FIND EMBERTON   CRICKET GROUND

TOTE  WINNERS

THE CHAIRMAN'S VIEW 2006

This season brought many highlights for the Club, both on and off the field.

 On the field we saw the arrival two new players, and the emergence into senior cricket of two more who made the step-up from our youth squad.

Dave Mercer and Mike Duddle were the two who made the seamless transition into the Northamptonshire Cricket League from their respective former clubs.

Dave’s experience at playing Minor County cricket for Bedfordshire as well as representing the Town, has ensured he has become a valuable asset to the First Eleven with both bat and ball. He scored four fifties on the trot and on occasions made valuable contributions with the ball.

Mike, who originates from Lancashire, has also settled in well at Wollaston, making useful contributions for the Two’s as an all-rounder, and hopefully this will continue in future seasons.

One of the main highlights for the second team this year for me was to see youth players making there way into the side.  With his first full season, 15-year-old David Clarkson made a positive impression with the ball by claiming scalps like Tony Penberthy (ex-Northamptonshire all-rounder) and Duncan Fossey (County Seconds) and finished with a creditable 16 wickets.   After a slow start Jamie Perry also finished the season on a high with both bat and ball, helping to win the game at Brigstock and repelling defeat at runners-up East Haddon - despite batting in poor light against some very lively and aggressive quick bowling.Both teams were lead by new captains Harmit Bahra and Brett Hanson.  Harmit and the First Eleven did themselves proud but just missed out on promotion to the Premier Division on the last day of the season.  There is no doubt in my mind that they were the best team in the league and with a bit more luck things could have been different. Brett has also done well in his first season as Second Eleven captain, and although injuries and late changes always make this job a difficult one, he worked hard and always made sure that he had eleven players on the field.

“Mister Wollaston Cricket Club”, Neal Perry, again showed what a vital asset to the he is to the Club. Not only has he run the youth teams again, but he has been responsible for organizing the Chance To Shine scheme.  This is a new ECB initiative to get cricket back into schools where it belongs. It is a big undertaking involving many aspects, including the club committing to coaching 20 hours a week at 6 catchment schools.  

Off the field the club has seen a massive improvement to its training facilities, and finally with the help of the Wollaston Playing Field committee the old pavilion has been demolished. We would like to thank the WPF for their support.Thanks are due also for the contributions from sponsors and vice presidents which along with fund raising projects and support from the ECB, have allowed us to install a new artificial pitch and a permanent two bay batting cage with security fencing. We are very fortunate to have one of the best training and coaching facilities around and it something we should all be proud of - and benefit from.We, as Club members, need to ensure that we get maximum usage from these facilities, and this means all players regularly attending training sessions. We must fully utilise these facilities. 

It is also vitally important that we properly maintain and insure all of this new equipment that we have been very privileged to receive.  This can only be done with the support of all the members of the Club by being involved in fund-raising projects such as the Tote, President’s Day, the 8 a-Side Tournament, and other events. Every player should be capable of getting at least 5 names on a tote sheet and most could get 10, (some already have 20) and this is what we should be aiming for. We cannot leave it to other people. If we obtain an extra 50 names between us we will raise an extra £625 for Club funds. The extra insurance for the new facilities alone will be around £1,000 and must be found. So if fund raising does not increase, then match fees and subscriptions will have to – quite substantially. 

I would like to thank the following people for all their support and hard work this season.

Youth Coaches:

Neil Perry: John Pike: Simon Driver: Chris Perry: Tim Hudson: Dave Mercer

Ground John Hodges (head groundsman) Andrew Luck and Dick Underwood (cutting the outfield )   Rod Dean (cutting the playing field)

The Committee: Treasurer John Hutcherson: Secretary John Pike: David Ward: Simon Parsons: Dick Underwood: Paul Jones: Chris Perry: Neal Perry: Harmit Bahra: Tim Hudson,   John Hodges Nick Shelton for an excellent job with the Tote and the President’s Day

Our umpires, Malc Fowler, Dick Underwood and John Hodges. Our scorers’ Les Underwood and Judy Rowe. And also to Lynn Perry for all her help with the junior teams.

Finally I would like to thank Ian Lucas from Northampton Town Cricket Club for all his support and assistance in acquiring the training nets and the Chance to Shine Scheme, Kobe Dee who is an ideal link to Wollaston School for Neal, and everyone else that helps to make this Club successful.

Andrew Silsby. Chairman