Caldy Cricket Club

End of season report - Chairman

A very wet summer has turned into a very wet, cold and dark winter already and the 2012 Caldy Cricket Club season is well and truly over as we face our end of season awards and AGM evenings on the same night!

I would firstly like to thank all members of the committee and all 4 captains for their assistance this season.

Marilyn, as secretary, has, as ever been efficient to the point of wanting to clobber me over the head when I haven’t got back to her quickly enough to answer her queries and I am again grateful that she will be secretary for the following 12 months!!

The positions of President and Treasurer have had new incumbents for 2011/12. Mike Ruddock was the new President and I will detail his contribution later on in this report. Stewart Pilley, a new member of the club in recent years took over as Treasurer and has done a brilliant job with the club finances.

Any sports club in these current financial times will struggle and ensuring that we have money in the bank and all bills paid and up to date has been a difficult job throughout the year but Stewarts hard work and diligent approach has been excellentl and we have been able to continue to contribute financially off the pitch to the facilities of the club while continuing to meet the demands upon us day to day.

On the field our captains have all worked hard to ensure that fixtures are fulfilled. I think there was only 1 fourth team fixture where we had to cancel due to lack of numbers, the first fixture in 3 seasons and I think that is a testament to them, especially Nick and Mark down the stickier end of the wicket in terms of availability and having players taken from you last minute.

Gary as second team captain, Nick as third team captain and Mark as fourth team captain are all standing down. They have all had a good long run in their roles and I would like to thank them all for their hard work and dedication. Unless you have captained you really don’t understand the hours which are required to be spent throughout the year to keeping the playing side of the club going. We are working on filling those positions and I would hope to have at least 2 filled by the time we hold the meeting on 19th October 2012.

Thanks also goes to all the coaches at the junior levels. I have suddenly found myself being the parent of an under 11 next season which cant be right given im still so young. I have seen first hand what great work is done with kids from as young as 5 upwards in helping them to enjoy their cricket. An under 9 team consisting of Brown, Rowan and Royden was certainly a blast from the past and a look at the future both at the same time this season and all the kids seemed to really enjoy themselves.

It would be great if we can continue to integrate the parents of our junior section, who have maybe not been involved with CCC before into the club as their children develop through the age groups.

Mentions of thanks also go to Steve and Lyn Hargreaves for their continued work on the grounds and equipment during the season which goes unnoticed by so many. Appreciation to Amanda for the teas, which outstrip sides all over Merseyside....especially probably the most awful tea I have ever seen from Wallasey third team! Thanks also to Don and his extremely sharp pencil and jotter the size of a table for keeping on top of the tea money and matchday levy!

Unfortunately we have had some members pass away in the last 12 months also. From a Caldy Sports Club (CSCL) point of view we experienced the passing of Sion Williams “Porky” late last year. Although not a cricket club member Sion was always up at the club and did a lot of work around the club house for us all to benefit from.

Earlier this year past second team captain Peter Radford passed away as did former first team captain John Cooper, both of whom contributed greatly to the history of this club.

Off the field it is important that we continue to raise money as quickly as possible in the off season, at the start of the season and during the season.

Sponsorship is an important way of raising money for the club and I would ask that everybody be aware of the opportunities we have available for sponsorship to increase the clubs revenue, please feel free to talk to me anytime.

Throughout the minutes of our meetings in the last 12 months, and regularly appearing on the news reel of the website (www.caldycricketclub.co.uk) is the issue of non payment of subs from some members! The Treasurer deals with this in his report and all I will say is, pay your subs as soon as possible because we need them!

This season has seen us have some good fund raising events, and as can be seen from the accounts they make a small but decent amount of money and if we can aim to hold 4-6 events a season they will make a big difference.

We have hosted West Kirby Wasps Colours Day this season and made available tea, coffee, sweets and a BBQ. The assistance of the younger members of the club who help serve the above was gratefully appreciated and we made £500 for the section that day.

A group of guys travelled Liverpool to Chester and back on their bikes to raise money for the section too which was a great achievement.

We have also held a couple of race nights and had our trios event which despite the weather, and Andy Potter cheating over the toss, together with Nathaniel taking a catch in the deep when he really shouldn’t have been interfering with my batting and should simply have been retrieving the ball from over the boundary was an enjoyable day!

Also, at the start of the season we had a great turn out for Natwest Cricket Force day where the cricket section sorted out the wood treatment for the whole clubhouse and outside furniture as was

requested by Caldy Sports Club Limited (CSCL). I was really proud to see so many members turn out that day (when I eventually got back from a rugby tour with a hangover just as all the work had been done!).

What has been good to see this season was that throughout those events we had different people turning up and helping to organise them and get involved. A couple of years ago that wasn’t the case, it was the same old people and there weren’t as many events, the more people who do a little bit the more we build up our money a lot!

And now to the future.....

As a committee I feel that we have been concentrating hard these last few seasons to getting things right off the pitch for the club! We have balanced the books, we have got new covers for the covers, a new scorehut and scoring system for the main pitch, arranged new kits, brought in new sponsors and generally worked to try and re-engage the membership into holding events and doing things for the section and as a section. I think this has worked well as has been detailed above and we must continue to develop this side of the club.

What we also need to do is continue to improve on the pitch also.

It is fair to say that as a club in recent years we have not practised our cricket as well as we could have done and as such performances could improve. I have however often commented that we cannot moan at the membership for not practising when we cannot provide good facilities to practise in!

As everybody will know we have been working hard to try and get new nets installed. The cost of these is up towards £40,000 and this has therefore not been a quick or easy task, but an essential one all the same.

In my report last season I mentioned that Mike Ruddock and I had met with a number of potential installers of new nets to get quotes. Over the winter Mike worked hard to pull together the various options available to us and the committee then chose a preferred bidder to put forward a quote.

Since then we have continued to raise money for the nets fund and, as the Treasurer mentions in his report have benefitted greatly from former members leaving donations for the club in their wills. So much so that we now have the cash in the bank to contribute towards the nets.

Over the winter months Mike Ruddock and I met with Cheshire Cricket and the ECB to discuss grant funding. As you can imagine there are many hoops to jump through and boxes to tick in order to get grant funding and we have worked hard to get all our ducks (not you Jack Pedley) in a row!

Special thanks goes to Bob Batey Chairman of CSCL for helping us with National Trust in respect of their permission for us to install new nets and for finalising arrangements over the new lease of the land. Without either of those we couldn’t move ahead.

