|
|
The last year has been a generally progressive one for the club: we have
made considerable progress with the development of the junior section, the
project to build a new practice facility, various successful social and
fund-raising events, several new committee members contributed well and the
2005 season was reasonably successful on the field of play. On a less
positive note, the club has remained dependent on a number of hard-working
committee members whose voluntary contribution is too often unappreciated,
or even taken for granted, by club members. If this problem is not remedied
soon then I fear that the club will fall into decline.
On the field of play the 1st XI finished 3rd out of 10 in Division 2B of the
Thames Valley League. Our overseas player, Tahir Rashid, had a fine season
with the bat and it is worrying to speculate how we might have done without
his runs. Shahid Din was arguably the player of the season with a fine
all-round contribution with both bat and ball. The 2nd XI also finished 3rd
out of 10 in Division 5B, only narrowly missing out on promotion. David
Peters and Simon Gooch both had good seasons with the bat, but Tony Hewston
was the player of the season with both runs and wickets.
The Sunday 1st XI had another enjoyable season in the Maidenhead Advertiser
Sunday League with some competitive cricket and good results. Unfortunately,
however, we cried off the final fixture of the season when a victory would
have seen us win the league. I do not have the time or inclination to give a
detailed report of the events, which contributed to this fiasco; suffice to
say, it was predominantly caused by the lack of a deputy to organise the
team in the absence of hard-working skipper, Rahul Punj. The Sunday 2nd XI
enjoyed another good season, on and off the field, with Jonathan Lindsay and
Alex hales the outstanding players. As always, I would like to thank all
four team captains, Zamir Khan, David Peters, Rahul Punj and Dan Webb for
their dedication and commitment in getting teams out during the 2005 season.
Phil Noot and Keith Neave both worked very hard on junior cricket during the
summer, and in November we staged a junior presentation evening at the club
– the first time we have done this and, hopefully, the first of many.
Jonathan Lindsay also worked very hard, organising coaching and practice
sessions for the youngsters. Little progress was made, however, on finding a
3rd XI ground, establishing a 3rd XI team infrastructure, or establishing a
network of ECB qualified coaches. Hopefully, some meaningful progress can be
made on these fronts in 2006.
The square played adequately during the 2005 season. Shabir Ahmed, helped by
David Banner, worked tirelessly but more investment is needed to achieve
significant improvement. Hopefully, we will soon be able to afford covers,
which will have the major benefit of keeping a pitch dry in the days leading
up to a match – it is noticeable that the square plays less well when it has
been wet during the preparation days. At the end of the 2005 season we began
a major project to rebuild the practice facility in the corner of the
ground. I would like to especially thank Dave Nolder for organising the
physical work that has taken place so far, and Chris Yoxall snr and Dan Webb
for their hard work in securing much-needed funding from the local council.
When complete, the new facility will be a great benefit for all members, but
most especially the juniors.
I would like thank Andy Parsons for organising some excellent fund-raising
and social events during the year, most notably the Indian BBQ/Casino Night
during the summer and the annual dinner in November. Generally speaking, the
club finances look fairly healthy at the moment, and I think that the hope I
expressed last year, that the cricket section should become self-funding
within the CPSA organisation, is within reach.
Matthew Stevenson
|
