COLTS CRICKET UPDATE - 30/04/2020
Posted by Laurie Cadle on 30 April 2020
Dear Parents & Young Pheasants
We hope we find you all safe and well in these strange times.
We’ve now reached what would have been the second week of our scheduled Colts cricket season. We are so sorry that we, and every other cricket club has been left with no choice but to delay our season.
Please see a number of updates below regarding the next few months
- Covid-19 delays on recreational cricket as directed by the ECB
- Payed fees/subscriptions
- Barnes CC plans for returning to cricket
Season delays
As we announced a month or so ago, recreational cricket remains suspended upon the recommendation of the England & Wales Cricket Board.
For this reason, until further notice, we are unable to begin club activities, or open our club’s cricket nets for your own training pleasure or for private coaching sessions.
As soon as this changes, we will announce it instantaneously both our mailing list and on this website.
The ECB are meeting with government and medical advisors this week in an effort to acquire some clarity for the wider cricketing community.
Paid Subscriptions and Fees
Those who have paid either subscription fees for the summer term or fees for the postponed Easter camp are able to use these fees as credit for any future programme with Barnes CC.
Anyone requiring their fees to be refunded, please let me know and this can be processed for you.
I must also remind you that the social use of our club nets (when they re-open) is for members only, ie. those who have an up-to-date subscription paid.
Timescales
The professional game is currently pushed back until the 1st July at the earliest, as is the Barnes CC senior league season.
We must currently assume that Colts cricket will follow the same timescale, although there may be scope for the ECB to allow Colts Cricket in accordance with what schools are scheduling.
We remain in hope that we can at least begin training in some capacity before this date comes around. If these hopes come to fruition, we will of course let you know.
What happens when we do start?
There are a number of scenarios that we may find ourselves being able to take part in during the second half of the summer.
- A rescheduled league season
There is a chance that the colts leagues could be rescheduled for later in the summer, possibly in some reduced capacity. We are constantly in conference with league organisers along with other clubs to ensure that the maximum amount of cricket can be played.
- Age group coaching
If given the go-ahead to play cricket in July, we will schedule coaching for each age group, whether we play league cricket or not.
If schools re-open, we will aim to run some evening coaching much in the normal fashion for year 5 upwards, and weekend coaching for our younger members (years 1-4).
If schools do not re-open, there may be some scope to run day-time coaching sessions to work in conjunction with home schooling schedules. Maybe you could do your weekly PE with us...??
- Festivals and friendly matches
If no league cricket is played but matches are allowed, we will endeavour to organise friendly fixtures and one-day festivals for all the teams in.
Ideas include 8-a-side pairs festivals, twenty20 round-robin tournaments and a Hundred Ball festival to embrace the ECB’s brand new franchise tournament format.
- Cricket camps
Where government directives allow, we will be organising a number of cricket camps; more than our usual two summer camps. We’d hope that these would go some way to making up for the considerable amount of cricket lost in the early weeks of the summer. Full scheduling of these are naturally to be confirmed.
With so much unknown surrounding the season, please keep a close eye on your mailbox and our website to keep up to speed with the latest developments.
If you have any questions, queries, thoughts, worries or simply just want to talk cricket, please don’t hesitate to give me a call or drop me a mail.
All the very best to you and your families and we hope to see you all very soon.
Laurie Cadle
Head of Colts Cricket
colts@barnescc.co.uk