Mike Ruddock did a brilliant job of completing the planning application with the Council and at the time of writing I think we are only a matter of a week or so away from getting confirmation that the planning permission is granted.

With the slight amendments to our constitution and that of CSCL at the AGM and SGM on 19th October 2012 and the granting of planning permission we will then be set to go on the grant funding application for the early part of 2013. I would hope that through the hard work we have shown to get this far this quickly, and to have raised the money in the bank, and lets be honest the terrible state of our nets, that Cheshire and the ECB will allow us to fulfil our plan of getting a new 3 lane net system installed by the new season.

For me the new nets are the catalyst to change the philosophy of the club in respect of training and playing, however even if the nets are delayed slightly longer we need to turn the corner with our mentality as players from NOW.

Since the end of last season we as a committee have discussed at length looking to improve our cricket and to putting the structure in place now to do so.

The overall purpose of the club is to provide the facility for local people in the community to play cricket, the aim of the club is to make that cricket as competitive as it can be for the enjoyment of individual players.

We want to develop a strong first team by progressing players through the club, which in turn will strengthen the sides below.

To that end we have decided to create the position of “Chairman of Selection”(CoS) and wish to have this position filled by the end of the calendar year.

The CoS will oversee the selection committee made up of the 4 senior captains in ensuring that initially the first team is as strong as it can be and as balanced as it can be and then work down through the teams to ensure strength and balance throughout.

Within this consideration will be the identification of talent and ensuring that players are played within the correct station of each team. We want to avoid a batsman being called up to the team above and then batting at 8 or a bowler being called up and not being used.

The CoS will have the authority to have the final say on selection and can plan individual players development throughout a season, they will also be expected to liaise with the junior coaches to help identify talent to progress through the club.

We have identified that there are individuals who may just wish to play at a certain level and don’t wish to progress, it is important that we recognise that and ensure that those players enjoy their cricket.

Communication is key to the development of this plan and the CoS will be expected to be in regular contact with all captains and coaches and speak with individual players regarding the plans for them within the club.

The committee are inviting anybody who would be interested in this role to contact myself before the end of November 2012 to put themselves forward.

Cascading down from the CoS position is the reintroduction of a weekly selection meeting where captains or their vice will be expected to attend for a full decision about the previous weekends performances will take place and selection planned and confirmed for the following week.

Players need to buy into this change of philosophy too, from their attitude on the pitch to letting their captain know on a Saturday of their availability the following weekend to turning up for training on a Thursday night. We all have to work towards the same goal of being competitive.

As I mentioned earlier the nets are a catalyst for this change of focus but we want to set the standard now. As such we have already arranged for winter nets to begin on Wednesday 9th January 2013 at Birkenhead Park Cricket Club between 8pm – 10pm, all players welcome.

Further to this we have already decided as a committee to invite Jake Crow back for next season, and Jake has accepted.

Jake fitted into the club brilliantly this season and has a lot to offer. As part of our invitation to Jake for next season he has agreed to take over the coaching sessions on Thursday nights during the season.

This will be an open night for nets for all club members. There will be a warm up, batting and bowling opportunities and training drills. The nets will be used, as will the bowling machine and we can use the mobile net on the square also. There will be rotation through the nets for the batsmen and bowlers from different teams and of different experience will be mixed together to held improve younger players abilities.

Fielding drills will be worked on every week at training and teams of all levels from first team down to under 9 will be expected to fulfil training drills before each match.

Jake will work with the junior sections as well and will have a voice on the selection committee to help with the planning of players progression.

It is difficult to put words on paper to show the passion with which the committee want to press ahead with these plans and how much we desire all players to buy into this philosophy, please feel free to speak to me about any further ideas you have and about the issue in general.

Further to all of this we have identified that the club has no written or codified philosophy of what we are doing, why we are doing it and what being a Caldy Cricket Club member is about and how people should behave.

We are fortunate that Danny Hargreaves works at a high level with a professional football club and has been heavily involved in documenting and implementing a club performance plan.

The committee has therefore engaged Danny to co-ordinate, with the input of committee members and other members if they so wish the production of a Caldy Cricket Club Members Handbook for the start of the 2013 season.

This handbook will include the clubs philosophy and vision, our culture, the roles within the club, youth development, what is expected of a club member and how the club works and operates.

The handbook will be issued to every player, including juniors and will be available on the website by the start of the new season.

I really hope that people understand where we are trying to move the club, and the hard work we have already put into these plans from the end of last season. If anybody wishes to help us process this and implement it then all help would be gratefully appreciated!

Heres to moving forward into 2013!!

David Brown

(Chairman)

Year End Treasurers Report

My first year as Caldy Cricket Club treasurer has been a challenging, and frustrating one.

The Club ended the year in credit, albeit, showing a small trading loss on the year of £318.35.

This year saw more expenditure that was budgeted for, specifically the expenses paid out in respect of our overseas ‘amateur’ Jacob Crow, exceptional items such as the cost of Planning Permission for the proposed new nets, the purchase of a new mobile net and substantial invoices relating to the 2011 season that had not been settled before the previous year end contributed heavily to this. We also paid £800 to CSCL as a full & final settlement of past years Levy to the Management Club.

In the income side, the Club benefitted from the closure of the old 100 club account, following the decision to merge with the CSCL draw. This income significantly helped to keep the section out of an overdraft we do not have, and it is anticipated that the income the Cricket Club will derive from the CSCL draw will offset the Levy due each year.

The main income streams for the Club of course are Subs, Donations & Sponsorship.

In previous years the Annual Accounts show Subs & donations aggregated, so I am unable to accurately assess the year on year difference, but speaking to the other Committee members, it is clear that Donations were down this year. One potential reason for this is that with no fixture cards to send out, previous members & donators were not written out to in the normal fashion enclosing the fixture cards.

Sponsorship payments are on a par with last year, but more work must be done to secure more repeatable income on this front

Subscriptions have been the cause of most concern to me this year.

We are a small Club, with less than 40 senior members, supplemented by 12 members classed as Students and 94 Juniors, so to have 8 Seniors, 2 Student and 1 Junior member not pay their subs in full (and in some cases not at all) is totally unacceptable.

Over £700 is still owed.

