1999 Season
Review
As many
people will be aware, this has been a year of rebuilding for
Chalgrave Sports Club. After a couple of years of disuse, and
only light maintenance prior to that, the sports field more closely
resembled a meadow than a sporting arena! Thanks to a dedicated
and hard working committee and two generous local farmers (Roger
Fenwick and Robert Upchurch) we have managed to get the field
and pavilion (a somewhat glorious title, I feel!) into some kind
of order. We even managed to play a couple of friendly cricket
matches against the Carpenter’s Arms, Harlington at the
end of the season. Everyone who took part in these seemed to
enjoy them and it was very exciting to see interest being shown
by some of our younger parishioners. We wish to encourage this
as much as possible in the future but we are currently hampered
by a lack of available equipment – something we intend
to rectify at the earliest opportunity.
One of the biggest problems we have faced has been a lack of useable equipment
to maintain the cricket square and outfield. We purchased a set of gang mowers,
which resolved the latter problem and a little out-of-season welding should
mean that we have a roller to use on the square. Some mowers have also been
donated which has been of great help.
We are now in the process of organising matches for next season – we
have friendly games organised against The Village Swan, Ivinghoe Aston but
are also hoping to operate a small league. The Carpenters Arms, Harlington
are keen and we are intending to approach the Sow & Pigs, The Red Lion
at Stanbridge, The Anchor in Tilsworth and the Oddfellows. The regulars at
Queen Victoria in Dunstable have also expressed an interest in playing. If
anyone has any suggestions for other pubs, villages or organisations that would
like to either take part in the league or play in a friendly game then please
contact Mike Wells. On this topic, it is the committee’s intention to
ensure that the best use possible is made of the ground this coming season – if
anyone wishes to book the ground for a match of their own the please get in
contact with us. A rate of £35 has been fixed for the hire of the ground – this
is equivalent to £1.59 per player - less than the price of a pint - which
is excellent value for an afternoon’s cricket. Equipment can be provided
upon payment of a refundable deposit of £50.
A number of players/members have expressed a desire to improve their game before
the season starts. We are attempting to organise indoor net sessions starting
in February/March and have applied to South Beds District Council for a grant
to subsidise this activity. Anyone is welcome to attend – prices and
dates will be published as soon as they are available.
An improvement that we are intending to make to the facilities is the provision
of outdoor nets at the ground. The old nets had become unusable (and were damaging
local wildlife, specifically hedgehogs) and had to be removed. Another grant
application has been made with this in mind. We have also affiliated ourselves
to the Bedfordshire Cricket Board which gives us access to many very useful
resources, including the ability to apply for subsidised insurance cover and
grants for equipment as well as discounted rates for groundkeeping courses.
To raise funds for the club a quiz night was held in late November – a
successful evening that brought much needed money (£240) into the club
and was extremely enjoyable to boot. Many thanks go to John & Lucy Kirwin
for organising the quiz and also to Dave Worsley, Julie & Paul Godfrey
for dealing with the food. A special mention must go to Hepworth Catering for
digging us out of a bit of a hole during the evening! As a result of the quiz
the club is now solvent, although a great deal more money is needed if we are
to succeed in the committee’s aims. The major financial outgoing that
we foresee this year will be the replacement the pavilion roof. This is in
desperate need of repair and needs expert attention. Another grant application
has been submitted, which we hope will cover the cost of this work.
As many of you will be aware, a double wicket competition was organised for
the end of last season but was abandoned due to bad weather. It is now to be
rescheduled as the season opener this year – so start organising your
partners now! This event is open to everyone and we are sure that it will be
great fun. Fliers will be distributed some time before the event – so
watch your mailbox on Sunday mornings.
Many thanks to all those that took part or assisted the club in any way last
year – those people invested time and money into helping us get the club
started again and we hope that this will bear fruit in the coming year.
