Getting ready to open the batting for 2016!

Pre- season activities have got off to a great start and before we know it the cricket season will be upon us again, along with the great British summer!

During the winter months our youth section, led by Garth McCarthy, has been running Sunday morning indoor soft-ball Kwik-Cricket and hard-ball nets for youngsters up to the age of 13; this will lead into the outdoor summer sessions on Friday evenings at Brackenhurst which start in May. Along side this, a new youth development initiative has been launched for a selected number of teenage players to provide indoor coaching to help develop hard ball skills and techniques and will run throughout the season.

Our senior team players have been training hard at Trent Bridge each week in preparation for their first matches on 30th April. It has been great to see some new players attending winter nets and we hope they will help strengthen the three team squad for this season.

Alongside playing cricket, the club is planning a number of social events and fund raising activities. As with all sports, the opportunity for non-playing family and friends to get together and enjoy themselves is of great importance. Friday night junior cricket at Brackenhurst is a wonderful way to start the weekend, especially if the weather is fine! Individual events, open to all, include the annual Sportsman’s Dinner at Trent Bridge in April, quiz nights, charity events and others to be announced; watch this space!

A major financial challenge for the club is to replace the outdoor nets at Brackenhurst, which provide an essential training facility but have become unusable due to local subsidence. We will be launching a new sponsorship package, which, alongside fundraising and charitable donations, we feel confident will help us provide the funds required.

If anyone is interested in finding out more about what’s happening at Southwell Cricket Club this season, or would like to get more involved, please contact Mike Fryer (07970 649091 / mikefryer@btinternet.com) or Steve Foster (07748 803114 / fozzie149@yahoo.co.uk).