I will not name those members here as this has not been done in previous years, nor have I given the membership notice of my intention to do so, but I am giving the Club notice today that in next years report I will name those who have membership subscriptions outstanding at the end of the season. It is totally unfair on those who pay their subs without complaint or hesitation that people are able to enjoy all the facilities that this club offers without contributing to its upkeep.

It is vital that the Captains inform all new & prospective players that an Annual Subscription is payable. Not only does this pay for the day to day running of the club, but you are not covered by the Clubs Insurance policy if you are not a member.

The Net fund account has grown significantly this year and now stands at over £10,000. We have benefitted greatly from the generosity of 2 past members; Peter Lloyd & Peter Radford who remembered the Club in their wills. These bequests, added to the money from the closed 100 club has enable the club to build a sufficient balance for us to use as a deposit for the proposed new Net system that the Chairman has alluded to in his report.

The Club still need to focus its fund raising efforts on increasing this fund, as care & maintenance of these Nets will be required & proper planning & preparation is required to prevent a poor performance in this regard.

The new Captains selected this evening must get together over the winter and discuss what each playing side can contribute to the fundraising for the Club, whether it is selling raffle tickets for a bottle of spirits, or selling scratch cards in the pavilion after their home games, or organising an evening event for the whole membership to enjoy. Small regular contributions are easier to organise than 1 major function that takes months of planning.

I present the Annual Reports to the Club and invite questions from the membership which I hope I can answer fully.

Stewart Pilley

Treasurer

1 st Xl – End Of Season R eport

For me the 2012 cricketing season can be summed up in just three words: WET, disappointing and immensely frustrating! However, I do have to say that it was a hugely enjoyable season on and off the field and we have the making of a very good all round squad for many a year to come.

We started the year with early pre-season training in arctic conditions at Birkenhead School; excellent training facilities with decent turnouts from all clubs members and ages. The highlight for me though was witnessing Aftab (amongst others) warming up in some sort of Eric Prydz video style courtesy of our club coach Mr Pilley and his Zumba session! Thankfully he was persuaded to leave THIS fetish at home...........

A couple of new signings were secured pre-season. Jacob Crow, a young aggressive batsman, up and coming leg spin bowler and a Kiwi from Australia who lives in Tranmere and has ginger hair....so naturally we got him on the cheap! Seriously though, as a club we are looking to build for the future and to finally invest in the infrastructure, so it was decided that all available resources would be directed into the nets fund and any overseas would be self sufficient. I can honestly say, after hundreds hours of negotiations with various agents from all around the world, trawling through hundreds of websites and stats, we took a chance on Jake. I think I can speak from anyone who knows him; he has fitted straight into club life from day one and has been a joy to have over here. I know that he is deeply disappointed with his returns this year but as it is his first year in the UK and being only 19, he should be proud of what he has achieved. He funded his own travel expenses and also his living expenses whilst being over here (with some help from “Mr Gary Enterprises”). His benefit night was well attended and we managed to raise a small pot of cash to help him on his way. At the time of writing, Jacob has been confirmed to come back next year and has promised to double his stats.

The other main winter signing for us this season was a wily old veteran in the mould of Sir Geoffrey Boycott, Mr Paul Kearney. Paul had been languishing (by choice) in Upton 3s but successfully skippering/mentoring the future of Upton CC. After a few games of indoor cricket and the odd beer together it was obvious that he was that type of character (and player) that we needed in the changing room. Again, his introduction into the team was seamless and his patience, control and attitude at the top of the order was something which we have missed in recent years but which on occasions we have failed to capitalise on as a team. To sum up ‘The Kearndog’, I would say he is a very shy and retiring chap who never falls asleep at the bar after a few hours drinking! He does however, know how to host a decent race night. In fact, two them, raising in excess of £800 in total.

The rest of the squad was similar to previous years but with some junior players cementing their places within the 1st XI. Andy Potter, by last years standard, had a poor year but matured as a player and a person and still has that number four position in his sights for years to come. An outstanding fielder in ‘almost’ any position and as a sign of his increasing maturity and role within the squad, he was given the honour of skipper at Prestatyn away. Alec Stewart was promoted to 1st Team Keeper this year and apart from the odd lapse in concentration, did himself justice on the whole. Al has the potential to be an outstanding keeper and has the ability to bat anywhere in the top 6, just need to back himself a bit more – maybe a quiet chat with Mr Kearney! Another ‘youngster’ to establish himself was Olly Higgs. Olly had a ‘lost’ season last year but I was personally pleased with the way he got stuck in at number six. He didn’t make the big scores or runs that he deserved but the way he handled himself at the crease against some hostile bowling and in difficult situations, showed great character and potential for a long first team career. I have no doubt that the big scores and runs will come sooner rather than later. Not a bad little fielder; out of everyone who played first team, I think Olly is the only one who didn’t drop a single catch and very rarely mis-fielded (apart from myself but it’s not all about me!)

Ant Olsen played a number of games and impressed with the ball when called upon and he would have won us the game at Birkenhead Park apart from him having clown feet!

We played twenty league games, won only 5 (one by default!), drawn two, lost TEN and had three rained off (all away, don’t mention the trip to the St Helens pond!) Hugely disappointing as the two teams who gained promotion were both easily beatable. Two of our wins came against the top sides, Skem away who were top and unbeaten at the time got smashed thanks to an opening stand of 135 (Kearney/Crow), followed up with a couple of brutal knocks from Potter and Hargreaves. With the skipper suffering his third injury at the same ground in the third successive fixture there (webbing / dislocation x2 / webbing again), it was left to Davy Kay with a seasons best 6-fer to wrap it up, helped by Ashie and Edwards with two a-piece. The other was at Liscard Parkfield away, again another top of the table side (with a large number of paid players in their ranks as per our spy in the box Stacy). Again batting first we rattled up 199 with Crow 66 and Potter 58, a confident dec followed and we duly bowled them out for 119 with Ashie ripping through the top order and Jake cleaning up the tail. Now I don’t want to sound bitter or biased but I honest don’t rate them as a better side than us, we should have finished top four easily but we didn’t. Why you ask? Well there are a number of reasons. If you take the time to look through the play cricket records, in particular looking at the top 5/6 teams starting XI’s you will notice that that have pretty much the same 13/15 players all season, we didn’t. Our home record was the worst in the whole division. For some reason we couldn’t score a run there, ok it was usually a dodgy track and the skipper lost most of the home tosses but even so, in years gone by, if we posted a total of 130+, we have managed to win quite a few of them – I think we only managed a couple of scores 130+. There wasn’t a single 50+ score in any home league game all season. There was however a majestic 65no from the mercurial Dan Hargreaves in an early season cup game but again Dan failed to follow up on this for the rest of the season. Dan himself is his biggest critic and he doesn’t need another lecture from myself, we are all massive fans of his batting and we all hope he can find a way to enjoy his cricket again (still standing too deep though!). I don’t need to be publically

harsh on individuals as we all know where we all lacked and under performed this year. Just take a quick look through our stats for this year no-one stands out as having an outstanding or even a half decent year. Bowling wise, no-one managed to even reach 30+ wickets, with only two averages under 20, with only four 5-fers all season. The batting wasn’t any better, no-one scored over 500+ runs, in fact only two people managed to score more than 200+ league runs, with only four 50+ scores all year! There were however, a few games that we were unlucky not to have won, Sutton at home and Park away spring to mind but again lack of runs ultimately costing us.

