The Bank Holiday weekend saw the last round of league matches played, and wins from both the first and second team to secure their survival in their respective leagues.

The 1st team ended up in 7th place with 5 wins and 1 tie during the Premier League season. The second team also won 5 times on their way to 7th place as well in Division 2. The 3rd team managed (can you guess yet)… 5 wins in Division 4 finishing in 8th place. The 4th team suffered a severe lack of league games, but manage 1 victory in their 4 completed games to finish 2nd in Division 8 N&E!

Team Averages

I have already received averages for the 1st and 3rd team and will publish them this week on the website. Keep an eye out on the website over the next few weeks for a 1st team season review with some in depth interviews, and then during the winter for any club announcements including an AGM date.

This coming Friday (9th July) sees a Wimborne team take on Dorset in a Twenty20 match at the Leaze, starting at 5.30pm.

Dorset have taken on Hampshire and Somerset already in Twenty20 matches this season in helping those two counties prepare for the national competition, and with some quality such as Nick Park (tv star) in their ranks this will be a tough game for Wimborne. However, with the recent uplift in form from the Wimborne boys confidence will be high that they can spring an upset in this game.

The Wimborne XI is strengthened through the addition of ex-Wimborne legend Mark House (who last donned the Wimborne shirt in 2007 and was last seen on tv batting with one trouser leg up due to superstition), and ex-Dorset quick bowler Martin Ford, both of whom will be hoping to put in a strong performance in the blue of Wimborne. The team line up is as follows:
C. Randall (*), G. Cole, A. Collison, G. Cormack, M. Ford, R. Hatchard, A. Hayward, M. House, G. Jones, J. Miller, E. Steele (+)

The Dorset team lines up as follows:
T. Hicks (*), D. Cowley, E. Denham, J. Lawrence (+), E. Linge, M. Metcalfe, C. Morgan, N. Park, D. Taylor, G. Treagus, A Williams

Come along and watch an exciting game of cricket from 5.30pm!

We are delighted to announce that you can now purchase club kit online from DorsetCricketSupplies.co.uk. You can purchase both senior and junior kit thanks to a 3 year deal with kit makers Surridge and supplier Dorset Cricket Supplies. The full range of kit is now available, from short and long sleeve tops, jumpers, polo shirts, rain jackets, caps and more.

Once ordered, the kit will be embroidered with the club crest and printed with the club kit sponsor (Armstrong & Haycox Financial Planning). Orders can either be delivered to your chosen address for a cost, or picked up from the Dorset Cricket Centre at Hurn for free.

View the range and buy Wimborne & Colehill CC kit here

Welcome to a new season at a new ground.

There have been a few games at the Leaze and the reports on the pitch are very encouraging which lays to rest all the fears that ran through my mind on wet December nights. However without the efforts of the Dorset Groundsman of the year for 2009 I do wonder what might have happened.

There has been no formal opening ceremony at the Leaze for the very important reason that we were only granted a club licence last week and it would have seemed odd toasting the club in squash, although judging by the number of objections received to our application that could easily have happened. However the bar is being fitted out and details of a proper celebration will be posted on our website in due course (www.wimbornecricketclub.co.uk)

I look forward to welcoming new and old members to our ground and for those of you who haven’t seen it yet, it is a fantastic facility. However it is also a money pit and the committee are investigating ways to increase our income. However sponsorship at the (hopefully) backend of a recession is difficult to come by so if you have any ideas please do share them with me.

When you visit the Leaze you will enter by a gravel track from Kings Street. Please take care when entering the ground as our neighbours are concerned about the volume and speed of traffic entering the Leaze. I do not want to fall out with the neighbours as they represent potential supporters.

The club has continued to sponsor members through ECB coaching courses and we now have another level 2 coach and five new level 1 coaches. They are certainly kept busy on training nights and it is a delight to see so many young players joining the club. Mind you with the number of early season injuries the club would welcome a few senior players to strengthen up the 1st and 2nd XI’s.

You will note from the fixture card that the club is running a T20 competition on 30th May and that we are playing Dorset in a T20 match on July 9th. These should be competitive events and I hope that as many people as possible can attend.

It has been a long and, at times, difficult journey from Hanhams to the Leaze both physically and mentally but we are at the beginning of a long journey not at the end of an era. Please join with us in taking the club forward and help it grow in strength.

John Ridout

Chairman

May 2010

To help celebrate the new ground this season, a sweepstake has been organised – where the first player to score a 50 in either a first team or second team game at ‘The Leaze’ wins their ‘owner’ money! Please find below the list of players along with their ‘owners’. The prize for your player scoring a 50 in a first team game is £45, second team game prize is £35.

We are therefore starting adult net sessions this Sunday (18th April) at 11am, and following Sundays until the season begins.

Midweek sessions before and during the season will take place on Thursday evenings and begin on Thursday 22nd April, anytime from 6pm.

There is a lot to do, ranging from repairing the sightscreens, to hanging pictures in the clubhouse, to putting the covers on the covers. So, the more people who are there, the quicker the jobs get done (and the more fun the event is!).

For anyone who hasn’t had a chance to look around the new facilities it would be a great opportunity to get to know the new ground before the season starts.

Hopefully you can come along and help get the club ready for the 2010 season.