MARCH
Sunday 30th - Club nets (Raleys Gym, Sevenoaks 11-12)
APRIL
Sunday 6th - Club nets (Raleys Gym, Sevenoaks 11-12)
Sunday 13th - Club nets (Raleys Gym, Sevenoaks 11-12)
UCC 2014 Pre-Season Nets (all existing and new players welcome)
MARCH Sunday 30th - Club nets (Raleys Gym, Sevenoaks 11-12) APRIL Sunday 6th - Club nets (Raleys Gym, Sevenoaks 11-12) Sunday 13th - Club nets (Raleys Gym, Sevenoaks 11-12)
1 Comment
2013 was a productive year both on and off the field. On-field achievements included another league champion title, Alex Watson securing the league bowling trophy, Nick Watson and David Close both narrowly missing out on the league batting trophy, as well as numerous other match winning performances from players in both the Saturday and Sunday teams. Off-field achievements were also aplenty throughout the year and include organisation of the club tour to Menorca and the charity fundraising events held post-match after selected fixtures. Thank you to all those who were involved in the fundraising events, especially colleagues from Sissinghurst CC and Otford CC who kindly delved into their pockets to help our fundraising efforts. A cheque for £164 was presented to Helen Smith from Hospice in the Weald at the end of the season and was received with great appreciation. Thank you all.
Underriver Cricket Club
Newsletter July 2013 Dear Member This newsletter is a pale imitation of a Captain's Innings but I hope you find it useful for keeping up to date with some recent news of the Club! I remind you that the club has its own web site (if you are reading this you already know!) and all the fixtures and most of the latest news about the league and Sunday matches can be found there, as well as details of social events and even some recent snapshots of some of the more (dis?)reputable members of the club! Progress in the league, following the promotion to Division Three, has been quite remarkable so far this season. Having played 8 matches to date, we have won 6 and lost only one. The other game (against Cudham Wyse) was rained off having got them 38 for 2 after 12 overs. The lost game was against Limpsfield Chart. We were authors of our own misfortune to some extent having only 10 players (Simon Leahy pulled out for the fairly convincing reason that his wife had gone into labour !) but fate intervened in that a large area of sand on the runup made life difficult for Alex to find his footing and a clear run out was not given as the umpire had been unsighted. Oh yes, and there was the small matter of 28 wides! Such are the vagaries of league cricket! There have also been some remarkably notable performances this season. In the latest league match UCC beat Sissinghurst for the loss of only one wicket. The victory was greatly assisted by probably the best catch I have seen at the club: Kendall Jarrett on the boundary made at least 25 yards (20m to some!) to dive full length and take the ball in both outstretched hands. Brilliant! And then the match against Plaxtol, a nerve jangling victory by just 15 runs in a high scoring game (UCC 265 for 6, Plaxtol 250 for 8 in 40 overs). And in the home game against Locksbottom a victory by 11 runs in a low scoring game, with UCC 145 all out made a low score to defend, but Locksbottom could only make 134 all out. Some of the other individual contributions are worthy of note; Nick Watson is having a great season with the bat having 251 in total and a great 104 against Plaxtol (where Alex made 94); David Close has 212 runs and a high of 65; Paul has Garnered 153 in only 5 matches and Kendall Jarrrett has 138 off just 4 matches. In Bowling Alex has already accumulated 17 wickets including 6 for 10 (!) against Shoreham and 6 for as many as 25 aginst Otford. Generally, this season the bowling honours have been shared around, with Joe Wiles, Paul Southall, Johnny Carpenter and the evergreen (is it moss?) Chris Close all greatly contributing amongst others. The Sunday matches have had mixed fortunes and it remains a struggle for David Close to find eleven players. Andy Tong has held the teams together and it has been great to see him giving a game to as many of the team as he can fit in. In other respects too the club goes from strength to strength. The ground is in very good condition, having survived the wettest of winters and now has the briskest of outfields, and, from time to time at least, some reasonable bounce. Yes, this is the Underriver strip we are talking about!! There remain some important updates needed for the pavilion and the flood damage is to be remedied when possible. As ever, finances remain something of a problem. League matches now require a new ball for each innings, the batsmen keep breaking the bats, and the cost of ground and pavilion works keeps escalating. Only the wicketkeeping gloves seem to be as new! I would remind any members, playing and non-playing alike, that any contribution to the Club would be very welcome (NOTE: thank you to the pitch fairy - Paul Lane - for all his efforts in beautifying the 'outer'), and remember the Club is now a registered charity for the purposes of gift aid. The Club gets your contribution and tax from the Chancellor! The Club Treasurer Chris Close will help if needed. Enjoy the rest of the season Ian Batty Hon. Sec. After a 6 week lay off due to knee surgery Chris 'Radar' Close is set to return to action in the next couple of weeks, an inclusion to the squad welcomed by club legend Alex Watson:
'Having Radar back will certainly put pressure on others to perform if they want to keep their place in the team. There will be no more avoiding catches with Chris on the prowl!' Well, 2012 continued in the same way as 2011! In fact the club went one better and won Division 4 of the Kent County Village League. The best batting performance in the league went to Nick Watson and the best bowling performance went to Alex Watson and they will receive their awards at the KCVL Annual Dinner in November.
A Tour has been arranged for September 2013 to Menorca. Already 13 players have signed up for the two games. Also, Andy Tong, the fixture secretary (and Sunday captain) has high hopes of a tour for 2014 to include 3 games to be played in Amsterdam. Now that's forward planning! The club continues to be well served by many of the familiar faces but it is so rewarding that there seem to be more and more younger players turning up to play in both the league matches and the Sunday friendly games. However, there are often problems in securing 11 players for the Sunday games and anyone who is interested in playing friendly matches in one of the most picturesque grounds in Kent (as well as some of the best cricket teas!) should contact Andy Tong - his e-mail address is tongster@hotmail.com. 2011 was a ground-breaking and hugely successful season for Underriver. For the first time in the club’s history, we joined a league and we made several improvements to the ground to meet the challenge. The square was overhauled and sightscreens and new equipment were purchased. Although we have struggled to raise a side on Saturdays in the past, competition for places suddenly became fierce. The team were nothing short of outstanding, winning 15 matches and losing only one – the last game of the season, when half of the side were on tour in Portugal. We duly achieved promotion and next season will see us facing some very competitive opposition. There were brilliant individual performances, notably by Nick Watson who managed to score 404 runs in two matches against Withyham without being dismissed, setting a club record for highest score in the process. Congratulations, too, to David Close for his thrilling batsmanship and impressive organisational skills in raising the team, and his father David for liaising closely with the league officials. Perhaps the most pleasing aspect of the landmark season was the emergence of several young players – one of the reasons for playing league cricket was to satisfy their desire to play must-win cricket and now almost half the side are under 20 years old. The tour of Portugal was also a highlight. For a second time we were royally entertained at the Oporto Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club, who insisted on making us drink lots of port over long lunches in a bid to make us take our eye off the ball. Their ruse only worked once. We are now taking down names for a tour of Minorca in September 2013. Finally, a plea. We still have a busy Sunday programme playing friendly cricket, but numbers have suffered because of the league commitments, so if you know anyone who is interested in playing for Underriver, in league or friendly games, please put them in contact with the club.
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