As we approach the halfway point in the year, time for an update on how the fundraising is going.
We managed to circulate our fundraising letter ( printed to high quality thanks to the efforts of Andy Healy ) and the fixture booklet to every house in Bidborough so everybody in the village is aware of our aspirations for a new pavilion – we have received some generous donations already and can hope for some more money as we continue to publicise our plans.
The next big push is the raffle – we have (optimistically ?) printed 6000 tickets which will sell at £2 or hopefully £10 for a book of 5. We believe we will get a good response from the village but the real success is widening the appeal to friends,work colleagues and others outside our narrow confines and we are looking for EVERYBODY and we do mean EVERYBODY to put their hands up and sell as widely as possible.
There are some great prizes – holiday weeks in Switzerland, Devon and Suffolk, cookery course, driving a steam train, box at Twickenham, golf at Holyte, meal at the Kentish Hare, leg of lamb but the real attraction for cricketers is the chance to have your own bat made at the Gray-Nicolls factory. We need to thank all our donors of prizes most sincerely but a special thank you to Richard and Amanda Gray – not only have they got their son back from his time in both Americas to play for us but they have particularly generous in the range of prizes on offer.
Selling will run through July and August and we want to sell to every opposition team on a Saturday night both home and away – most of them look like they need a new bat so let us target at least 25 tickets from every team on every Saturday night – that should get rid of 750 tickets, only 5000 to go !
In club news, the Chairman has again gone on holiday and the sides have kept winning – this has led some to suggest a new Moore’s Theorem – the more time spent away from Bidborough, the more successful the Club. We trust this is proved to be false as he threatens to be seen occasionally in July although at least one more trip is lined up.
In fact the league record is remarkable, 19 wins out of 24 to date with one abandoned. For sad stattos everywhere, no losses at home – I’m sure Robin and Tolly can tell us when we last got to end of June with an unbeaten home record. We do enjoy the tracks that Ray produces so well.
The other reason why the Chairman is not around may be due to the fact the need for engraving seems to be happening on a weekly basis. The Treasurer was already saying that the costs were rocketing – trouble is that he added to them at the weekend. However a true sign that some excellent individual performances are happening within some great team efforts.
The thirds lead the way with seven wins with their sole defeat against Hollingbourne – newcomers to the league this year and clearly several divisions away from where they will end up. The mix of youth and experience produced very different voting patterns in the General Election but this side are all pulling together under one manifesto organised by Clint – it is good to see at least one South African having a good cricketing summer ! Delighted to see Dylan become the first third team player to get on the board with five wickets and like London buses, Matt followed up a week later. Who will get the first hundred – Mark and Peter have gone close while not sure which Beazleigh is now first on the team sheet – Mark having made a very good intro to Saturday cricket.
The first team have put their opening day wobble behind them and now engaging in case of anything you can do, I can do better. Following Charlie’s hundred v Bearsted, James has followed with two of his own while in the bowling stakes, Robin took five v Meopham so spin twin Tim decided to take six against Four Elms the next week. So six wins on the bounce and the Captain is feeling a bit better and now considering himself an allrounder after three wickets on Saturday but as Bernie Madoff proved, you can fool people for quite a long time.
The second team win three, then lose one , win three, lose one but generally they look a good side with Pat and Eli egging each other on to score most runs – Eli hit a fine century against Kemsing. They hold the record for shortest game bowling Halstead out for 37 with Matt and George A both grabbing five wickets so they were finished by the time football starts – now that football starts at any time in the day that becomes a meaningless statement but older readers will know what I meant. They continue to progress well on the fines front with Al’s Court now attracting spectators from far and wide – being an Aussie or a Northerner are already considered guilty offences but the European Court of Justice is now considering whether having gone to school in Tunbridge Wells is also deserving of punishment – after all it does lead to bad driving on Westminster Bridge. George B continues to lead the side with quiet authority although he did get quite vocal when an opposition player suggested the sidescreen had been erected in the wrong place.
Elsewhere the wins go on – the Greensands team have won three out of three – BYG may have levelled their ground but we managed to level them – Al has bragging rights for the moment. The Under 15s are also unbeaten and managed to beat Tunbridge Wells with comparative ease – now that is a statement which does not crop up too often. Sundays are playing a mass of cricket with lots of the youngsters involved with Captain Dale getting a hundred last weekend.
So things look good – perhaps too good – so we now need to get our fundraising up where our teams are – at or about the top of the table.
Scratchcards are making £20 per Saturday night so £180 so far – keep it going. Fines are healthy and we do need to sell those raffle tickets. Perhaps we should raise some money to send the Chairman on another holiday if the Theorem has any credence. Again it is incumbent on EVERYBODY to do their bit to help.
So midsummer has passed but please tell Dan the clocks went forward in March – otherwise we have a lot to play for to make this not only a great season but a fantastic one. The Fundraising Committee are meeting this week and plan a Children in Need style announcement on the total raised to date so stand by for that and do your bit to increase it by the time of the next announcement.
Bowls Club v Cricket Club at bowls on Friday evening from 6.00 pm – great to have your support at the event
David Shepherdson