I can gaze out of the window as I write this and note the perfect cricketing weather. However, not a ball will be bowled in anger for the foreseeable future. These are truly uncertain and extraordinary times. Also, a time to put friends and family ahead of all other things, ahead even of cricket!
Sport in general is being impacted, perhaps as never before. In wartime, they played on, to a limited degree. Dick Hawkes will remind us they played cricket in POW camps. As I write this, it is unclear whether there will be the opportunity for any cricket this season. The ECB speculates about locking the participants into a hotel for days beforehand and then staging Test matches behind closed doors. There is little prospect of any cricket for UCC before July at the earliest. We must await developments.
The ground has been ‘furloughed’. Ironically, in February parts of it resembled the Everglades. After 3 weeks of unbroken sunshine it is significantly drier. Our square will doubtless benefit from not being cut, rolled and trampled for several weeks during the growing season, which represents a scintilla of a silver lining to the current cloud.
The Club has not been idle. Before social distancing set in, several members enjoyed a lunch outing in the City organised by Sean Ashfield/Kendall Jarrett. We listened to that prince of keepers, Alan Knott, and former Lancs opener Graeme “Foxy” Fowler, both introduced by another Kentish man, Chris Cowdrey. Despite (or perhaps because of) being born round the corner in Accrington from David “Bumble” Lloyd, Fowler spoke very impressively about his career and later difficulties with depression. He’s not the first cricketer to suffer in this way and he won’t be the last, despite the support available to professional players in this day and age.
What is also active is the Club’s expenditure account. Many items, eg insurance premiums, remain a constant. Income this year will be materially reduced by the cancellation of the White Rock Quiz evening and the lack of match fees. However, and to conclude on a more positive note, Chris Close has confirmed that a Quiz evening will be scheduled as soon as circumstances permit, although for the present we can only dream of donning the whites again.
Adrian Barr-Smith
President, Underriver Cricket Club
Sport in general is being impacted, perhaps as never before. In wartime, they played on, to a limited degree. Dick Hawkes will remind us they played cricket in POW camps. As I write this, it is unclear whether there will be the opportunity for any cricket this season. The ECB speculates about locking the participants into a hotel for days beforehand and then staging Test matches behind closed doors. There is little prospect of any cricket for UCC before July at the earliest. We must await developments.
The ground has been ‘furloughed’. Ironically, in February parts of it resembled the Everglades. After 3 weeks of unbroken sunshine it is significantly drier. Our square will doubtless benefit from not being cut, rolled and trampled for several weeks during the growing season, which represents a scintilla of a silver lining to the current cloud.
The Club has not been idle. Before social distancing set in, several members enjoyed a lunch outing in the City organised by Sean Ashfield/Kendall Jarrett. We listened to that prince of keepers, Alan Knott, and former Lancs opener Graeme “Foxy” Fowler, both introduced by another Kentish man, Chris Cowdrey. Despite (or perhaps because of) being born round the corner in Accrington from David “Bumble” Lloyd, Fowler spoke very impressively about his career and later difficulties with depression. He’s not the first cricketer to suffer in this way and he won’t be the last, despite the support available to professional players in this day and age.
What is also active is the Club’s expenditure account. Many items, eg insurance premiums, remain a constant. Income this year will be materially reduced by the cancellation of the White Rock Quiz evening and the lack of match fees. However, and to conclude on a more positive note, Chris Close has confirmed that a Quiz evening will be scheduled as soon as circumstances permit, although for the present we can only dream of donning the whites again.
Adrian Barr-Smith
President, Underriver Cricket Club