Welcome to another cricket season at Minster Lovell. A
warm welcome awaits all the visiting teams to Minster Lovell
Cricket Club, at Wash Meadow and the Recreation Ground
at Brize Norton.
We continue to run the three Saturday league teams,
Sunday and mid-week ‘friendly’ teams, the Minster Lions
and large and successful junior cricket, which includes the
ECB’s AllStars and Dynamo programs.
The fixture list is full and the bats have been oiled and the
cricket balls ordered. So another exciting cricket season
awaits.
As always, people move on and we wonder how the club will
manage! But it does. People step up and fill the void and the
club moves on with new enthusiasm.
Our thanks and appreciation go to all those kind volunteers
who help run the club. But a special big thank you to Sue
Riley and James Merriman, our safeguarding officer and 1st
team captain. Sue has made all of us safe, DBS checked and
‘Clubmark’ for many years - without which the club would
not be able to function! Thank you Sue!
As mentioned above who could fill those ‘shoes’... up steps
Rachel Beynon, thank you to her and we all wish her well.
James has stepped down from the 1st team captain after
many years of successful cricket, to spend more time with
family and work commitments, again all our thanks goes
to ‘Mezza’ for both his on field and off field help he has
given the club. Fortunately James is still going to be around
playing a few games and being fixture secretary. Thank you.
Olly Mersch has accepted the challenge of being the new
1st XI captain, Tony Gardner remains 2nd XI captain and
we welcome Jake Mawson as our new 3rd team captain.
Exciting times ahead and I wish them all the success for this
season and for many more to come.
Each roll/position in the club is equally important, and when
running smoothly makes this club the success it is. It may
not be a trophy laden cabinet, but it is in the way the club
has inclusive cricket available for all standards and abilities,
with a level playing field for all. With dedicated coaches,
supporters and players - even those who get asked to play
on a Saturday morning, with a grumble - all paying their
part in making MLCC a great place to play cricket.
As an example of this inclusive club we are entering a U9’s
girls team into a county competition. (As part of the Allstars
Dynamo program). We hope this will be the start of the club
running a girls/ladies team in the very near future. There are
a few hurdles in front of us - but there is nothing this club
can’t do if we all pull together.
The other area the club is always trying to improve on
are our ground facilities, be it the square, outfield or
the equipment to be able to do this. This year we are
concentrating on getting new sight-screens for Wash
Meadow.
As you could imagine, the finances to support these
improvements of standards year on year are extremely
tight! The club prioritise the equipment the club can afford,
with great effort put in to buy wisely. There are often grants
available for various items and these are sort but not always
gained.
One such achievement was our new electronic scoreboard.
Through very generous contributions from Smith/Ebsworth
family and the kind sponsorship by Cotswold Natural Stone
and Cannon Technologies we were able upgrade!
follow us on twitter - @MinsterLovellCC
Minster Lovell Cricket Club
Minster Lovell • Oxfordshire
We are always extremely grateful and appreciative to our
sponsors for their continuing support, the Beer Festival is
an excellent source of revenue, but extra money is always
welcome! As mentioned previously, our aim is to replace
the aging sight-screens - can this be done through further
sponsorship? Is there a company or individual that can help?
Further sponsorship would be gratefully received and if you
know of a new source of sponsorship please do let me know!
Many thanks to the club’s main sponsor B&E Transport, to
the Spar Minster Lovell for their fantastic sponsorship, to
Churston Property and all those companies who have kindly
advertised in this booklet. Thank you again!
Lastly can I personally thanks all the umpires who turn out
weekly to represent the club, Stuart, Dave and Dennis. To all
the committee members who’s tireless work keeps the club
running smoothly and to all the players, scorers, coaches
and supporters.
Sometimes we don’t know how lucky we are!
Wishing all our teams and players a very successful and
enjoyable season.
Tim Gush
Chairman MLCC