Hello ECC members,
It is a pleasure to speak to you after what seems like a long time, I sincerely hope you are enjoying the season so far and that the delay to 'normality' hasn't affected you too adversely.
The Club committee is incredibly grateful for your support of the club and for all the time and effort you contribute to it. So far this season we have seen a real coming together of elements across the club to try and recover from 2020 and we are very hopeful that this carries on throughout 2021. The club is a community that needs to work for each other so in addition to telling you what the leadership of the club is getting up to I will also talk later about how you can assist in making our club the best around,
The playing side has benefitted from a boost in membership numbers across the adults and almost all colts ages groups. So much so that those of us in the administrative positions are putting serious consideration to the expanding of our facilities and improvement of our grounds assets in order to accommodate these higher numbers. The first major upgrade to be put in place that we hope will be with us very soon is a complete overhaul of the artificial surface in the Pony field. The new surface will have a long shelf life and a significant performance improvement to enable the younger club members to have a top notch cricketing experience to begin their careers on.
The indoor centre is back open and accepting bookings in addition to the time slots we have allocated on Friday nights. Although numbers are slightly more limited due to the restrictions we strongly encourage you to try and get back in there, especially given this weather.... Booking is handled through Supersportz as usual.
The PCA masters is now the PCA England Legends and they are back this year with a bang! ECC is delighted to host them on Friday August 27th and we are currently selling tables in the Marquee to our local business friends and partners. If you have experienced one of these before you will remember how much of an incredible experience it is so why not gather your colleagues, customers or suppliers to get a table while there are still some hosted ones available. This is absolutely one of the best ways to support the club in 2021 so if your team is currently all working from home in your pyjamas why not dig out the suit and come along!! Drop me a note if you are interested in finding out more. There will also be kids training sessions with the legends in the morning before the game so if your children fancy learning from ex-England players then express your interest to your age group leader.
Some appeals for help:
1. The team that prepares the pitches every week on Cross Green and Fox Lane is running short on volunteers. Needless to say without pitches being prepared properly the quality of gameplay reduces significantly so the club is appealing to local members to get in touch if they are willing to learn and contribute to the care of the squares. You will have tutelage from our very own expert groundsman Chris Last, the Head groundsman at the Madejski stadium, and won't need to give up a huge amount of your time. Even an hour a week would be a huge help so please consider getting your fingers green if you can.
2. Now that we are (sort of) using the clubhouse and bar again it is important that if we are sticking around for a drink we do our best to stick to the restrictions, check in using the QR code, staying outside, and most importantly looking after our facilities. For those younger members in particular who have been deprived of social interactions for a long time I am asking on a very personal level to ensure the place is left tidy and as clean as possible once you have finished. Don't assume someone else is coming to clear up after you, please consider the clubhouse and bar area as an extension of your household that we want to keep in great condition for visitors, be they family, friends or opponents.
The club committee wants to hear from you. Consider my email address (jonnylast1986@aol.com) as a suggestion box. Think we need more or less of something? let me know. Have an idea for a party, fundraiser or potential sponsor? please get in touch. If things have simply been not quite right or you are simply grateful for what is going on, we are all ears.
The club mentality is so much more than a gym where you pay your membership to use it and then go home again, we are striving to be a community full of family and friendships that work together for a great common cause. I sincerely hope you agree and hope to hear from you about how we can make that happen.
Take care all, may the cricketing gods of runs and wickets be kind to you!
Jon Last, ECC Chair.