HORSHAM CRICKET CLUB NEWSLETTER
MARCH 2023
Dear Members
As this is the first newsletter of the year we would like to wish you a Happy 2023 and hope that you have had a good winter and are looking forward to the new cricket season.
AGM News
The AGM was held in January and, following the untimely passing last year of our President David Horsman, we were in the unprecedented position of having to choose a new President for the third time in as many years. We are so fortunate to be able to welcome Chris Nash after he was unanimously elected to this role at the AGM. Chris has been a Horsham player since he was a cricket mad seven year old and played through the ranks into the 1st team before progressing to an outstanding professional career with Sussex, Notts and England Lions. Throughout his 20 years playing professional cricket he never lost touch with Horsham and promoted the Club at every opportunity. Chris is now looking forward to bringing his knowledge and experience of the game to the role of President.
The Club would also like to welcome Sue Hillman, a long standing friend and supporter, who will be helping the Committee to organise social and fundraising events during the summer.
The ECB’s new anti discrimination code was formally adopted at the AGM. In order for Clubs to understand that code, the ECB have produced a series of resources to help increase our knowledge and understanding of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) as together we seek to tackle all forms of discrimination within cricket. All members of the committee, captains and coaches have been asked to complete an online anti-discrimination training course and we would like to extend that opportunity to all our members. The training can be accessed here
Playing News
Indoor nets are underway at Christs Hospital for all our adult and junior players with good attendances. The sessions have been very productive and the Club would like to take this opportunity to thank to our great team of coaches for all their efforts in managing the sessions.
Our U15 girls won the Sussex Indoor League this winter and we have 13 girls on the Sussex pathway and 3 in the Vipers emerging players system . Not only are they excelling “on the field”, 3 our junior girls have enrolled on the Young Leaders training programme this summer which will involve helping out with coaching and other voluntary roles. Well done to all the girls for all their hard work and to their coaches.
Outdoor training juniors will begin in April, with the girls starting on 20th and the boys on 21st . This is, of course, weather permitting but we will be using those first sessions as a social family fun evening – more details to follow on this.
We are also running a few day camps for younger juniors during the Easter Holidays as follows
12th April 2-5pm Girls only – years 4 to 7
13th April 2-5pm mixed – years 4 to 6
14th April 2-5pm mixed – years 4 to 6.
To register your child, just log onto their Loveadmin account and book in the usual way. Each camp is just £20 per child. The link to the Loveadmin log in page is here
We have several new players who have committed to Horsham this season including young Sussex pros, Bertie Foreman and Charlie Tear. We are also looking forward to welcoming back Ben Lister as our overseas player. Since leaving the UK last summer he has played several matches for New Zealand and looks to be featuring in the international side again soon so we are very honoured that he wants to return to Horsham. Ben was a real asset here last season not only with the Mens 1st team but was a very popular coach with the juniors on Friday evenings.
It has not been confirmed yet but we may well also have a Womens overseas player this year -talks are underway so watch this space.
Grounds Team
Due to health issues, our dear Marshie has reluctantly had to retire from all his ground duties after many years of relentless hard work and dedication. He is still a regular visitor to the Club and remains on the committee. He is hoping to actually visit some of the away grounds this year and will be able watch others sweeping the wicket between innings from the comfort of different pavilions. We wish him all the best with his return to better health and cannot thank him enough for all his years of hard work and unstinting service to the Club.
Alex Ellis has made an excellent start since joining us last spring as Head Groundsman and Sussex coaches were very complimentary about the wickets that he and Marsh produced last summer. He has fitted in well with everyone at the Club and throws himself into whatever is required in “other duties” – coaching, maintenance and office admin. He has now taken on the role of tutor as we have recently welcomed our apprentice, Finlay Wood, to the team. Alex and Fin are both keen cricketers themselves (although annoyingly, at the moment, they are choosing to play for other clubs ) and are taking great pride in preparing the ground to be at its best for the coming season. Fin has settled in well and has already learned a great deal from Alex!! We are proud that as a Club we are able to offer an apprenticeship to a young person who is keen to learn the skills of groundsmanship and especially lucky to have found such a great lad to join the team. We hope he will be with us for many years.
Our Get Set Weekend session (previously known as Groundforce Weekend ) is on 1st April. There will many jobs for volunteers to get involved with to help with the final push for the new season. Please arrive from 9.30am onwards and Colin Mitcham will be circulating a list of what needs to be done a day or two before the Saturday so that you can come suitably suited and booted for the tasks in hand.
Fundraising and Social Events
The first date for your diaries is the Golf Day on 7th April. Full details are shown below and all welcome.
Other dates for your diary are listed below and more details will be available nearer the time.
3 June League game v Roffey. Social / BBQ.
9 July President’s Day. President’s XI v HCC XI. Members Lunch.
6 August Club 6-a-side tournament
8 August MCC games against HCC men and women’s XIs. VP / Sponsors Lunch.
2 September Players End of Season function
3 September Barbados Day
Please let us know if there are any other social events that you would like us to run and also if you would like to be involved with organising/helping with any events.
Fixtures , Subs and Match Fees
Our juniors have been using the LoveAdmin system for a few years now to sign on and pay their subs. This enables us to keep records securely and to allow parents to update personal details including health and other information that coaches need to know. We will now also be using this database to collect senior subs and junior match fees.
Junior match fees will remain at £5 per match for U10’s and older. Senior match fees are being reviewed and members can expect a small increase this summer as the costs of putting on senior games have increased significantly. Full details of any increases will be forwarded to players in due course.
Fixtures are on PlayCricket and we have a fixture list which includes all the Sussex and other fixtures for home games which can be accessed on the Club’s website
Finally we would like to thank all our sponsors for their continued support of the Club and look forward to a good 2023 season both on and off the pitch.
Horsham Cricket Club sponsored by
