email and snail mail. If you haven’t received yours, let us know and we’ll get that sorted for you. Please help us by getting your subscriptions paid as soon as possible.
Junior Cricket
All Stars
Recruitment to year two of All Stars is going well. At the time of writing, we’re in the top five clubs in Scotland for registrations – and we’ve still more than two weeks to go to our opening on 18th May. We are well prepared for the new session, with three trained All Stars Activators – welcome on board to Nigel Hazel – who is joining Jenny McGregor and Gary Hewitson in that role.
If you have children, grand children, nephews or nieces between the ages of 5 and 8 years, this could be the programme for them.
Please help us to recruit the next generation of Strathie cricketers by spreading the word about All Stars. More details are available at www.allstarscricket.co.uk.
Cub Coaching Nights
In May we are hosting two evenings when local cubs will come along to Lochside and play some cricket. Very much looking forward to that.
And we’re happy to do similar things for other groups such as Guides, Boy’s Brigade etc. If you’re active or have contacts with these groups spread the word or come and ask us to put something on.
Schools’ Coaching
We’ve been very active in recent times in working with local schools to provide excellent introductory cricket opportunities to children and young people. This has included:
- Speaking at school assemblies
- Running taster sessions and after school clubs
- Being part of wider primary school sports festivals.
Work with individual schools is continuing and we are preparing to:
- Host groups from the Forfar schools at Lochside
- Run a session for Primary 7 children, in association with our neighbours at Strathmore Rugby Club, which we hope will help us to recruit some new junior players and provide a basis for some cricket at Forfar Academy in 2018/19
Thanks to James Colhoun for all of the excellent work he’s doing to promote cricket in the area and encourage children and young people to join the club.
Dolphin Race 2018
Our twice postponed Dolphin Race event took place on Saturday 21st April and was greatly enjoyed by all those attending.
In total the event – organised by Jenny McGregor and Lisa McDonald – raised over £700 to help support our overseas amateur this year.
Massive thanks to Jenny and Lisa for all their work.
Ganked
The Ganked event at the end of March - organised by some of our playing members - was a complete sell-out. By all reports a great time was had by all – and the night raised further funds to support our 2018 amateur.
Ganked will be returning later in summer - watch this space for more details.
End of Season BBQ
This year we are planning to hold an end of season BBQ for all of our members on Saturday 1st September. So get the date in your diaries now.
The idea is to make this an event for all of our members, whatever their involvement with the club.
It will be a themed event, with day time activities for people of all ages and entertainment in the evening.
Tickets should be on sale in May, so watch our Facebook and Twitter feeds for details and any early bird offers.
Forfar Gala Week
The Club is planning to play an active part in Forfar Gala Week.
We’ll be running some activities at the ground on Sunday 17th June as part of a ”Fun Around the Loch” event. The idea is that all of the sports clubs that operate around the loch will be staging some fun events and people will have the chance of taster sessions, competitions and challenges
On Gala Day itself – that’s Sunday 24th June – we’ll have a stall to promote the club and will be running some activities in the main arena.
Six-a-Side Day
We’re hoping to revive six-a-side cricket this summer – but in a new format.
The date for our event is the 12th of August and details of how to get involved will be available soon.
Girl's and Women’s Cricket
Girl’s and women’s cricket are the two fastest areas of growth in participation in cricket around the world. We’re planning to start providing opportunities for more girls and women to play this summer.
Plans are at an early stage, but we have submitted an application for support to Cricket Scotland and we’re waiting to hear the outcome.
So something else to look out for more information on in the coming months.
Gin-Tasting Evening
A Gin Bothy gin-tasting night is in the in the pipeline for July. More information to follow...