4 November 2015
UPDATE ON CCC ACTIVITIES
To all database contacts of CCC Member Clubs:
Twelve months ago we wrote to you in advance of our Centenary year, informing you of our work in recent times and our plans for the year ahead. As we come towards its close, we’d like to share with you an update on the past few months and how our work continues to expand in support of the club game, both in the traditional geographical footprint of the CCC - the Home Counties and South of England, and more broadly on a national basis, through our joint venture of the National Cricket Conference (NCC).
In opening, we at CCC wish to extend our sincerest thanks to all member clubs for your continued support of our various activities, whether that may be through the cricket programme that continues to expand, the use of the fixture bureau, participation in our inter league tournament, providing informed and practical counsel for our advisory programme, offering help in hosting fixtures or events or by offering ground share opportunities on dates when you are not using your facilities yourselves. We are most particularly grateful to all our member clubs who agreed to receive copies of our commemorative book, “The Show Must Go On”, which we produced in April this year; more than a 1000 copies were distributed directly to clubs, and very many of you provided your own documented histories that enabled us to structure our story of club life in Southern England over the past century, for which we humbly thank you.
The challenges of maintaining and running a cricket club continue to mount and increasingly CCC is finding itself representing many issues that may be effecting our members; relations with local town and parish councils, neighbour relations, club mark accreditation, securing facilities for wandering teams, funding opportunities and much more. This work is sometimes incorporated into our partnership projects, whether with the ECB and County Boards (through the NCC, which is contracted by the governing body to provide participation driven services), the All Party Parliamentary Steering Group for Recreational Cricket, whom we meet and advise or through associate bodies such as the African Caribbean Cricket Association (ACCA) and the National Asian Cricket Council (NACC), established to help support and integrate the rich vein of their cultural cricket and bring it into the family of the broader recreational game. Many of us, whether volunteers at our clubs , leagues, minor counties or county boards, are all faced with the realities of sustaining club cricket at a time when costs are spiralling, participation is decreasing, league structures in parts of the country are being reformatted and for very many, fewer games are being played, thus stressing the viable financial structure of grass roots cricket through amateur and community cricket clubs.
Irrespective of such matters, opportunities exist and as was highlighted in “The Show Must Go On”, amateur cricket has regularly faced moments of crisis and continued to evolve over the 100 years of CCC’s existence. The Conference has played a part in this evolution in the south of England, established as it was during World War 1 to support, protect and preserve club cricket in London through the war years, when clubs were decimated by playing members being conscripted, pitches running fallow or being sequestered as training grounds for new recruits, a reality imposed on them again during World War 2. We aspire today, to make certain that the work the Conference does still promotes and protects the interests of clubs in these different times and plays a part in ensuring the amateur game remains firmly on the agenda of cricket’s policy makers and governing bodies. One thing for sure, is that our Board, as volunteers, understand and work hard to reflect the unstinting and dedicated commitment that evidences itself within our member clubs through their committees and management teams, the fundamental ingredient that continues to enable club cricket to survive and move forward.
Our cricket season was highlighted by the outstanding matches against MCC at Lord’s, where both our Men’s and Women’s representative teams played on the same day, using both the Main and Nursery pitches, and a match against an ECB XI at Arundel Castle in early September, which showcased the high quality of cricket across all forms of the game in England and Wales. Our full Representative sides played against 4 county second teams and the Hampshire International Academy, a new fixture this season, in their schedule of matches. The Women’s squad were joint winners of the Vauxhall Trophy, a triangular tournament that included the Combined Services and MCC and like the Men, were victorious at Lord’s on a famous day for CCC in August. The Under 25 suffered just one defeat and our President’s cricket again provided us opportunities to look at newly recommended players, so important in ensuring more club cricketers have an opportunity to play a form of representative cricket. Matches were also played against visiting sides from Trinidad and Barbados, a pleasant pre-cursor to our own tour of the West Indies in November; the season ended with the annual visit to Jersey in September. For a full breakdown of the 2015 season, please go to our website: www.club-cricket.co.uk/conference_fixtures
As ever, the Conference is seeking players from its member clubs to inject into the player roster. Whilst we selected from more clubs than ever before for the second season running, demands on players’ time ensures that opportunities are available for new cricketers and we are keen to spotlight the talent that is available across cricket in the South. Let us know of any names at your club that you think can play at a representative level. A nomination form can be found here on our website: www.club-cricket.co.uk/conference
The Sovereign Trophy, our inter league tournament, was won by the Elliott Davis Cricket League from East London/Essex, for the first time, when they defeated the Kent League 1-3 at Winchmore Hill CC, in their fourth consecutive final.
After a year out, we intend to reinstate the Conference Cup, our club competition, in 2016. We are currently in discussions regarding this and hope to confirm plans for a revitalised tournament following the release of the First Class fixtures in November. Please keep your eyes peeled for further details in due course.
As the year draws to a close, the Conference can reflect on a significant 2015. Celebrations of our Centenary have included a dinner evening at the House of Lords, and the fantastic cricketing days at Lord’s and Arundel. In November the Conference takes on an incredible tour to Grenada and Barbados, where the Men’s Representative squad will be joined in Barbados by our Women’s squad touring for the first time, and a Veteran’s side, made up of ex Conference players. 15 matches are planned in total and there is no doubt that the Rep squad will be encountering some very tough opposition in the likes of Barbados, University of West Indies and a Prime Minister’s XI, Grenada. The tour party will be close to 90 strong, with representation from across our cricketing heartland.
The Centenary celebrations will close with our annual luncheon on the 30th November at Lord’s. Many of you will be familiar with this annual event but this year, when we hope to see very many of you again, we are honoured that the CCC Patron, HRH Duke of Edinburgh, will be in attendance. Over 600 tickets have already been sold and the guest speakers on the day will be Sir Tim Rice and past Chairman of England Selectors, Geoff Miller.
In closing, we wish to reiterate our thanks to all member clubs for your ongoing support, not just this year but throughout the hundred years of CCC’s existence. We would be delighted to hear regularly from you on any matters pertaining to club life; we keep in touch with you all through our email Newsletters and The Updates throughout the year, that include items such as ’Legal Update’, a quarterly report on legal matters relating to cricket clubs and their effective running. Please keep an eye out for these communications, which go to officers of all member clubs of which we are advised – we welcome feedback and more engagement.
Winter well and we look forward to working together again in 2016.
Simon Prodger,
Secretary, CCC