Hi everyone,

I hope you are all managing to stay ‘sane’ during this latest lockdown and my update finds you all safe and well.

As I write this had it been under normal circumstances our playing members, senior and youth, would have been proactively honing their skills in the indoor nets and some even testing them playing in the local indoor cricket leagues. Sadly that’s not the case. However Rick and the playing committee along with Pascal and the youth committee continue to make plans and engage our playing members to ensure we are ready once the government confirms national plans to open up the country after lockdown. Let’s hope Boris brings us some positive news this coming Monday on this.

Some great Club news for Monday though…having now had all the funding agreed I am pleased to confirm that work on our ‘all-weather training nets facility’ will be starting!! The construction should only take a couple of weeks and we’ll keep you all updated on progress with pictures via our social media sites. Our thanks go to Linda and Mike who lead this project for the Club and will ultimately deliver another superb facility to support our playing members.

Whilst we may not be playing any Cricket at the moment Tom continues to work his magic to ensure our playing surface will be at it’s best this coming season and Mike, Mark, Duncan, Phil M, Barry and Rick are likewise keeping the wider grounds up together too as part of their daily exercise. Our thanks go out to all of them.

Similarly away from Willis Lane the committee continue to meet each month ‘virtually’ to ensure the safe and secure running of the Club. To keep you all as informed as possible here is an update on a couple of discussion points this month that I’d like to share:-

1) Jamie Baird’s move to Taunton Deane CC - It was with a mixture of sadness and pride that we said farewell to Jamie who decided a move to a Premier 1 club will support his aspirations and chances of securing a professional contract with Somerset. He, and his family will be missed and we wish them all the best for his future. For full details, including a statement from Jamie, please follow this link:-

https://www.tauntondeanecricketclub.co.uk/news/jamie-baird-signs-on-for-the-deane-2599071.html

2) Membership Subscriptions - thank you to those that have already paid their 2021 membership. As the current view of the season looks positive with all leagues set to run normally the club will shortly be posting this years membership forms on our website and looking for subscriptions to be paid. It has been a challenging 12 months for the club financially and although we remain in a strong position these are much needed funds required to support our ongoing costs which as I have previously outlined run at circa. £600pm.

3) Social Media Officers - Toby Pattemore ably assisted by his dad Mark have volunteered to take responsibility for our various social media accounts with the aim of creating a more consistent narrative to promote our wonderful Club more widely. Thanks both.

Anyway, I hope you’ve found the update useful and let’s continue to look forward to warmer weather and dream of relaxing weekends watching Perrott play cricket.

Thanks

Jules

Jullian Marshall-James
NPCC - Chairman
20th February 2021