Sounds all doom ‘n’ gloom but I can assure you it is not. As I said on the outset, it was a hugely enjoyable season. I think we are developing a great team spirit, not just within the first team but the whole club. As a club we are actively perusing a policy of pushing through and developing the junior players and also our aging infrastructure (I won’t go into details as I don’t want to spoil the Chairman’s report but it’s exciting times at Caldy CC).

Notable individual performances this season include Red Hot Davy Kay’s deadly and steady bowling in particular at Skem away and St Helens at home. A captain’s dream, never lets me down when called upon and not just with the ball. It was an absolute pleasure to watch him fending off Wavertree’s West Indian quickie for the draw.

Ashie made a few guest appearances and rattled a few batsmen (and umpires!), a full season out of him and he could be a genuine 1st team all rounder. Chris Edwards by his own high standard had a disappointing year with the bat. Only one 50+ score and 287 runs, we all know he is better than that and I have no issues that he will prove his class for us next year. His bowling with the older ball at times is unplayable and I am expecting him to be looking at 40+ wickets next season. Stewart Pilley (aka Boycie) by his own admission struggled this year with his form, fitness and at times any compassion to his fielders. A hugely frustrating season for Stewart but knowing how disappointed he was and also how much pride in himself he has, I expect big returns from the big man next year. He did however, find some form in the 2s with the bat, scoring his first ever century.

Matt Marks made his claims for a regular batting position this season and he is another one I except to push on next year and score heavily.

Other players worth a mention are Barry McDonnell who stepped in as and when required and brought a new dimension of Banter to the team. He is a great little character to have in any team environment and I wish his all the best as 3rd XI Skipper next season. Al Mellor has always tried his best but found runs and consistency hard to come by but was always there for me when required, a great club man to have in our ranks. Mention also must go to Mark Downes who ended up playing the majority of his cricket in the ones. Not a natural first team cricketer but one who would always be the first one to stand up to volunteer to go blindly over the top and advance (he’s not a bright lad either!). Another great club man to have at Caldy.

In my last two reports (at least) I have included the following the statement:

“I feel that we have made a hell of a lot of progress this year, on and off the field but we all need to step up to build on this and drive it forward. We need more members to take an active part in the running of the club, we are still heavily relying on a small number of people to do this. We also need to increase the social calendar next year and we require members to volunteer their services to take on some of these events.

For me, our priority as a club for next season must be to secure funding to get a proper netting facility built. We currently have virtually everything else in place and that is the one area that is really letting us (and all our members) down. We also need to concentrate heavily on the junior set up, develop more coaches from within and utilise the juniors throughout the senior teams on weekends. A disappointing fact for me this year was that we have a good number of talented youngsters, many playing for various adult teams but they aren’t getting any structured cricket and just seem to be there making up the numbers., For me this was the single most frustrating and disappointing aspect of the whole of last year – the above still stands, even more so now!”

I feel extremely confident that I will not be reiterating these paragraphs every again.

I have personally tried to stay positive throughout the whole season and will always continue to do so but I still maintain that we should have been pushing for the top two this year. However, in reality we finished exactly where we deserved to be. Yes we missed the weight of Sunny Ghandi’s runs but again just look at the stats - they tell you all you need to know. Everyone who has played first team this season knows exactly what they have done right and exactly where in their games that they have under achieved. I personally back and believe in each and every one of my players and expect them all to come good in the coming years and take us up into the higher leagues and to starting winning trophies again. Because at the end of the day, we are all playing to win.

My vision for Caldy 1st XI is for a mixture of young ‘arrogant’ players, mixed with a few of us old farts to guide them on their way. We have enough talent within this club to have successful teams at all four levels, we just need to organise ourselves a little bit better and have the individual confidence to stand up to any challenge when asked. You are only asked to play at a higher standard if you are deemed good enough, the rest is in your head. When I finally step down as first team skipper (or ousted by public telephone vote X-factor style), I want to have in place a squad full of confident young vibrant players who enjoy playing hard competitive cricket but also possess a great team and club ethic on and off the field.

For those who have never captained any side, the Saturday on the pitch is easiest part of the job. It is a full time job for pretty much the whole of the year. I am proud to be Caldy Captain and want this club to achieve so much not just on the pitch but off also off it. The day to day challenges that this club throws up is frankly amazing but I probably wouldn’t have it any other way. I am unbelievably (to me anyway) in my 27th year of being a playing member of Caldy CC and have seen so many faces come and go in those years, only a very few remain. So many things have changed over my years though. The

willingness to actually play cricket is the main one for me. As a youngster, I was playing regular U15s,U17s, 1/2XI, midweek twenty over cricket (T20 wasn’t invented back then!) and Sunday XI each week, along with training twice a week and school cricket! We also significantly lack the adult playing members who used to regularly play 1/2s and have given up completely! Disappointing times but hopefully with the introduction of new facilities and an over 40s competitive team, we can move to address these issues. We all need to try and promote this great club and bring in new players/members of all ages and ability.

Finally, I couldn’t have managed this season without the help and support of numerous people, the first again being Sir Reginald Walker – our biggest supporter and Dan Hargreaves biggest critic. A true Caldy legend and well worth taking a few minutes to sit with him and discuss ANY cricketing issues of any era.

Thank you to young Messrs Billy Mellor and Nick Stone for ably assisting Reg during the home games and also to the lovely Stacey who helped out on a few occasion in the box.

