Greetings, and a warm welcome to all the new members joining us today, don't panic, we're not a Nigerian Prince asking for money, we'll be with you weekly until the end of the Chertsey Cricket Club season with a weekly companion to all things CCC. If you want to know what's coming or going and any gossip in between (we tend to be 90% factually correct overall), your inbox is the place to be around about this time each week. Regular readers know not to be deceived by the "brief" in the title also, as we rarely are such is the enormity of the task, so apologies in advance. We hear reader experience is best served with a cup of tea and five minutes locked in a confined space somewhere just for info.
We also encourage you to follow us on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and now YouTube - links on the signature below) to keep up with the latest offerings, you never know what may take your fancy.
Opening the Batting
Join the Ladies & Girls Open Evening on May 9th...
Monday after next (the 9th) sees the Ladies & Girls hosting their annual open evening at the club after a hugely successful night last year. Whatever your age or ability you are most welcome - just register your interest with us by emailing us here at comms@chertseycc.org.uk.
The Ladies also open their account against Ashford in the Surrey Slam competition next Wednesday from 6pm, of which they excelled in last season btw, making it to the play off quarter finals no less - its 16 overs of fast, furious cricket so pop your head in and take a look as a precursor to the 9th. It's also Carli Weston's first game in charge of Ladies Slam, so come down and give her and the team your support. Bar's open...
CPL100.. Let the Carnage Begin...
This Saturday evening sees the return of the glamourous, effervescent (other superlatives are available) Chertsey Premier League with the yearly auction - but the competition is not as we know it...
The Chertsey Premier League (affectionately known as the CPL) is our IPL-inspired annual club tournament, back for its sixth year, and this time its got a little Hundred magic sprinkled on it, as for one year only, the CPL becomes... CPL100. How, what, why i hear you ask? Well in homage to the 100 Years at Grove Road centenary celebrations, the CPL will be adopting the exciting and fresh Hundred format for one year. One hundred years, one hundred balls. See what we did there.
The name's not the only thing that's new though - to make things a bit interesting the teams have all been given a £10m bonus to play with, making things a bit more interesting and making the war chest £30m plus. Plus? So depending on where they came in last year's tournament they get an extra, one, two, or three million (virtual) pounds to play with. We have a feeling it could finally be your year Bourne Stars.. We've also got some new kit on the way courtesy of our CPL team sponsors, and it looks schweeeeeet.
The CPL also has also had a bit of change in personnel in the off-season, and we have some fresh new captains to introduce you to:
Bourne Stars sponsored by Surrey Timbers - Jack Lloyd
Gogmore Knights sponsors by Lloyd O'Sullivan - Jamie Anthony
Meads Enforcers sponsored by Addlestone Therapy - Luke Westcott
Harry Nuti continues at the helm of the (Grove) Armada. They're sponsored by (deep breath) Eden Gate Automation, Grove Property Solutions, and Kwik Clear Drains.
The off-season deals and promises will all come down to this. It's all been very tight-lipped - weirdly we're not allowed to know any gossip. Come on, its not like we know thousands of people to share that info with virtually *side-eye*. Will the Armada talisman David Sloan make a surprise appearance? Who will nab the best bargain? Where will Eric the mystery new overseas end up? All this and more we will find out come 7.30pm Saturday. We released the rules here during the week, so expect fireworks and hopefully not terrible maths on our part like last year.
Evelyn's Taking the World By Storm!
Evelyn, one of our Blueberries team, is very lucky to have been picked to attend the World Scout Jamboree in Korea next year. As part of her fundraising she will be running a tuck shop most Fridays during Colts training. So bring your pocket money for some sweet treats after training!
Notable Mentions
The weekend started deceptively breezily for the (check mic) 1s and 2s (and those spectating); both teams playing Horsley & Send respectively in friendlies (1s away, 2s at home), and it was down to Dylan Pandya to bowl the first ball on the Edward Stern ground in our 100th year as residents. The 2s found themselves on a favourable deck for the bowlers, and the task of dismantling H&S a fairly easy one - Josh Fyfe with the first wicket of the season and Stuart Eagles amassing four wickets to help the averages come September, the end coming in the 37th over and Chertsey having just 95 to knock off, the bowling figures nice & tidy with just five wides amassed during the innings.
In return it was Paul Hardwick with 36 off 44 balls who came up trumps batting-wise, the majority of the bowlers spared the trip to the crease, with the job done within 21 overs. A positive start to the season.
Over at Horsley & Send (we were in awe of their flashy nets - watch this space for some developments our end btw..). The 1s, under the new management of Ben Hanger, were feeling the cold, if not more so than twenty-five minutes down the road at home. It's always been that way at Horsley & Send we've found... We arrived towards the end of the batting innings, an impressive 183 amassed, Elliott Bloomfield getting us underway there and a Dave Risk fifty achieved along the way. Bowling-wise Luke Westcott started with intent, with three legit shouts in his opening over alone which resulted in two quick wickets, and Karthik Menon was the man behind the sticks on this occasion with some cat-like reflexes to surprise the not only the H&S men but the spectators alike. Shyam Patel also impressing on club debut with 2 wickets courtesy of some mystery spin. H&S found themselves 64-4, but crumbled and were all out for 73. Two wins, so far so good.
