Chairmans Report 2023

The Club cricket year 2023 did not get off to the start we had all expected after being treated to a glorious summer of weather last season, we were back to more traditional weather with many early matches being cancelled due to rain or the pitches being unfit to play on. With little or no match practice it was straight into the Hampshire C.L. but the first Saturday was not possible, due to the weather, maybe The King had something to do with it being ‘His Coronation’ which allowed those who would have played cricket to watch history being made. Despite the season getting off to a slow start weather wise it turned out to be an enjoyable one at all levels.

With the weather being indifferent very good batting pitches were not the norm for the whole season reflecting in the scores being lower and the number of centuries and fifties back down to a more traditional English season.

The 1st eleven playing in County Div.1 after having finished 12th last season the whole team put in the best season for the club at this level finishing 6th. With Tom leading the way with the bat from the start with each week one or more players would provide match-winning performances. One very notable one being Mike Kingston and Joe Coombs 9th wicket partnership of 124 against Old Basing to win the match.
Congratulations to Tom Arnold for being the leading run scorer (681) for County Div.1 for second year in a row which included 2 centuries and 6 fifties. Joe Coombs taking 24 wickets at an average of 19.83 with the Loveless brothers taking 43 wickets between them.

The 2nd eleven played in the County Div.4 West after gaining promotion from Div.5 NW last season. The season was always going to be a tough one with many players moving up to the first team being replaced by players from the 3rd team. The side played competitive cricket throughout the season though losing several close games managed to finish 12th in the division ensuring a second season in Div.4. The team was led by Zane who led from the front with the bat scoring 401 runs with the younger players putting in credible performances. The bulk of the bowling was done by Will Ridley, Ritesh, and Declan Mason taking 44 wickets between them.

The 3rd eleven played in the County Div.6 NW finishing 7th, this was a very good performance again under the captaincy of Tom Mason. With several members moving up to the second eleven the side again fielded a mixture of juniors and seniors often with 4 or 5 U15, s who did credit to themselves and the club. The batting of Ben Lindsay (375), Joe McNeilly (277), and Harry Burnham (276) scored the bulk of the runs. The bulk of the bowling was done by Tom Mason (19) Ben Arnold (16 from 82.2 overs with eco of 2.64 per over) and Nat Owen (15) wickets assisted by several junior members learning how to bowl in league cricket improving as the season progressed.

Having one midweek Border League Team captained by Tom Mason that was made up of predominantly young players was always going to put the team under pressure. Again, the league was reset into 3 divisions of 6. We were put into the middle division winning 2 games out of 7 played having 3 abandoned due to the weather finishing 5th plus winning a couple of cup games. The player of the season was Jonty Loveless topping the batting and the bowling.

The Club XI (mainly Sunday cricket) was well supported with the captaincy being shared between Ritesh and Tom M. Many young players turned out regularly even after playing in the morning for the U15 team. Nearly all friendly games were played as overs games which always gave a result. Several were close games with the club winning more than they lost. Notable batting performances were Ollie Vincent scoring 853 and Tom Winter 538 runs. Bowling Tom Mason (34), Ethan Symonds (24) and Ritesh (21) taking the bulk of the wickets. Over 40 players represented Bramshaw in the friendly games throughout the season many being from the junior level of the club some playing their first senior games. 12 players playing a least 10 games with several Saturday players turning out for one game or more.

Ritesh is standing down as Club captain due to leaving the area to take up his Junior Doctors training in Devon. He still hopes to come back and play next season at weekends when not on duty. Thank you to him for the work he has put in over the last couple of seasons and we wish him well in his career.

The club again played in the VKO, and unfortunately exited in the first round to Hambledon. Not the success of last season but taking part in this competition is always looked forward to.

Winter indoor cricket at Eastleigh in the ‘South Hampshire Cricket Indoor League’ started on time this year. This year was about taking part and was enjoyed by all who did. This winter season will see a team of mainly young players with Chris Hewlins at the helm.

Junior training started late, early May due to the weather and continued through to the end of July. This year we were able to field under 13 and 15 teams. There is still a shortage of younger players at under 9 and 11. The coaches with the support of the parents had another good season seeing their perseverance, particularly at the start of the season reaping the benefit in results by the latter half of the season.

The under-15 team played in the ‘A’ League this season playing against Southern League opposition, winning 3 out of 5 games and finishing 3rd in the division.

The under-13 had a very good season finishing 3rd in their division winning 4 out of 7 games, plus playing and winning a couple of friendlies at the end of the league season.

Both teams played in their respective cup competitions not quite having the success of last season.

The Club did not run ‘All Stars’ for the 5–8-year-olds due to lack of interest and someone to run it.

Thanks to all the coaching staff in particular Tom Arnold, Andy Nicholls and Steve Biddlecombe who made the achievements of the teams possible.

I would like to thank the captains Tom Arnold, Tom Mason, Zane D’Monte and, Ritesh for getting the sides together particularly on Saturdays having to select three teams, finding the right balance and allowing junior players to play cricket at a higher level.

With the weather being unpredictable in early spring and throughout the season the task the grounds team were presented with was the opposite to last year. With Kevin heading the team they still provided good wickets to play on albeit more of the traditional English type, not like last year.

The grounds team: – Kevin and Ben at Bramshaw, Nomansland by John and Kevin and Landford by Ollie. Without their dedication, there would be no cricket.
On behalf of the members THANK YOU.