Another massive thank you to the best looking tea lady in the North West, Amanda, who once again consistently provided the best teas in the league by far and also a bit of eye candy for the boys, although she would admit she is only in it for the chance to drool over 44+ hunks every sat! The usual yearly shout out to Big Steve Hargreaves and the lovely Lynn for their continued maintenance of ground, equipment etc and for his 365days a year input into most matters concerning Caldy CC.

All of the Committee for all their continued backing and support throughout this year. And finally to my significant other for her continued patience and support!? for enduring all things of a cricketing nature.

I would also like to personally thank each and every player who turned out for the first team this year and gave it their 100% for the cause. I am determined that next year is going to be a successful season for Caldy on and off the pitch and with all your support and efforts we can really make it happen.

Indoor training will start early Jan 2013 at Birkenhead Park CC (bring your long johns), I look forward to seeing you all there along with a few new season signings!

Rich Batts

Caldy 3 rd X1 – End of Season Report During the previous season we set ourselves the goal of promotion to the 3rd X1 Premier Division of the Liverpool Competition. It was felt by the selection committee that the gap in standards between the 2nd and 3rd X1 was widening, especially after the promotion of the 2nd X1 in 2010, and therefore we needed to strengthen the 3rd X1, providing a platform for our juniors to prepare for playing at the highest possible level in future years.

Despite a disappointing 3rd place finish in 2011, there was optimism throughout the team that we could once again push for promotion and achieve a consistent gap in the standards of cricket played throughout the 4 Saturday sides. In truth though, we struggled to cope without key members of the team from previous seasons and with the marked improvement in the quality of opposition. The promoted Southport & Birkdale and Maghull were replaced by 2 strong sides from Birkenhead Park, making the move from the Cheshire leagues, and an experienced Sefton Park 3rd X1. Liverpool and Wallasey, who have struggled in recent years, also significantly strengthened their teams. A stronger league, which should be welcomed, is however no excuse for the eventual 7th place finish. I hope the relegated Ormskirk and Liverpool 3rd X1's can match the performances of promoted Wallasey and Birkenhead Park next year. The team simply didn't perform to its potential and whilst this season was by no means a disaster it should be a cause for concern.

So where did it all go wrong?

Well despite all the doom and gloom, actually, with a proviso, the batting was a relative success story. A big loss was the absence of former players such as Jon Burke, Sajid Mahmood, whilst Rich Daniel-Jones was only able to make occasional appearances. The 3rd X1 have though developed a solidity to the batting, building on the improvements made last season, exorcising the majority of our famed calypso collapsos. A horrific early season 55 all out at Sefton Park aside (made even more embarrassing by the entire team looking vaguely professional for once in matching kit; never again), competitive totals were posted and targets chased down. Unchanged batting line ups enabled openers Julian Higgs and Nathaniel Alsop to regularly provide a steady platform. Julian, in particular, consistently put in performances enabling us to be competitive.

Perhaps this year's greatest success story though, occurred when the team finally convinced Jim Barnard to retire his beloved plank. Jim famously failed to find the middle, despite holding his bat throughout an entire innings at Northern. A buccaneering, Mongoose inspired 66, soon followed at Alder, and Jim generously donated his plank to a close family relative; who has now announced their retirement from cricket at the tender age of 13 years old.

Yes, Pete Smith did his one man matching winning performances now and again. This included a brutal 145* against the eventual champions (cruelly matched on the day by a Dave Wylde 7-19 special), inflicting their only defeat of the campaign. Despite a haul of 573 runs, topping the Caldy run scoring charts, it should be noted that Pete lost his claim to highest league run scorer and must put more effort in next year.

Jamie Tomkins, Dave Brown and Kieran Free all made important contributions with the bat. Kieran especially has shown real promise, and with some hard work in nets over the winter should be aiming to make significant scores in the 2nd X1.

The proviso is that the ultimate aim of the 3rd X1 is to develop players who can eventually perform at the highest level within the club. Recently, 1st X1 players such as Andy Potter, Olly Higgs, Matt Marks and Joe Poste have all risen through the ranks. With one exception, and perhaps this is being overly critical, the junior players in the 3rd X1 haven't progressed as much with the bat as might have been hoped. Having said that, performances from 4th X1 juniors such as Bharath Chandresekhar, Mike Grealis and Jack Hunter have been encouraging.

The team eventually averaged approximately 140 runs per innings, an improvement on last season's 135 per innings. Given that the team was burdened by what can only be described as a train wreck of a year for last season's 3rd highest run scorer (I won't mention any names, but the culprit amazingly managed, for a second successive year, to achieve a duck in a relegation decider for the 2nd X1), the batting should be regarded as a success. The team as a whole now understands how to build an innings. Wickets should be guarded jealously and run rates are not the be all and end all. Patience is the key, and when the bowlers start to tire, smash them all round the park. Moooooooooo!

Fielding this year was a mixture of bizarre highs and truly woeful lows. Stunning catches in the slip cordon, most notably from Jim Barnard and Nathaniel Alsop, were inevitably followed up complete clangers, most notably from Jim Barnard and Nathaniel Alsop. It seemed to be the case that the more time we had to think about a catch the more likely we were to drop it. If we could find some way to temporarily lobotomise the team before fielding I suspect we would have walked the league. Having said that, heads rarely dropped, and in general we were enthusiastic and chased down any fodder gifted to the opposition, with a few Bourney slides thrown in for good measure.

Behind the stumps, last year's player of the year, Pete Smith, stepped aside to allow Ty Adams to develop his keeping skills. Ty was always happy to stand up to the wicket, although to be fair he wasn't given any choice in the matter, facing up to nippy opening bowlers such as Will Dixon. Nothing is more infuriating to a captain than seeing the opposition gifted leg-side byes, and whilst catching is of course important, it was Ty's ability to dry up the extras that was most impressive. There are areas for improvement though, especially sledging, for which Ty will be enrolled on a course with Barry 'Banter' McDonnell. During Ty's absences from the team, George Free put in a number of solid performances with the gloves and is starting to turn a solid batting technique into valuable runs.

Bowling. The story of our season, and the 7th place finish; we couldn't bowl sides out.

That the captain's bowling went absent without leave (a feeble 8 wicket haul), certainly didn't help. However it was the inability to blast away the top order of the opposition, not something the captain is renowned for, that proved to be our undoing.

