HORSHAM CRICKET CLUB NEWSLETTER APRIL 2022
The New Season is upon us
Whilst Alex, Lawrence and the grounds team have been preparing the ground for the new season, the players from U9s through to the Adults have been busily training indoors at Christ’s Hospital for the last 10 weeks. These sessions have been well attended and lead by our great group of coaches and bodes well for 2022.
We have also picked up our first trophy of the year with the U13s winning the Conference Indoor League – a great team effort and well done to all those who took part.
Whilst we are congratulating the players, we are proud to say that our own Tom Haines has been named by Sussex CCC as their 2022 Championship and 50 over Captain. Well done and good luck to Tom.
The fixtures for juniors and seniors have been released and are, or very soon will be, available on playcricket and our website.
Our first junior league match is on the 21st April. This year we have 3 girls age groups entered into the leagues with our U15 girls starting their matches in just three weeks time.
The Men’s senior leagues start on 7th May and the Women’s senior league on 15th May.
Groundforce Day- 9th April 9.30am
Even though Alex and his team have been working hard to get the ground ready, there are always some tasks that need a few extra pairs of hands, (large and small, old and young), so we have set aside Saturday 9th April and hope to see many of you from 9.30am to get those covers on, sightscreens up, CMJ pavilion tidied and so much more. There will be cake and coffee.
Our First Fundraising Event of the year is an evening with Ian “Gunner” Gould on 22nd April.
Not only a chance for a Pre -Season catch up, but maybe a beer or two. And the opportunity to hear stories and anecdotes from one of crickets most enigmatic umpires. There will be a Q&A session and a chance to buy a signed copy of Ian’s best selling book “Gunner”.
Tickets are £10 to members and £12 for non members, with all profit going to the cricket section. They are available direct from the club, or online via Eventbrite here. (Please note that member priced tickets are only available from the club)
News on more events to follow as the year goes on but dates not to be missed are:
Sunday 26th June – Presidents Day
Saturday 6th August – Supporters/VP lunch and players social
Sunday 4th September- Barbados Day
New Kit
The much talked about, and long awaited, new training and playing kit is being embroidered with our new 250th logo as we read and (we have been promised) will be with us ready for distribution during the week after Easter. So once outdoor training starts at the end of April everyone will be wearing their new “Green People” tops for training and Gardiner & Scardifield playing shirts for matches.
Horsham CC is extremely grateful to both these sponsors for their support of the club. Photos of young and old in the new kit to follow in next newsletter.
New Scoreboard
Following a very generous donation from the family of the late Mike Parsons, we have been able to commission a new scoreboard for the main square. Unless the forecast snow turns to blizzards, we hope that this will be in place early next week and this year we will be able to see exactly what the score is rather than having to remember that a 3 is sometimes an 8 and a guess at the number of runs required.
New Changing Rooms
The upstairs changing rooms had become something of an embarrassment, if not a health hazard, over recent years. Thanks to an ECB grant of £10K and funding from the main club, work is ongoing and due to be completed before the leagues start in May.
There will be individual shower cubicles and more loos, and no more urinals, making it a much more welcoming and private environment for women players and all visitors to the club as these rooms are used throughout the year.
Women and Girls in Cricket
Part of the drive behind the changing room improvements is to help to keep girls and women in sport beyond their early teens and those difficult times in their development. Horsham CC is working closely with Sussex CCC in several areas to help with this. Another change we have made this year is that our girls and women’s teams will play their matches in navy trousers rather than whites and it would seem that starting that conversation has lead other clubs to consider the same and the attitude from the leagues has been very supportive.
An easy but significant change that we can all make is to change our terminology so that girls feel included – batters rather than batsman, juniors rather than colts are good examples.
Sad News
Very sadly Adam Gerrard passed away last month, taken from this world too early. He was a lifelong member of the club and not only played his cricket at Horsham from a young age, but went on to become one of the age group managers. He was a huge supporter of all cricket at HCC as well as an extremely popular social member of the club. Adam always made any youngster who wanted to play cricket feel welcome and valued whether they were destined to play for England or simply playing for the love of the game. The junior committee have decided to dedicate an annual award to a junior player in Adam’s memory which will be given to a youngster who makes a “significant contribution in engaging with his or her team and club”.
A new bench has pride of place on the terrace in Adam’s memory, so please sit on it and enjoy some cricket for Adam this year, maybe with a pint of Fosters. Cheers Adam.
Our love goes to Norma, Tom, and James at this sad time.