The backup team were ever present again: – Theresa, Jane, John, and Steve doing the competitive scoring duties.

The Hampshire Cricket League stated clubs would no longer have to provide teas for league matches. It was decided that the 3rd eleven at Nomansland would not provide teas for the season. At Bramshaw when possible, teas would be provided, with Alison D’Monte and Helen Vincent stepping up to the task on many occasions, thanks very much.
Teas can only be provided by having a ‘Food Hygiene Inspection’ by NFDC which should take place every 2 years, but due to Covid this has not taken place since 2018. Having been contacted by the Environmental Health Department, it was agreed no physical inspection would be carried out providing we continue to follow the Kitchen Policies we have in place and no complaints have been made to their department. This will allow us to continue with the ‘5 Food Hygiene Rating’ previously given for the next 3 years. Well done to all and please continue to follow all the notices in the kitchen which are there for a good reason. Not having a food hygiene rating means we would not be able to use the kitchen.

With John Murray stepping down as Bar Manager last season, the task was taken on by Steve and Rachel Symonds who have between them carried on the good work that had gone before them. I do not think they knew how much time they would be giving to the running of the bar. With John giving them advice and getting them started particularly with the till and card machine they have more than exceeded their expectations and more so that of the club. With the introduction of a bar bottle/can cooler in place of the refrigerator it provided extra much-needed cooled drinks capacity. In addition to the drinks, they also increased the type of confectionary on offer plus Pot Noodles and Pringle Snacks which went down well particularly when no teas were available. With such a wet start to the season, they could not get access to the pavilion plus getting to know the ways of running a club bar they got into the swing of it learning as they went, particularly organising the stocking. With the help of members serving etc. Steve and Rachel by the end of the season made the running of the bar a big success and all members should give them a big ‘THANK YOU’ as this side of the club is so important to the social side and provides a large part of the revenue to run the club.

To raise money for the club, Tom Mason, plus other members organised a Super 8,s cricket tournament which was held on the last Sunday in August, with fine weather playing its part a good day was had by all.

As with previous years, we were able to have our presentation afternoon at Bramshaw ground which was well attended with a warm fine day we were able to have a very pleasant afternoon with a few games for juniors and adults before the presentation of awards. Andy Nicholls and Tom Arnold presented the awards. Afterwards, a barbeque took place, with the bar open, using up the stock at the finish of the season.
Thanks to all for making it an enjoyable day.

For the 2023 season, the club had a full complement of Officers elected at the AGM, with Steve and Rachel Humby joining the committee. As Membership Secretary Helen Vincent agreed to take on the task of researching the use of the Club Management Software App to help with the everyday running of the club. The committee agreed to use ‘TEAMO’ from Play Cricket. With Helen’s hard work in setting, it up and the dedication of the captains it has been a big success, particularly with the payments of match fees, membership subscriptions and posting team selection. This also required the members to use the app for it to work, which I am pleased to say nearly all members did. As with all software, there is a cost involved with an annual fee plus a cut of payment transactions. We can only see from the accounts for the year ending how much it finally cost for the season against it benefits.
‘CLUBMARK’ had to be renewed again this year. Thanks to Andy Nicholls with a lot of hard work and the co-operation of members he was able to get the club’s ‘CLUBMARK’ status renewed.

With the Club finances still well in the black it was still decided to increase the match fee to £5 for all senior matches which would be paid by members via the ‘Teamo’ app into the club bank account. This year when teas were provided no charge was made to players, the increase to the match fee was partly to cover the cost of tea provision due to the league rules the opposition do not pay for teas.
To comply with insurance requirements, we had to have electrical tests done for Bramshaw and Nomansland pavilions. The result of the tests meant we had to do some remedial work to both pavilions. We took the opportunity particularly at Bramshaw to replace the lights and provide external electric sockets, the cost of this work was £1635.00 for Bramshaw and £1010.00 for Nomansland. The Electrical Test Certificate lasts for 5 years.

The committee agreed to explore the possibility of having an Electric Scoreboard, with many different makes and types available, a mobile model capable of being stored in the tearoom would be required, consequently, the Club purchased one ready for the start of the season for £3000.00 plus £240.00 for another hand controller.

The other major outlay was the purchase of the bar bottle cooler at £484.00.
The issue of the Nomansland Licence has still to be finalised with Forestry England with the costs being back-dated, at present approx. £750. We have made some progress with Natural England approving the ‘Management Plan’ this leaves just the Licence to be completed.
To keep our finances in the black we need more than just profits from the bar, barbeques etc. therefore we rely on the help of donations and sponsors to which we thank you all for your support over the last year.

The upgrading of the showers to the home changing room has yet to be completed, the changing room was painted for the start of the season, thanks to Kevin and Ben for doing it.

To go forward to the 2024 season, we will no doubt have new tasks put in front of us following all the problems that ECB have got themselves into with Diversity and Inclusion etc.

The secretary and committee will need all the assistance and help from members to carry out their duties. Therefore, as always, we will need help particularly the junior section and the bar plus fundraising. If any of you know someone who can help, please come forward, it does not matter how large or small it is, it all helps. With the possible loss of players through changing commitments, we need to recruit new members to the club to fulfil all our team requirements so therefore we need to keep recruiting new members to the club. Players of all standards are welcome, so please can all members start canvasing for players before next season starts.

To keep you up to date with the club activities please follow our web / Play Cricket / Facebook sites plus hopefully we can get the club newsletter (any volunteer) up and running again.

Arthur Stickland Chairman