We hope that you have been enjoying the indoor nets – and indeed matches for some teams – but with the clocks having gone forward and the evenings stretching out, we trust that you are now looking forward to getting outside again and enjoying some cricket amongst friends!

This communication aims to provide an update on our plans for the season, and hopefully point you in the right direction for any possible questions that you may have. We’ll start with an old classic set up… which would you like first, the good news or the bad news?

The bad news is that there will be a slight delay to launching outdoor HARDBALL nets this year. We normally train outdoors from next week, but this year will be pushed back, not just because of the swamp like conditions being experienced across Britain after the most sodden of winters, but the good news is… we are having a new 3 lane end to end/enclosed 35 metre net facility installed at Platt Lane.

This will be down near the railway track (next to the 3G pitch) and it is a 3 week installation project that was booked in for April 8 (to allow for maximum drying out time and so protect the outfield from plant and machinery). However, while everything has been delivered to the contractor, we still await a confirmed start date from them after all the bad weather. We suspect April 22 is most likely, meaning a May 10 completion date.

All junior soft ball and Kwik cricket will begin and then continue as normal at Platt Lane on Friday nights from 6pm on May 3. This is not affected by the new nets facility, apart from the new location and end to end enclosed nature of the hardball nets facility simply making it safer, so we are excited to get going.

Meantime, we have arranged for indoor nets to continue at Trent Bridge (1sts/2nds/Women’s 1sts/2nds/Performance) and at Loughborough University (3rds/4ths and Juniors). Women’s softball have made provision for some nets at Clifton. We have secured an extra lane for juniors for their sessions, so please liaise with the coach/captain of your particular team, who will have to monitor numbers on a per Net basis. To help them do this please can you update your availability for each of the extra Indoor April nets via Pitchero as normal.

Please note the club will pick up the cost of these extra indoor nets so there will be no charge. We hope everyone agrees that it is worth getting our new nets facility right for the long term, even if this changes our plans for a few weeks.

Indeed, on the subject of Pitchero, for those of you not yet utilising it, we would like to urge you to download the Pitchero Club Smart Phone App and ensure that you update your/your Junior Player’s availability for training and matches, as far ahead as possible. Your committee is having a big push this year to try and provide a consistently high experience, where everyone gets the chance to simply enjoy the sport and the sense of belonging, and where those especially keen also get the chance to develop themselves. Putting your availability into the App enables the coaches to organise the best possible experience, while ensuring that you and your family get the most from the club. (Links to the Pitchero Club App can be found here [url=https://join.pitchero.com/club-app]

A reminder that from a payment’s perspective, please can we remind you that Annual Membership for the 2024 season is now payable before you/your Junior player starts training or is eligible to be picked for fixtures. So this includes all the Summer Nets & Training. Membership can be paid by Card through Pitchero – please click on the ‘Shopping Basket’ Icon in the App and pick the Membership option you require.

A full list of the 2024 Membership Rates, Summer Net/Training Plans & Match Fees is provided on the club website [url]https://keyworthcricketclub.co.uk/a/2024-membership-information-62325.html].

From there, we’d like to ask you to think about whether you would be willing to help with any scoring or umpiring this season please? Cricket is a either a 10 person or 13 person game - not an 8 person or 11 person game – and the best experience is enjoyed by all concerned when there is an umpire and a scorer from both teams.

The ethos of our club is voluntary and training is provided online/on demand – and for free - so you can do it whenever suits you, while also feeling like you have learned something new or had a refresher of what’s the very latest if you are already familiar. Could you please offer up a little bit of your time to help in this way? Can you also consider whether you have a family member, friend or neighbour who you think might be interested in helping out? In particular, we find this is a great way of engaging more senior members of the community in belonging to our club, and they in turn enjoy that sense of belonging and engagement.

Indeed, while we are proud to say that we have more than 100 volunteers at Keyworth Cricket Club, we still have 9 roles where we have a vacancy. These include Fixture Secretary, which is a position on the Club Management Committee. Other non CMC roles include Membership Communications Officer, Digital Content Officer, 200 Club Secretary, Alumni Secretary and Changeover Sub-Committee and Event Sub-Committee roles. We massively appreciate everyone who gets involved in the club, giving up their valuable time in the process, though we hope everyone finds it rewarding, being part of something that tries to add something to the wider community.

While you may not have the bandwidth for that, perhaps you have a business or are part of a business that could help out by becoming a club sponsor? The club’s 1 page summary of sponsorship opportunities for 2024 can be found here [url=https://keyworthcricketclub.co.uk/a/kcc-2024-club-sponsorship-opportunities-67604.html], and they range from the KCC Support Sponsor package of £250 to one of four ‘major sponsors’ that range from £1,100-£1,500 – and everything in between on a bespoke level. Again, if this isn’t you, can you think of a friend or neighbour who might look to help out or simply find it commercially interesting to them, given the local membership base and demographic of KCC?

We are going to officially ‘launch’ the outdoor season on Friday 26th April where all members, players and parents are welcome to come along for a drink (Platt Lane main bar). We will have little stalls available between 6pm and 7.30pm on the night where you can learn more about the club: so about getting started, about membership, about all hardball teams and groups, about women’s soft ball, about safeguarding, about super 1s disability cricket, about safeguarding at KCC, about volunteering, about sponsorship, about kit and about donating any unused or outgrown kit.

Other dates for your diary are:
Presidents Day* – Platt Lane, Saturday 6 July - events from 4pm including live music and a DJ after the game.
KCC Annual Golf Day – Stanton, Friday 6 September – tee off times from Midday until 2pm.
KCC Junior Presentation Night* – Platt Lane, Saturday 21 September – 7pm-10pm
KCC Senior Presentation Night* – Platt Lane, Saturday 19 October – 7pm-last orders.
* No entry charge

If you have another question or some feedback for us, please contact [email=clwilliams68@hotmail.com] hope to see you all soon!