Former star performers Russ Smith and Ant Olsson missed almost the entire season, due to injury and demotion to the 1st X1 respectively. A rare appearance from Russ at Birkenhead Park showed

what a difference a genuinely quick bowler can make to a bowling attack, scaring the life out of one of Park's star batsmen. Given the opportunity I suspect he would happily take early retirement rather than be subjected to that barrage again. Ant sometimes needs a boot up the backside to bowl at the correct pace. When he's not losing his run up, he is a superb opening bowler and his overall contribution to the team was sorely missed.

Will Dixon bowled a number of superb spells throughout the season. He's always a go to bowler for me, a wicket taker. For whatever reason it never quite clicked for Will this year, but it certainly wasn't for the lack of trying.

Jack Pedley and Harry Daniel-Jones both had seasons hampered by injury. Jack, when fully fit, has some real top notch wicket taking deliveries. Consistency, pace and power will inevitably come with time at which point the 3rd X1 should expect to lose Jack to the 2nd and eventually the 1st X1's. Harry once again bored us all to death by bowling the same consistent line and length in ever over of every game he played; the batsmen didn't particularly enjoy it either.

Dave Wylde, outfoxed batsman week after week with his subtle variations in line, length, pace and spin. As a captain it's a pleasure to be able to throw the ball to a bowler, and wander off for a snooze in the field, knowing that you don't have to do anything whilst the batsmen try to figure out how the hell to get to the other crease. Dave, for a second successive season finished as our leading wicket taker. Unfortunately it was our inability to support him at the other end that was our downfall.

The award for 3rd X1 player of the year was a difficult decision this year. Dave Wylde was once again in contention, and in many ways would perhaps deserve the award more this year given the burden of having to find the breakthrough wicket in most games. This season was also the breakthrough year for Nathaniel Alsop. Nathaniel worked hard over the winter nets and claimed the opening batsman role for the 3rd X1. Remarkably Nathaniel ended up playing games for the 1st X1, on merit, and finished 3rd highest run scorer in the club, behind Jacob Crow. Despite this, the award is going to Pete Smith who finished the season as the club's highest run scorer on 588 runs! Congratulations Pete.

3rd X1 Player of the Year

Pete Smith

3rd X1 Fielder of the Year

Ty Adams

Strop of the year: Cap flinging antics by Dave Brown away at Wallasey.

Ringer of the year: Simon Higby, flown in from Sweden to open the batting, first baller.

Run Out of the Year: Jim Barnard, comedy gold.

Catch of the year: Nathaniel Alsop, either the catch at point or dismissing the Chairman in the Trios.

Shot of the year: Jim Barnard, cover drive at Alder, sublime.

Quack Quack: Anthony Olsson esq.

Despite our relative success over the past 2 seasons I have decided to step down from the 3rd X1 captaincy. In part this is due to off the field alcohol related issues, which have led to me missing too many games! The team needs a captain who plays the vast majority of matches and whilst I have enjoyed it immensely, and I hope made a positive difference, it is only right that someone else with a fresh approach and enthusiasm takes over. At times it can be a difficult job, and I hope that the team and members of the club as a whole will volunteer their help to Barry as he takes over the captaincy.

Caldy 4 th X1 – End Of Season Report

The 4th team won 3 matches in 2012, which was the same number as last season. We finished a couple of places higher in the league compared to last season. There were less senior players available than in recent years and this gave a core of junior players the chance to play regularly.

The 4ths main strength was bowling but once again we just lacked a couple of batsman who could regularly supply big totals which would have led to more wins.

The team beat Birchfield Park home and away but the best win came in the final game of the season at home to Wavertree.

The team was set 147 to win and with Chandra blasting a very quick 27 and Martin Earl scoring 31, the openers gave the team a good start and more good performances throughout the innings allowed the team to reach the required total with just a couple of overs left.

The league in 2012 finished as follows:-

P W Wcn d l lcn nd ab BatP BowlP Pen Pts

Birkenhead Park CC - 3rd XI 20 15 0 1 1 0 1 2 20 25 0 360

Wallasey CC - 3rd XI 21 12 0 2 4 0 0 3 16 27 0 298

Sefton Park CC - 4th XI 20 9 1 5 4 0 0 1 56 31 0 297

Birkenhead Park CC - 4th XI 20 5 2 5 5 0 0 3 16 37 0 218

Liverpool CC - 4th XI 20 6 0 4 4 0 1 5 25 27 0 202

Alder CC - 3rd XI 20 6 0 1 5 0 0 8 13 26 0 199

Caldy CC - 3rd XI 20 5 1 5 5 0 0 4 15 30 0 190

Sefton Park CC - 5th XI 21 5 0 5 7 0 0 4 24 31 0 175

Caldy CC - 4th XI 21 3 1 4 8 1 1 3 17 32 0 144

Wavertree CC - 3rd XI 20 3 0 2 6 1 0 8 27 26 0 143

Alder CC - 4th XI 21 2 1 1 9 1 0 7 9 28 0 127

Birchfield Park CC - 4th XI 20 1 1 0 11 1 0 6 6 28 0 99

Northern CC - 5th XI 20 2 0 3 5 3 1 6 16 17 15 63

Batting

Most runs in the season went to Mark Hunter with 168 runs. Bharath Chandrasekhar had an excellent season with the bat with 150 runs and showed in one match against Birkenhead Park how he can score aggressively and quickly with an impressive 46. Bharath also helped seal the win at Birchfield Park with 22 not out.

Barry McDonnell, always the teacher liked to show the rest of the team how to build an innings. Caldy’s new Boycott provided a solid base in the win away at Birchfield Park with 41 not out. Pete Smith played a superb innings of 83 at Birkenhead Park, where he scored his century for the 3rds but apart from this, Dan Walker played another excellent innings in the win at Birchfield Park with 60 runs.

Mike Grearlis had his best year with the bat with 112 runs and his innings was one of the crucial ones in the win against Wavertree. Jack Hunter proved difficult to get out once he had got himself in down the order and also scored over 100 runs in the season with several “not outs”.

There were a couple of decent scores down the order in games and Caldy avoided defeat in a tight game against Sefton Park with 26 from Dave Noble and 30 not out from Kieran Lowe. Kieran also ensured the win against Wavertree with a couple of boundaries when the pressure was on.

