CHAIRMAN'S NEWSLETTER - JULY 2010 - 5th of July 2010

Chairman’s Newsletter - July 2010

Time to upgrade our facilities?

• Your Committee has been discussing whether we can take advantage of the current ECB priority to provide funding to focus clubs for the development of women’s and girls’ cricket.  As you know our affiliated club, Bristol Phoenix CC, has developed a very strong female section, which will enable the two clubs to work together on a suitable project.
• Whilst it is early stages, we have in mind updating our changing facilities to make them suitable for both male and female cricketers, but much more excitingly, to build an indoor net facility to enable us to train at the Club all the year round.
• This is not a trivial, short term project and will take some while to plan properly and even longer to obtain the necessary consents from local planners, our landlords and the ECB. 
• If we are able to get the ECB on board, they will provide the majority of the funding, but the overall cost will still leave the Club with a considerable sum to raise over the next 2 to 3 years – possibly as much as £75,000.  Your Social and Commercial Committee (under the Chairmanship of Richard Hawkins) are now working on producing a programme of events and activities to raise this sum.
• Obviously, this major task will require the support of all members of the Club – adult players, social members, Vice Presidents and youth players and their parents - to give their wholehearted support.  It will be a unique opportunity for the Club to pull together, so that we can take our facilities to the next level.
• However, before we fully commit to any major expenditure, the Committee will call an Extraordinary General Meeting to present our finalised plans to the membership.  In the meantime, if you have any comments on this proposal, please let me know.
• Meanwhile, on the cricket front, our adult teams have been busy this season playing rather than watching the rain fall, which makes a change!  The current league tables are regularly pinned to the notice board, but to save you looking this week, the First XI are joint third, the Second XI first and the Third XI are bottom of their respective divisions.  We are also in the semi final of the B and D 20 over Cup.  The Sunday XI is mid table.
• The youth section continues to be very successful, under the excellent chairmanship of Howard Marshall. After an amazing 57 matches, we are nearing the end of the regular Bristol Youth League season, and already one Under 13 team has qualified as divisional winners, whilst several other teams are in contention to do the same.  Three teams have reached their respective BYL Cup semi-finals.
• Jon Oakey, as ever, continues to produce a huge number of excellent pitches, for adults and juniors alike.
• On the social side, the bar is encouragingly busy.  Thanks here go to the entire bar staff, splendidly organised by Les Summerfield, for their hard work.

Mike Collett