| 08/09/2005 |
TVCL NEWSLETTER, SEPTEMBER 2005 |
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Champions!
Another Season is over already and for some Divisions there were exciting finishes, with many promotion & relegation issues only being decided on the final Saturday. Mercifully the weather was perfect all day. Congratulations to Wokingham 1st XI – after a nervous last-ball victory in their final match (vs Chesham), the title of TVCL Champions is theirs for 2005 plus an immediate bounce back into HCPL Division 2 West. They will likely swap places with NPL Teddington who sadly are our first former Champions to be relegated back to Div 1 of the TVCL. Harefield staged an impressive run in the second half of the season to run Wokingham close, but Wokingham’s 12 wins out of 15 matches played proved decisive in the end. Also featuring in Division 1 next year (subject to confirmation) will be Kew and Amersham, who gained the 2 single promotion slots as winners of Divisions 2A and 2B. Rob Tindall (99) helped Kew overcome visitors OMT, whilst Amersham claimed 10 points despite losing to Stoke Green. Very well done also to the Divisional winners from levels 3–7 - in Division 4B, Slough 3rds pipped Windsor 2nds for the title despite starting the day 11 points behind them – both teams are promoted though. A Mike Salmon hat-trick inspired Slough 3rds to a 3-wicket win. Division 6A provided the tightest finish with only 30 points covering the top 6 teams. Newbury 2nds finished top, with Cove 3rds just pipping Harefield 3rds by a single point for the runners up spot. In all Divisions bar 4B, the team winning the most games finished top of the table.
Awards Night!
On the subject of success, it’s time to think about the 2005 TVCL Awards Ceremony, to be held at Slough CC again, on Friday 28th October 7.30pm start. Guest speaker this year will be Kim Barnett, formerly of England (4 tests), Derbyshire and more recently Gloucestershire. Kim’s 1st class career spanned 4 decades in county cricket, having debuted for Derbyshire in 1979. Always a cracking night’s entertainment with excellent catering, the invites will go out in a few days time and this event is usually over-subscribed for places. Hope to see many of you there on the night. To avoid disappointment, please ensure your Club books and pays early for tickets to confirm places.
League Statistics!
Many of you are organised enough to keep League Performance Statistics for your various teams. Each year we like to publish the very best averages from all the Divisions in the TVCL, these will go into next year’s Handbook. If you have compiled your Club’s League Stats for 2005 please forward them to me on email as soon as possible, and before the end of Sept at kevinfraser58@yahoo.co.uk or kevin.fraser@ntlworld.com. We also need this information to determine individual batting and bowling awards for this year’s Dinner & Awards ceremony. I have also compiled a spreadsheet of individual performances this season, the best of which will be recorded in the Handbook next year. I have circulated this already, so if you have not yet looked at it please check it for accuracy and get back to me with any omissions/amendments.
League Umpiring!
We worked hard in the close season to promote the League and to recruit additional fully qualified Umpires. Against a national trend of reduction in League cricket, we increased our Umpires panel by a net total of 10 this season. Next season also looks promising with several new recruits gained during this Summer. Once again we have started to cover matches at Division 3 level. This is testament to the fine cricket being played and well maintained grounds in the TVCL. We are very grateful to all our Umpires for giving up their Saturday afternoons (and evenings on occasions) to travel all over the area to stand in our matches. Well done to Rod Dye for keeping a lid on appointments on a weekly basis. We also actively encourage all Clubs to send forward likely candidates for training courses each year. These are usually free and run at County level throughout the close season. For further details please contact:-
Training Courses in Bucks
Alan English on 01494 443464
or Arvind Patel on 01494 580140
Training Courses in Berks
Bert King on 01252 873834
Training Courses in Herts
Paul Graver on 01923 674961
League Discipline!
However the statistics will read at the end of this year, it won’t go down as one of the best years for discipline in the TVCL. After a quiet start in May, our Discipline & Complaints sub-committee handed out bans to the following players:-
A.Thomas Marlow CC 12 match ban
U.Zafar Chesham CC 4 match ban
N.Berridge Bagshot CC *3 match ban
T.Winter Boyne Hill CC 3 match ban
J.Smith Boyne Hill CC 2 match ban
N.Randall Cove CC *2 match ban
*further suspended bans carried over to 2006
This is not an impressive record in 2005 and for individual bans it paints a worse scenario than last season. I won’t dwell on this topic in the Newsletter, but you can expect to hear more about this at the forthcoming League AGM.
League AGM!