Name Games InnsNot

OutsRuns

High Score

Avg 50's 100's DucksRun Rate

1 Mark Hunter 16 13 1 168 30 14 0 0 1 - more»

2 Bharath Chandrasekar 12 11 1 150 46 15 0 0 3 - more»

3 Barry McDonnell 8 7 1 113 45* 18.83 0 0 1 - more»

4 Michael Grealis 10 10 1 112 33* 12.44 0 0 1 - more»

5 Jack Hunter 14 11 4 108 43* 15.43 0 0 2 - more»

6 Martin Earl 9 8 0 104 33 13 0 0 1 - more»

7Ramasubramanyan Chandrasekar

7 6 0 99 46 16.5 0 0 1 - more»

8 Peter Smith 2 2 0 84 83 42 1 0 0 - more»

9 Kieran Lowe 13 10 4 76 30* 12.67 0 0 2 - more»

10 Daniel Walker 3 3 0 60 60 20 1 0 2 - more»

11 David Noble 7 5 0 48 26 9.6 0 0 1 - more»

12 Danny Carr 7 6 0 46 14 7.67 0 0 0 - more»

13 George Free 8 7 0 35 12 5 0 0 1 - more»

14 Matthew Battersby 2 2 0 33 29 16.5 0 0 0 - more»

15 Ian Haslam 4 4 0 29 20 7.25 0 0 1 - more»

16 Nathaniel Alsop 2 2 0 28 25 14 0 0 0 - more»

17 Nick Schneider 3 3 1 27 22 13.5 0 0 0 - more»

18 Tyrone Adams 2 2 0 23 15 11.5 0 0 0 - more»

19 Bram Jungnitz 7 5 1 20 13 5 0 0 1 - more»

20 Rich Bourne 3 3 0 16 9 5.33 0 0 0 - more»

21 Mark Downes 4 2 1 9 5 9 0 0 0 - more»

22 Mark Bland 8 4 1 8 6* 2.67 0 0 2 - more»

23 Jacob Earl 10 7 2 8 3* 1.6 0 0 2 - more»

24 Matthew Bond 2 2 1 6 4* 6 0 0 0 - more»

25 Adithya Varma 3 2 0 1 1 0.5 0 0 1 - more»

26 Tom Weller 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 - more»

27 Luke Weller 2 2 2 0 0* 0 0 0 - more»

Bowling

The bowling was the team’s strength. It was a difficult season for the pace bowlers as we often played on wet, muddy pitches which did not give them much assistance.

The regular opening partnership was Kieran Lowe and Jack Hunter and batsman found it difficult to score many runs off their opening spell. The team often had the benefit of Mark Downes, who took the highest number of wickets in his Caldy career. On the occasions that Jack Pedley played, he bowled numerous unplayable balls.

Mark Hunter topped the wickets with 21 but apparently these were all full tosses. Jack bowled very tightly as ever and taking into account his wickets for the 3rds, also ended with 21 adult wickets. Kieran Lowe deserved more than 6 wickets and next year he will take many more wickets.

The team often bowled 6 or 7 bowlers and there were good performances from the other regular bowlers like Mark Bland, Mike Grearlis, Chandra and Bharat Chandrasekhar.

Name Overs Maidens Runs Wkts Best Bowling 5WH Econ S-R Ave

1 Mark Hunter 95.3 19 289 21 5/15 1 3.03 27.29 13.76 more»

2 Jack Hunter 92 21 218 18 4/24 0 2.37 30.67 12.11 more»

3 Mark Downes 42 14 108 11 4/15 0 2.57 22.91 9.82 more»

4 Kieran Lowe 76 6 314 6 2/29 0 4.13 76 52.33 more»

5 Daniel Walker 19 1 43 5 3/9 0 2.26 22.8 8.6 more»

6Ramasubramanyan Chandrasekar

15 3 67 4 2/2 0 4.47 22.5 16.75 more»

7 Rich Bourne 22 6 54 4 3/26 0 2.45 33 13.5 more»

8 Michael Grealis 27.2 4 146 4 2/12 0 5.35 40.95 36.5 more»

9 Nick Schneider 17 3 86 3 1/21 0 5.06 34 28.67 more»

10 Mark Bland 34 5 143 3 2/15 0 4.21 68 47.67 more»

11 Harry Daniel-Jones 3 0 11 3 3/11 0 3.67 6 3.67 more»

12 Barry McDonnell 3 0 14 2 2/14 0 4.67 9 7 more»

13 Luke Weller 4 0 16 2 2/16 0 4 12 8 more»

14 Tom Simpson 8 3 41 2 2/41 0 5.13 24 20.5 more»

15 Bharath Chandrasekar 33 0 187 2 1/12 0 5.67 99 93.5 more»

16 Shuja Ahmad 13 4 26 1 1/26 0 2 78 26 more»

17 Matthew Battersby 11.3 0 52 1 1/6 0 4.52 69 52 more»

18 George Free 3 0 27 1 1/27 0 9 18 27 more»

19 Will Dixon 15 5 41 1 1/41 0 2.73 90 41 more»

20 Adithya Varma 8 0 55 1 1/35 0 6.88 48 55 more»

21 Jamie Tomkins 6 0 32 0 0/32 0 5.33 more»

22 Jacob Earl 26 0 133 0 0/8 0 5.12 more»

23 Tom Weller 3 0 14 0 0/14 0 4.67 more»

24 Jack Pedley 18 4 30 0 0/7 0 1.67 more»

25 Jon Burke 7 1 27 0 0/27 0 3.86 more»

26 Nathaniel Alsop 2 0 5 0 0/5 0 2.5 more»

27 Kieran Free 4 2 4 0 0/4 0 1 more»

28 Asif Younas 7 1 30 0 0/30 0 4.29 more»

29 Bram Jungnitz 8 1 38 0 0/8 0 4.75 more»

30 James Dixon 1 0 3 0 0/3 0 3 more

Fielding

Barry McDonnell was the team’s most regular wicket keeper this season. He kept the team on their toes and could be relied on for his apparently motivational “banter”.

The team did not have the benefit of Ian Haslam for the whole season as has been the case recently and this gave the chance to George Free and Bharath Chandrasekhar to take their turn with the gloves.

In general our fielding was good and only in a couple of games did we drop chances that affected the outcome of the game. The tough fielding drills before the game that became the norm half way through the season set the standards required and there were a lot of press ups done, particularly by Danny Carr.

The junior players led the fielding this year and there were excellent performances in the field from Jack Hunter with 5 catches and a run out and Bharath Chandrasekhar with 3 outfield catches and a catch and stumping as wicketkeeper.

