March 2021 Newsletter

As the new season approaches we thought we would drop you a line to update you on one or two things that are happening at the Club.  With the easing of the Government’s lockdown restrictions set to commence it is looking extremely promising that we will get a full season of cricket in and we can’t wait to meet up with everybody again.

The Club is making big strides towards becoming one of the premier clubs in Lancashire.  We want every player in the Club to achieve their full potential, enjoy their cricket, be successful, and we wish to see junior players moving on to our senior teams - this was highlighted last year when seven of our successful U15 side played regularly for the 3rd XI, six made their debut for the 2nd XI, and one had a game in the 1st XI.

The philosophy of the Club will be one of promoting those players who are good enough and this will be carried forward into our junior section where we will encourage players who reach the required standard to play in older age groups when the opportunity arises.

At a senior level the Club has appointed Jamie Roche as 1st XI Captain, Robin Jackson as 2nd XI, Captain and Paul Butterworth as the 3rd XI Captain.

The Club has signed a promising South African left arm spinner and batsman called Sean Whitehead as their professional this season and as well as his senior cricket duties we are keen to get him working with the juniors as soon as possible.

Senior nets will commence on Tuesday 30th March, and then run on every Tuesday and Thursday throughout the season.

Pre-season friendlies have been arranged :

The 1st XI are at home to Woodbank on 3/4/21, away at Littleborough on 4/4/21, and then also away at Rishton on the 10/4/21.

The 2nd XI have friendlies against Woodbank away 3/4/21, at home to Littleborough on the 4/4/21, and then at home to Rishton on the 10/4/21.

The 3rd XI have a pre-season friendly away at Saddleworth on 10/4/21.

For those of you who are unaware, the Chairman of the Club is Mark Reynolds, Ian Gilbertson is the Club Treasurer and Alistair Bolingbroke is the Club Secretary.  The Welfare officers for the Club are Simon Gauge and Helen Crabtree.

The Club adheres to the ECB “safe hands” Safeguarding policy for safeguarding children in cricket and all of our coaches and Senior Captains are vetted by the ECB which includes an enhanced DBS check.

At a junior level we will be running 5 teams this year at U9, U11, U13, U15 and U18 age groups.

The coaches for each team will be as follows:
U9 - Andy Rodgerson and Zimmy Khan
U11 - Ian Gilbertson
U13 - Simon Gauge
U15 - Paul Butterworth and Simon Gauge
U18 - Paul Butterworth

The Junior section will be holding its first net session on 31st March 2021 (so as not to clash with Easter), and from Friday 9th April there will be Junior nets every Friday throughout the season from 17.45 - 20.00.

The junior subscription this year will be set at £50 and includes all training sessions and matches.   It will also include free entry into the 1st XI T20 matches on a Friday night in the Summer when we will be unable to hold training sessions.

On these nights we will be holding a BBQ at the Club.

We would also like to encourage all parents to join the Club as social members, the cost of this is £20 or £25 for a couple. Membership includes discount on bar prices and free entry to all 1st XI fixtures and if you are able to join, this will assist with getting the Club’s membership levels back up after this difficult period.

We will shortly be issuing registration forms for the forthcoming season and ask that these are completed and returned to s.gauge@btinternet.com before the 1st net session and the £50 transferred to our account : Rochdale Cricket Club 01-04-35 32590512.

The Howzat Lotto is going from strength to strength and now up to 240 numbers. If you are not yet part of the monthly draw then please do get in touch with Ian Gilbertson.  The cost of entry is £5 per number and payment should be made to the NatWest Account 01-04-35 32590512.

We are always looking for willing volunteers as there is much work required to keep the Club running.

Whether your forte is doing jobs around the ground, fundraising, administration, or if you want to get involved in coaching one of our teams then please get in touch - we look forward to welcoming you onboard.

Finally, we are very excited about the season ahead and this has been boosted by the recent news that Googlies has had its planning application to build a brand new 4 lane indoor cricket centre at the Club accepted so this year our season will not finish in September - we will be able to carry on with indoor nets all year round! Look out for further updates on this as the season progresses.

Good luck to everyone for the season ahead!