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Captains Log
(April 2008)
As I write this pre-season Captain’s Log, it is raining outside, and temperatures have scarcely got into double figures for weeks. The ground up at Edgworth is sodden, with more rain forecast over the coming days. It is scarcely believable that the cricket season is only a couple of weeks away, and there is much preparation to be done for the ground to be fit for the visit of Daisy Hill on the 19th April. I shall start my Log, therefore, with a reminder about NatWest Cricket Force Weekend, which takes place from Friday evening through to Sunday at the Club. I will say more on fundraising later, but the quiz on Friday night is an excellent opportunity for players, parents and everyone involved with the cricketing side of things to get together, have a few drinks, and raise some money for the Club. During Saturday and Sunday, Mike Davies, Wayne Birtwistle and others will be supervising work parties around the ground, getting it ready for the season. All players are expected to turn up and help out, if only for a couple of hours; with a playing staff of well over 30, a couple of hours apiece equals over 60 hours worth of work, and should herald a transformation of the ground and facilities – it is vital that everyone does their bit. The hard work, stress and nervousness that preceded our league title last year may be nearly forgotten, but the celebrations that followed will surely have lived long in the memory. As we are about to start the season as defending champions, I urge everyone involved to remember how hard we had to work last year – winning is impossible without the hard graft to go with it. Complacency is probably the greatest pitfall for a successful team; many times I have seen good teams slip back into mediocrity because they feel they no longer have to earn the right to win games. I have also seen good sides break up, with players leaving to look for new challenges; I am delighted that Edgworth have kept their squad together for next season. In fact, the bowling has been significantly boosted by the return of Andy Mcilroy, who was professional when Edgworth previously won the League in 1988. Andy’s ability, experience and exuberance will, I am sure, be great assets to us as the season progresses. As I alluded to in my last paragraph, it can sometimes be a struggle to motivate yourself when you have just won a title. Yet with this team I feel this will not be a concern; not only are we a squad that is highly motivated, there is also a feeling that there is more to come from this team. As our nerves in mid-season eventually turned to belief at the end, we finished our league campaign with two flawless performances in our last two games, easily (along with Little Hulton away) our best of the season. Here we set ourselves a benchmark for this year: batting displays built on big partnerships and positive attitude, a mixture of penetration and control with the ball, and some excellent fielding. It was not always the case during last season, several batsmen had poor individual seasons, and collectively we struggled to impose ourselves in bowler-friendly conditions, our fielding let us down on occasion. It is, of course, testament to our excellent teamwork that we triumphed despite these factors, but it is important to identify areas where we can improve as a team. Our partnership-building is certainly the main one of these.The other area that we can improve our record, and indeed chase further honours, is in the cup competitions. A deep batting order and a variety of good bowlers are usually benchmarks for excellent cup teams, so our poor record in cups in recent years is especially baffling. This year with have an intriguing trip to new club Flixton in the Cross Cup, and have potentially three consecutive home games in the Lancashire Knockout; I am confident that we can have a cup adventure or two this season. Last year, Edgworth received many plaudits for hosting a wonderfully successful Cross Cup Final; how fitting it would be if we were to be involved this year as participants. In addition to the obvious successes enjoyed by our 1st XI, 2007 was a good year throughout the club. The 2nds finished runners-up and were well led by Trevor Caine in his first season as captain. What was especially pleasing was the emergence of several junior players in 2nd team cricket. Sam Holden, Ali Dickson, Jordon Lambert, Andrew Mills and Matt Birchall all featured regularly towards the end of the season with great success, and it is with this in mind that we have entered a 3rd XI into the North Manchester League for the coming season. It is important that as many young players experience senior cricket as possible, and with an already strong squad to accommodate, the 3rd XI should facilitate this and provide some compulsive Sunday afternoon viewing! The junior section continues to expand, and Friday nights at the club were one of the huge successes of last year, with a great atmosphere and a profitable bar to go with it. With a sizeable coaching contingent led by Jon Partington, we can expect the junior section to continue to thrive in 2008. As I draw this already long Captain’s Log to a close, I must touch on the subject of fundraising at the club. A poor summer’s weather last year led to lower bar takings than expected, which has pushed fundraising to the front of the agenda. It is essential that all players do their bit to help by attending functions throughout the season, participating in the golf and poker events, and by entering the Fantasy Cricket Competition. Compared to most sports clubs, subscriptions are unbelievably cheap – anyone who doesn’t believe me should ask Andy McIllroy about Oulton Park! If subscriptions are to remain low, and if we are to continue to attract players of the quality of Tahir and Naz to the club and thus to challenge for major honours, we must raise funds. We all need to do our bit for this to happen. Finally, may I wish everybody the best of luck for the coming season (especially those in my Fantasy Cricket Team…). We have started the last two seasons very strongly, and this has been the basis of our success. Let us hope that this year will be the same. |
Fixtures
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