2019 Season

Cricket has returned to Bolney after it’s winter in hibernation. Snowdrops and bluebells have already come and gone in 2019 and the season is in full swing.

The league team is currently sitting in joint 4th place in the league having won three and lost one games. Kingsley Morris set about the season in remarkable fashion with three centuries and a fifty in the first four games and is currently the joint leading run scorer in the entire county. The Sunday team has struggled for opposition almost as much as raising a team themselves. They have lost one and drawn one of their games this season. More on that to come.

Recruitment and Colts

With more cricketers taking up increasingly cosmopolitan lifestyles (or so I’m told), kids more likely to pick up an X-Box controller and stay indoors than pick up a cricket bat and no cricket available on terrestrial television – participation in cricket in quickly on the decline. Bolney CC are determined to buck this trend and keep a cricket club at the heart of the community.

We are constantly in need of new players and welcome anyone that would like to come and try out. We offer league cricket on Saturdays, friendly cricket on Sundays and very informal 20/20 games midweek, which usually include BBQs and a bar. We’d love to see some new faces. These games are very relaxed and suitable for all ages, genders and abilities. 

With support from Sussex CC, parents and Bolney players, Bolney is continuing its proud tradition of offering a 12 week coaching course to children on Friday evenings. We currently have 23 colts registered under the guidance of Bernie Thys from Sussex Cricket. Anyone is welcome to attend the remainder of the course or just come along for a trial to see if they like it. Please contact Sarah Harvey at BolneyccColts@gmail.com. Should it help to persuade you further, our bar is always open on a Friday evening serving various drinks including those made available through our sponsor Bolney Wine Estate.

Our tribute to Wendy

Anyone familiar with our updates will already be well aware of the loss of our beloved Wendy Lambourne over the winter. She was not simply a great pillar and ambassador for Bolney CC, but the entire Bolney community at large. A completely selfless person who dedicated hours of her life to helping others. While a number of suggestions were discussed by the committee about how we could go some small way to recognise the love we had for her and how much she meant to us all – we decided it would be prudent to try and put something back in to the community. In conjunction with Bolney Nursery, we intend to raise money to buy and plant trees with the aim of creating a specific woodland / copse on the border of the cricket ground. More details will follow on what we think the size and scope of the area will be, however if you would like to get in touch regarding making a donation please contact Simon Adby (Simon@bolneycricketclub.org.uk). We expect each tree to cost £50. Any donation will be gratefully received. 

I would like to begin by thanking all of our Vice Presidents who so generously support us each year.  It is renewal time now and I have received over £500 so far!  We would very much welcome new VPs who would like to support the Club, there are no duties to perform and the benefits are a free tea on Sundays!  If you would like more information please contact me.

How lovely to see the bluebells poking their heads through the ground as it is a sure sign our thoughts will be turning to cricket; I can’t wait to see the scorebox unwrapped and the seats out for the season.  This will all take place on April 7^th when we have our spring cleaning workforce party in action – drawn, I think, by the promise on bacon rolls!

Our first game this season is on Saturday 14^th April although it is always ‘weather permitting’ this early in the season.  These are friendly games until the league begins at the beginning of May.  We are always looking for new players of all abilities and so if you would like to ‘have a go’ please let me know, you would be very welcome.   We are currently running weekly indoor nets at East Grinstead Sports Ground if anyone would like more information on those.

We will again be running our Colts coaching on Friday evenings for 11 weeks commencing 18th May, 6 – 7 pm.  We are very fortunate this year to have our old coach Reg Perrin back with us alongside Keith Hosken who helped us last year – two extremely well qualified coaches who make the sessions so popular with the children.  If you would like more information please contact me.

Our fixtures are all on the Bolney CC website and we would be delighted to welcome spectators.  What could be better than sitting in the sunshine in such a beautiful spot, with either a cup of tea, a pint or an enjoyable glass of Bolney Wine Estate wine?

Wendy Lambourne

At the time of writing our league teams are mid table in both divisions one and five of the Mid Sussex Stoner League.  After an excellent start at the beginning of the season the teams have faltered over the last two weekends which, at this stage in the season, reflects dramatically on the tables.  However, we have had many highlights with both James Flower and Kingsley Morris scoring centuries and several players scoring fifty plus.  Our Sunday team continue to enjoy themselves with competitive elements added to the more relaxed atmosphere of friendly games.

 

Our Juniors have commenced their training on Friday evenings with Keith Hosken, a coach of considerable talent who we were fortunate to find.  Our thanks go to Robert Atkins and  parents for their help in assisting Keith.  Junior games are played home and away on Saturday mornings commencing 9.30 – not always a good time for parents who may have celebrated a hard week’s work on Friday evening!  However, they manfully turn out to transport and help and we are very grateful to them.

Thanks must also go to Mark Barrow and his team at Bolney Nursery for supplying us with our new hanging baskets again this year.  Hopefully the weather will assist me in helping them to flourish – although that is not happening at the moment!

Anyone who would care to join us to watch the game, enjoy a glass of wine or beer or just to sit in beautiful surroundings will be very welcome. 

The season has started really well for our three senior teams.  They played five friendly games which produced four wins and a draw.  The league season commenced last weekend and both the 1^st and 2^nd teams won handsomely and so we are hoping for a good summer of cricket – early days though!!

