Category: Uncategorised

We are delighted to announce that the club has secured £10,000 funding from the National Lottery Community Fund to install a solar array at the club.

The club has chosen Solar Xpress – Solar Xpress to supply and fit it’s system, they come highly reccomended and have given the club an exceptional price and have been ultra kind while our funding bid went through the process. Any members who are interested in exploring a solar install for themselves contact Tom directly on email addess T.Smith@solarxpress.co.uk

In December, the clubs fixed tariff electricity contract ended. Renewal quotes were quadruple the old rate. Had we not secured this funding from the National Lottery Community it is not an exaggeration to say that the club’s future would be insecure. There is no way the could absorb £12,000 per year in electric without raising prices substantially. The award of this funding and the installation ensures we can keep membership and prices as low as possible for everyone in the community.

We hope you will join us at the club this summer to celebrate our continued development on and off the pitch

The Annual General Meeting will take place on Thursday 10^th November from 7.30pm. Please ensure nominations for positions and seconders are received no later than 3^rd November. Unfilled positions may be nominated on the evening. We will update this list as and when nominations are received. You can nominate/second here https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSddmqfjwwCTZBgNcuWsHne9YuGYTAq0m7fulF37gM-h8Bppng/viewform

Agenda

Review of 2022

Officer Reports

Election of Officers

AOB

Role/Nominee/Proposed by/Seconded by

President
Chairperson RUSS CARSON (R Renforth/P Spencer)

Vice-Chair

Secretary

Treasurer CHRIS SHARP (R Carson/R Renforth)
Press & Publicity* ADAM SAYNOR (C Sharp/B Evans)

Fundraising

Fundraising Committee*

Director of Cricket
Cricket Secretary

Club Captain

1stXI Captain THOMAS COULSON (B Evans/A Saynor)

1stXI Vice-Captain

2ndXI Captain

2ndXI Vice-Captain

3rdXI Captain

3rdXI Vice-Captain
Junior Manager RUTH COTTON (R Carson/M Foulkes)
Junior Committee*

Child Welfare Officer

Ground Chairperson

Ground Committee*

Social & Events Chair
Social & Events Committee*

Bar Manager ROBERT RENFORTH (B Evans/R Carson)

Bar Treasurer*

Bar Committee*

House Chairperson

House Committee*

Auditors*

Trustees*

*none-management/sub-committee role

Stretford Cricket Club are constantly searching for sponsors and we are delighted to announce that a quality benchmark has been reached with our newest partner.

We are proud to inform you that local company, Urban Surveyors, have agreed to sponsor the club.

The Urban Surveyor’s kind sponsorship will go towards providing essential equipment to the club. Their logo will be emblazoned on all new club caps and are available now to buy from behind the outdoor bar. You will also see their advertising board located near the scoreboard.

Now enough about us and a bit about US

Local businesses help keep clubs such as our running by continuing to donate funds. Urban Surveyors are committed in helping improve Stretford CC and our local community. 

Urban Surveyors are a vibrant, Chartered Building Surveying practice based in Stretford covering the South Manchester area and beyond. They specialize in RICS Building Surveys, HomeBuyer Reports and Specific Structural Reports.

Moving house? Give Urban Surveyors a call on 0161 327 1505 

​ Your survey will be undertaken by a highly qualified and RICS  Chartered Surveyor with extensive knowledge of the residential property market.

Have you ever been halfway through eating a horse and thought to yourself “maybe I wasn’t as hungry as I first thought”?

With 50% of the horse in your gut it’s time to decide whether you are going to pick up your fork and attempt the Hind Shank or just fling it in the green bin and hope One Trafford eventually collects it after a couple of phone calls.

We have reached that point with the cricket season.

Our teams are sitting comfortably in the saddle with the 1st XI placed 5^th at the time of writing and four points off a promotion spot, only behind four big spenders. The 2^nd XI sit in second place four points behind leaders Flixton; a team defeated only a week ago. The 3^rd XI lead the Sunday Central League tied with Ashton.

There have been some sumptuous individual and team performances while others that have been harder to stomach.

Munir Khan (317) Ryan Williams (278) Ajay Shah (184) Jamie Cotton (178) and Josh Julius (198) have all been consistent with the bat. The team have consistently compiled scores over 200 hundred but there hasn’t been an individual who has really cashed in with a big score. That will hopefully change.

The team have been formidable defending scores with evergreen Ryan Williams (32) the dependable Tom Coulson (34) and firecracker Jack Blackwell (15) the leading wicket takers.

Excellent victories against Monton, Swinton and Dukinfield have been offset with defeats by Friarmere, West Leigh and Mottram however we are sitting comfortably in mid table. Injuries and availability could play a part in the second half of the season.

The second team have picked up that winning habit, 8 in 11 to be precise. They are definitely in contention for promotion despite the loss of homegrown Ethan Page who was leading wicket taker. Robert Renforth (16) young left arm seamer Adam Taylor (11) Mark Bevan (14) and Ben Riddle (11) have all filled the void.