SUNDAY saw Hugh Aish-Lyon's first foray into Captainhood too, with a balanced team at his disposal. We won't go into too much about the bowling innings (oppo Vishwa amassed 284-4 from their 35 overs), but batting-wise things started slow, and with eight-ish an over to be in with a chance, it needed something big. Step forward openers Mr Raj Bahbra and Vishnu Remesh, the latter now in his second year at Chertsey, who had a whale of a time teaching us all a lesson in how to wazz it into Gogmore Park. His opening partner Raj himself bagged a tidy fifty to start things off, and from his retirement things got more carnagey by the second; those in the crowd thinking it was a done deal disappearing off missed a treat as Vishnu went big and scored his maiden century for the club (just in time for the CPL Auction we see, like what you did there) and earning our first ever Bluecaps Champagne Moment of the Week, 23-odd more of those to hand out over the season. People actually came back in to see if he'd done it - Jake Taylor for one, the last player to score a Sunday Funday 100, popped his head in to see his record change hands. They nearly got to the total too, and as one of our favourite batting pairings set about it - Aish-Lyons & Latham (Cooper & Westcott, Karthik & Zeeshan all up there for info) they came close. But no cigar unfortunately. Still, 534 runs scored on a Sunday, the crowd certainly got their membo's worth. And we learnt a valuable lesson - you can never quite write the Sunday lot off.
We've fired up the YouTube and are reporting our results slightly differently this season, so now you can watch all the match highlights from the weekend here over on our channel via Bluecaps Bitesize and on the socials if you are that way inclined.
Seniors
Saturday 23rd April
WIN 1st XI 183 a/o v Horsley & Send 73 a/o (A) (Friendly)
Dave Risk 54, Luke Westcott, Jamie Anthony, Shyam Patel 2 wickets
WIN 2nd XI 98-5 v Horsley & Send 94 a/o (H) (Friendly)
Paul Hardwick 36, Stuart Eagles 4-19
Sunday 24th April
LOSS Sunday XI 250-3 v Vishwa CC 284-4 (H)
Vishnu Remesh 110, Mukund 2-28
Colts
Thursday 28th April
U11s v Egham
Scott Russell 20, Theo Edwards, Riley Kinge, Oscar Toogood 1 wicket
Fixture Card
This week sees the last of the Senior's friendly fixtures before the season starts proper next weekend (the 1s are still in need of a scorer, enquire within (there's £25 per game in it for you, nice chunky carrot there), and there are three teams getting a last run-out. Bank Holiday Monday also sees the first round in the Twenty20 Cup against Walton away from 12pm. We may even see new overseas Eric Osner in the flesh for the first time at some point.
The Colts and Ladies get their seasons underway proper too, with most Colts teams getting going - the Ladies with their first Slam game against Ashford on Wednesday at home with Carli Weston in her first game at Ladies Slam Captain.
We've also got the new for 2022 Monday Match, where each Colts side playing on a Monday night at the club will get a little bit of a glow-up, this time around its the U12 dev side against Staines & Laleham.
Go well all...
Saturday 30th April
1st XI v Old Rutlishians (H) - 12pm (Friendly)
2nd XI v Old Rutlishians (A) - 12pm (Friendly)
The Clubhouse, Poplar Road, Merton Park, Surrey, SW19 3JS
3rd XI v East Molesey (HRec) - 12pm (Friendly)
Sunday 1st May
Sunday XI v TBC
U15s v Royal Ascot
U14s v Hambledon
U11s v Weybridge
U10s v Thames Ditton
Monday 2nd May
Chertsey v Walton on Thames (A) - 12pm (Twenty20 Cup)
Ashley Park, Walton on Thames, Surrey, KT12 1ET
U15 dev v Crown Taverners
U14s v Valley End
U12 dev v Staines & Laleham - THE MONDAY MATCH
U11 dev v Ham & Petersham
Tuesday 3rd May
U13s v Thames Ditton
Wednesday 4th May
Ladies v Ashford (H) - 6pm (Surrey Slam)
Dates for Your Diary
30th April - Chertsey Premier League/CPL100 Auction from 7.30pm
5th May - First round of the Social League
7th May - First weekend of League cricket
29th May - CPL100 Round 1
12th June - 19th June - 100 Years at Grove Road Celebrations Week
26th June - CPL100 Round 2
10th July - Colts Day
17th July - President's Day
24th July - CPL100 Round 3
28th August - CPL100 Finals Day
2nd October - Cowpat Day
and finally...
With only six weeks to go until the 100 Years at Grove Road Celebrations things are moving along in earnest. Catch the jewel in the 10 Years at Grove Road week crown, a Chertsey CC XI v the Lords Taverners on Sunday 19th June from the comfort of your own marquee, including refreshments, for you and your guests. We still have some available, so book now to avoid disappointment - this is what you get for your buck:
100 Years at Grove Road Celebrations Marquee Hire
Price: £500 per tent
- 1 x case of Peroni
- 2 x bottles of Prosecco
- Traditional cricket tea for 10 people
- Dedicated bar staff for the duration of the match & 30 minutes before
- An opportunity to meet the Lords Taverners
- Opportunity to place advertising about their marquee advert in the programme
- Social media and website promotion
If you would like to take advantage of any of these packages, be quick as we've had lots of interest already, contact chertseycchire@outlook.org.uk soon as you can to avoid disappointment.