Unfortunately we have been delayed in getting our outdoor junior coaching underway.  The older children attended a hard ball course at Warden Park and the younger ones were coached at the Rawson Hall leading up to Easter.  We have had difficulty in obtaining the services of a Level 2 coach at short notice for outdoors,  however, we are now in touch with an excellent coach who is at Oathall Community College at present and by the time the magazine is published we aim to have these very popular sessions underway at the cricket ground on Friday evenings.

I would like to say a huge ‘thankyou’ to our Vice Presidents again this year who have generously sent us £1170!  This is an amazing sum from such a small community and we all really appreciate your support.

I hope everyone who walks round the cricket ground has appreciated the lovely bluebells this year and how great and well cared for the area looks.  It is wonderful to sit on the seats, in the sunshine, and appreciate what we have on our doorstep.

April seems a long way off at the moment but even so it is time for our thoughts to turn to cricket in preparation of the new season.  Seed, fertilisers, loam ordered and machinery serviced.  We hold a ‘work-in’ day in early April when the pavilion is dusted down, seats put out and scorebox uncovered from its winter hiding.  It will be good to see the cricket ground come to life once again.

 

Our more experienced juniors have been attending winter nets at Warden Park Academy, where Reg is coaching them in hard ball cricket in preparation for their U13 League.  We begin soft ball coaching for younger players in the Rawson Hall commencing 3^rd March from 5.00 – 6.00 p.m., prior to summer coaching at the cricket ground after Easter.

 

We are inviting our Vice Presidents to support us once again this year by renewing their donation of £25.  We very much value this support as it is a lifeline for a small Club at the beginning of the season.  If anyone would like to become a V.P. please contact me – there are no duties to perform!

 

The fixtures will shortly be on our website and we always welcome support for home games – what better on a weekend afternoon to sit in the sunshine and enjoy a glass of Bolney wine!

We had quite a disjointed start to the season – thanks to the weather!  However, we are well and truly underway now.

Our 1^st X1 have enjoyed several close victories and at present have a mid-way place in the 1^st division table – which is good news considering last year’s captain and all rounder, Jack Collins, has been lost to a Manchester team, where he is doing very well I’m pleased to say.  Our 2s are fighting magnificently and are currently placed just above halfway in division 5.  The Sunday team have a great team spirit at present and are really enjoying the less competitive and more relaxed (slightly!) atmosphere attached to ‘friendly’ games

Our colts have been so enthusiastic again this year and approximately 45 children enjoy the coaching sessions on Friday evenings.  The U12 and U10 teams have played several matches and although they haven’t won their spirit is not diminished.  The other teams in their leagues are well established and have more experience at this level but the players have made tremendous strides in their abilities and I am expecting the first victory soon!

All teams would love to attract more players and so if anyone would like to come and have a go please do come up to the ground and chat to players.

On Sunday 21^st August we are holding an OPEN DAY, sponsored by Waitrose. We will be arranging a mixed parent & children tournament, plus the practise net will be available for anyone who would like to use it.  There will be a barbecue, open bar, raffle etc. so PLEASE come and join us.  Timings are likely to be 11 – 5.00 pm but look out for posters with accurate details nearer the time.

Every season I say the same thing at this time of the year –
‘I can’t believe we will be playing on that ground in four week’s time’. However, that is when the first game is scheduled for! Fingers crossed for lots of sunny, dry weather. We are always looking for new players of all abilities so please come and meet us if you would like to play – you would not be committing yourself to playing every weekend – just whenever you are able.

Our Juniors have been using the Rawson Hall for indoor nets this term and it has proved extremely popular. We will begin outdoor summer coaching from 29th April 5.30 – 7.00 p.m. at the cricket ground the same as last year. There will be 3 categories:
1 New children and younger inexperienced children
2 Softball coaching for developing children
3 Development of hardball cricket for older, experienced children.
All children are welcome, please contact me if you would like a registration form.

A big thank you is owed to all of our Vice Presidents who have renewed their support for the Club again this year – this is vital to us and much appreciated.

Thank you so much  to everyone who supported our Jumble Sale, either by donating jumble, helping on the day or by coming along to buy.  We made £1,128 profit!   This is a great result and everyone’s efforts are much appreciated, in particular our thanks to Derek Kirkham for his mammoth effort in selling raffle tickets.  Many people who come to help have no connection with the Club, in fact it’s becoming rather like an annual reunion for some of us!  Once again our thankyou to everyone

For those who are not aware, this year was the 175^th anniversary of the Club’s first recorded game.  To celebrate this we commissioned a painting from Mike McCulloch, a very talented local artist.  Mike has created a beautiful, gentle watercolour of part of the ground, whilst a game is taking place, and has captured absolutely the atmosphere which makes Bolney special.  From this original we have fifty limited edition prints which are signed and numbered by the artist.  If anyone would like one of these in their home as a keepsake we are selling them for £50 each.  If you would like to view the painting please do contact me.

By the time you read this we will have held our Annual Award’s Dinner, hosted by Waz and Emma at the Eight Bells.  Recipients this year are:

1^st X1 Batsman  –  Kingsley Morris

1^st X1 Bowler     –  Jack Collins

1^st X1 Fielder     –  Himal Jayarathne

2^nd X1 Batsman  –  Luke Martin

2^nd X1 Bowler     –  Peter Buch

2^nd X1 Fielder      –  Garion Gilchrist

Danny Earp Cup for the Most Improved Player   –  Terry Paton

Trevor Warburton Cup for player making the most runs in the season – James Flower.

Congratulations everyone!

Finally we would like to thank our Vice Presidents and everyone in the community who has supported the club this year, in whatever capacity, and to wish you all

A very Merry Christmas!