Mark Bevan (209) Nasir Ghani (175) and Robert Renforth (129) have scored the bulk of the runs but there have been some outstanding performances by James Watford and Adam Prescott who both scored big match winning half centuries against Winton and Flixton respectively

Usman Hasan has been typically prolific for the thirds scoring 188 runs in four matches including a brutal 137* against Denton but young wicket keeper Waqas Mahmood is not far behind amassing 149 runs from 6 matches (even if he has incurred the wrath of the groundsman for scratching his fielding positions into the outfield). Pav Aqueel has taken 7 wickets and scored 128 runs and is the leading all-rounder.

In the current day and age where some very average cricketers receive brown envelopes perhaps the most pleasing aspect of the season is that we have picked up some very good new players. I honestly don’t remember a time in my 30 years playing at Stretford where 5-6-7 new players have joined who are capable of providing such competition for places in the Saturday teams. My hope is that they settle in quickly and enjoy the culture in our hard-working club. We need to continue to recruit players and I am sure a combination of good league performances, development of facilities and work on our digital profile will do just that.

[BURP} Excuse me, apologies those Short Ribs are repeating on me!

Now it’s time to decide how you want that Sirloin cooked?

We have a top Senior Head Coach in Mike Murphy; his group sessions twice per week are quality and included in the price of your membership. Players need to attend training. There is room for improvement in every team. Every individual should feel suitably prepared to be able to step up to the plate when needed. Give yourself the best chance by practicing.

As mentioned above, availability is also the issue that could affect the remainder of the season. I hope team performance and team spirit will make you want to play as much as possible in the highest standard we possibly can. Rump anyone?

Finally, we are selling advertising space around the ground and on our newly designed website stretfordcricketclub.co.uk so if anyone is a business owner or would dare to ask their boss please direct them my way. If you would like to get stuck in on a subcommittee for ground, events, fundraising again please see Russ Carson, Benjy Evans or me, if you can offer more time in a lead role again please let us know.

Good luck and go well in the second half

Daisy Nook is a country park in Failsworth. The park runs through the Medlock Valley in an area once called Waterhouses. Waterhouses was once of three “houses” in the Failsworth area, the other two being Mill Houses and Woodhouses.

 “Daisy Nook” was actually a fictional place created by Benjamin Brierley in his poem “A Day Out” which was written in nearby Waterhouse; however, the name stuck for the country park located on the southern edge of Failsworth.

Within Daisy Nook likes Crime Lake. It was formed in 1795 as  result of the blockage of a canal culvert which spilled into the Crime Valley.  

Centuries later it was Crime Lake providing inspiration for Stretford as they raided Woodhouses in a sting operation. 6 points were taken away and it was the opposition left in floods of tears.

Woodhouses won the toss but failed to take advantage of a hard batting track in patchy sunshine with Stretford’s key all-rounder Ryan Williams missing with injury.

Evans and the exceptional Coulson (4/17) shackled the Woodhouses openers with tight spells which were backed up by Marshall (3/17) and Saynor (2/12). Spender provided resistance with a patient 38 and McGarry (22) entertained briefly but could not get the home side out of jail and were all out for 94.

Adam Prescott (49) was in imperious form backing up his knock of 94 a week earlier and Munir Khan (31*) ensured justice took place as Stretford recorded a comfortable 6 wicket win.

It is with sadness that the club can confirm that Chairman Gary Armstrong will be standing down at the Annual General Meeting after 4 years of leading the management committee and a year as Vice-chair.

Gary guided the club with an ultra professional and careful hand, always making sure that the club stayed true to its roots. He has helped the club through some turbulent waters always balancing risk and reward, and helping to maintain the open, friendly, community club that Stretford always has been. One of his successful core policies was that decisions, especially those that open up the club to debt or risk are made by the group and not by one person. As simple as this sounds it is something that is important to remember.

He has been a fine ambassador for the club and whoever replaces him has some big shoes to fill.

Unfortunately Liz Armstrong is also stepping down at the AGM after 5 years of being Club Treasurer, again leaving a massive hole in the club’s executive committee. Under Liz’s guidance the club has gone from loss making to profitable and is in a robust financial position, with all accounts audited and approved. Liz improved control of bar cash, membership fees and match day fees and drove down costs. Liz has been an ultra committed member of the team working well outside the Treasurer brief, setting the tone for the “voluntary” nature of the club and how it has been built.

Liz’s input will be greatly missed, but she leaves the new treasurer with a stable base, audited accounts and sound financial practices in place.

Liz and Gary’s family have been a credit to the club all actively taking part in all club events but, with both children now on the cusp of university and work commitments growing they have decided that the time is right for someone else to lead the club in a new direction.

During the five years of their leadership the club joined the Greater Manchester Cricket League as founder members, completed a build project that extended the changing rooms, created disabled facilities and refurbish the main room. Liz inherited the project and took it through to completion including arranging an ECB loan to complete the building work, which we are now able to repay. The club’s outside facilities increased in quality during the last three years including a new patio area and outside bar, but in particular the most recent development was the award of grant funding from SUEZ Communities Trust to relay the playing surface at The Boundary, a project which Gary helped to drive through with Christopher Sharp.

The club now needs someone to step up and build their own team as the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary, Bar Manager and Fundraising Coordinator posts are all vacant.