The 2005 AGM is already looming on the horizon (3 months to go) and following the launch of our new streamlined process for submission of proposals, we anticipate some interesting proposals being submitted. We urge all Clubs to carefully consider and discuss any proposal prior to submission. Last year, not one single proposal was passed at the AGM, some were not even seconded. Please note that the final date for acceptance by TVCL Secretary of any proposals from Clubs will be Wednesday 12th October 2005. If you need assistance with any proposal, please contact Philip Newfield (on 01923 821895) Chairman of the Rules & Match Conditions sub-committee in the first instance. His knowledge and diligence in this area is comprehensive. Just to remind you all of the 2005 AGM date – Wednesday 7th December at Slough CC 7.45pm, attendance is mandatory for representatives of all Clubs.
League Rep Side!
Rumours of the demise of our League rep side are premature!!! On Tuesday August 2nd, a TVCL side assembled to play against Hampton Hill CC in their 150th anniversary year cricket week. After a deluge of rain on the Monday, Hampton Hill ground staff worked tirelessly to prepare the ground well enough to play on. In warm sunshine (and with the ubiquitous roaming wild deer!), a thoroughly enjoyable day was had by all. The hospitality provided by HHCC, Barrie Smith, Nigel Coates and Helen Dapre in particular, was outstanding. The game was an enjoyable but low-key 40-over affair played in excellent spirit, the League Rep side eventually winning by 41 runs. This was very much a trial for possibly having a rep side again next year, not to enter the Inter-League competition but to fulfil 3 or 4 fixtures such as this one (Cricket week or special occasions), selecting players from a wider League base. If your Club has a special occasion or Cricket week vacancy next season, please advise me if you are interested in a fixture vs a TVCL League XI. I can’t promise to honour them all, but we’ll try to take on a few fixtures.
Shadow Website!
The TVCL has extensively trialled a Play-Cricket website for two seasons. We are indebted to Allan Hawkey (OMT), Paul Dean (Harefield) and Helen Dapre (Hampton Hill) for keeping this trial going and the amount of effort they have put in. Following detailed analysis and investigation, it was agreed by the Management committee not to replace our existing Results service or League website at this time. Without going into detail there are Pros and Cons for Play-Cricket, it was our conclusion that the Pros do not yet sufficiently outweigh the Cons. Our existing League website may appear a little quirky and outmoded, but it works well and is fit for the purpose. Results, Tables, Forms and other information are all easy to access. We are not saying “never” to Play-Cricket, but we will be mothballing the site for the time being.
League Development!
The clamour to join the TVCL is intensifying. There is strong evidence to suggest that many regional Cricket Clubs are looking to expand their ambitions and manoeuvre themselves into cricket structures that underpin the Home Counties Premier League. We already have a “Register of Interest” comprising some 15 Clubs expressing an interest in joining the TVCL. The driving force behind this is partly due to young players intent on reaching a higher standard of cricket, preferably with their existing Clubs. In some Leagues this is not possible unless those players move on to bigger and better Clubs. This then hinders the development of those “up and coming” Clubs. We have all witnessed the recent growth in Colts’ cricket, following initiatives such as “Kwik Cricket”, Cricket in streets / schools / parks etc. The recent success of the England side and the elevation to cult-hero status of certain individual players (e.g. Andy Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen) mean that there is now huge interest in cricket at junior level. The tireless work of many coaches, players and parents also helps to improve cricket at grass roots level, it is therefore incumbent upon individual Leagues to do their part in helping the game develop at Club level. The TVCL has been in discussion with other local Leagues to seek out initiatives aimed at providing onward development for “junior Clubs” with ambition. It is hoped that proposals to improve the TVCL in the future can be developed from these discussions. The TVCL will also look at other alternatives to develop the strength and standard of the League. We hope to be in a position to report more on this by the end of this year.
And Finally!
John Goodman will be notifying you in good time about next year’s fixtures. Please note that next season the fixtures move forward one week, the League starts on Saturday 13th May 2006 and ends on Saturday September 9th 2006.
- For next season’s Handbook, I will be having a “drains up” on directions to all Grounds. Please prepare for this by revisiting your Club’s current entry – many of these are out of date! Also required will be updates to phone numbers and an inclusion of your Club’s postcode. Many visitors now use Internet map reading sites such as “Multimap.com” to gain information on travel arrangements.
- If not already done so, could last season’s Divisional Trophy winners make contact with your nearest member of the League Management committee for collection of the trophies. These are needed asap.
Regards to all…………….………KF
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© 2010 Wooburn Narkovians Cricket Club
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