Kieran Lowe was another of the team’s top fielders with 4 catches. Mike Grearlis also held 4 catches, most coming in the game at Wavertree when the ball kept being hit at him and he took 3 catches. Danny Carr was a very reliable fielder, after his pre-match practising, with 3 catches.

Juniors

The 4th team was a younger team than last season and it is likely that Kieran Lowe, Jack Hunter and Bharath Chandrasekhar will be playing for higher teams in the near future. There were also impressive performances from Harry Daniel Jones and Dan Walker on the occasions they played.

The u 17’s performed well and hopefully Mike Grearlis can put on even more runs at the top of the order and George Free has the ability to build more high scoring innings. Bram played several games and no doubt will demand more bowling next year.

There were a few of the u 14’s who made their debut this year and hopefully we will see more of Matthew Bond and James Mehra and Patrick Brennan. Jacob Earl bowled well and will continue to develop as a pace bowler.

And finally

Everyone who played for the 4ths knows that it is the best team in the club. No other team plays on a wet pitch almost every and inevitably has several of the chosen team taken from them by the time Saturday morning arrives. Despite this the core of the team are available virtually every week and have all done their best every time they played and contributed to a very enjoyable season.

Thanks to everyone who played for the 4ths. This season will be my last year as captain, so thanks to everyone who has played or contributed over the past 4 years to the 4ths team and many thanks to those who help behind the scenes to allow us to play each week in the summer.

Mark Hunter

Caldy U 15’s 2012

Caldy u 15’s had an excellent season in 2012. We had a large squad who always played as a team, had great team spirit and every player in the squad contributed to the team over the course of the season.

The team was coached this year by Alan Mellor and many thanks must go to him for leading the training every Tuesday throughout the season. This training involved using the nets, the bowling machine, fielding drills and having practice games on the main square and this helped improve all aspects of the squad’s game and this was evident in the team’s performance this season.

For the first time in many years, Caldy entered the Cheshire league, which meant that the team played more than twice the number of games than the u 15’s had played in the past 4-5 years. This made it a much more enjoyable season and allowed all the squad the opportunity to play several games.

There are always times at the beginning and the end of the season when a few players are away and the team is not at its strongest. However when virtually every player was available, Caldy were a match for any team in the Wirral or Cheshire league at their age group and were extremely difficult to beat. This was evident when the team went on a run of 5 wins in a row in the middle of the season.

The team was led very capably by Harry Daniel-Jones. He led the team unselfishly and had good support from Dan Walker. We had 3 regular players from the u 15’s in Harry, Dan Walker and Jack Lidell. It will be a shame to miss these players next year but the u 15’s team is set for a very good year next season when the current u 14’s will be a year older.

The team played in the initial Cheshire league games and after that round of group games, ended in the Cheshire Plate. The team lost in first games Oxton and Chester Boughton Hall when we were really capable of beating them but the team first showed its quality with a win against Alvanley.

In the Cheshire Plate, the team won all 3 games played against, Congleton, Northwich and Heaton Mersey. In reality the team swept away these teams and won that league and gained the first trophy for a Caldy in many years. This is a massive achievement and credit goes to all the boys to put in the effort throughout the season.

Caldy finished the season in the Wirral league games. These games are always influenced by who is away on holiday but despite many players being away for various games. The best game was away at New Brighton, where the team needed 68 and reached the total in just 8 overs, with a twenty twenty style innings from Bharath. In the end the team finished only one victory away from qualifying for the final playoff against Upton.

The team did not do itself justice in the games against Upton this year and next year, we will ensure that we beat them!

Batting

The top scoring batsman this season was Tyrone Adams with 177 runs from 10 innings. He showed his class when building an innings and provided the platform for the team to put on a big total. Dan Walker was not far behind with 169 from 9 innings and 3 of those were when he had to retire. He could be relied on to use his strength and technique to score big totals very quickly which was vital in the 25 over format.

Some of the best batting in the season came from Bharath Chandrasekhar. He showed his ability to score very quickly and his innings in the rain to beat New Brighton, when he hit several sixes was the best innings of the season. Jack Hunter also had a couple of innings when he got the key runs to win the same and then retired.

The top 5 batsmen were as follows

Runs - innings

Tyrone 177 – 10

Dan W 169 -9

Jack H 169 – 10

Bharath – 154-10

Tom S 106 – 7

Bowling

One of Harry’s most difficult tasks was deciding when to bowl various players because Caldy was lucky to have many decent bowlers.

The leading wicket taker was Jack Hunter, followed by Dan Walker. Their left arm and very accurate bowling was difficult to score against and they could be relied on to keep the best opposing batsman quiet.

Harry bowled extremely well when he put himself on and it was a shame that he injured himself in the middle of the season; otherwise he would have gained many more wickets. There was good seam bowling from James Mehra and Jacob Earl and Tom Simpson provided good pacey bowling when he was available.

Caldy had good spin options with Bharath always able to get a wicket with his flight and trick ball. There was also good spin bowling from Matthew Bond and we saw some promising bowling from Shakthi, who played many games this season and ended the season a much improved player.

The top 6 bowlers were as follows

Bowling – overs – runs - wickets

Jack H 51-156 – 15

Dan W 37 -161 – 14

B Chandrasekhar 26-121-10

Harry DJ 47-187 – 10

Tom S 30-134 – 5

James M 28- 145 – 5

Fielding

Tyrone Adams was the team’s wicket keeper and he could be relied upon to take catches when needed and was extremely quick at taking any stumping chances. If he could not play then Bharath was usually the first to ask if he could put on the gloves and when he did, he performed very capably.

The team was generally very strong with its fielding and this was led principally by Bharath Chandrasekhar. Bharath is an outstanding fielder and took some brilliant catches. Jack Hunter was also an example to others in the field, with a strong arm and a knack of hitting the stumps with run out chances.

Many other players fielded well throughout the season. It was difficult to get the ball past Matty Bond and Jack Lidell when they played at mid-on and mid-off. Harry and Dan Walker performed well in the field and Tom Simpson was always very quick in the outfield.

And finally

Thanks to everyone who played for the u 15’s. Thanks especially to Alan Mellor for his time and effort with the training and at matches and also to Mike Stone who was also always available to assist at training and with the scoring at the matches.

Many thanks also to everyone who brought their children along to training and to matches and thanks as always to all those who help behind the scenes to allow the boys to train and play each week.

Mark Hunter