CLUB
DEVELOPMENT
Davenham Cricket Club
has not been inactive
where improvements are
concerned. The project
committee comprising
primarily Colin Day,
Colin Jones, Bob Floyd,
Ged Wright, Stephen
Greaves and Ian Bentley
have pressed on with
improvements to the
club.
After re-furbishing the
nets in 2007 and the
kitchen in 2008, last
year was time to spend
some vital resource on
improvements to the
field and wicket. With a
new groundsman in place,
Ian Bentley has given
much needed focus and
energy to the issues we
faced. Equipment
initially was a major
concern with aging
machinery faltering
towards the end of the
2008 season after a
couple of year’s heavy
toil with the deluges we
have suffered over that
period. The outfield
mower acquired from
Northwich CC a number of
years ago finally gave
up and both the wicket
and square mowers
decided to retire at the
same time leaving major
problems. Initially we
acquired a set of gang
mowers from Weaverham
CC, which, although
getting on a bit,
provided an excellent
solution to the early
season cutting regime
when the grass was long
and damp with, as a
result, the ground
looking a picture in
early spring. Grants
from the ECB (Machinery
Fund) and Sport England
raised the £7500 to
cover the cost of a
replacement outfield
mower (John Deere),
which should provide
capability for the club
for a number of years to
come. Malcolm Holt was
instrumental in
acquiring a mower for
the square, donated by
Robert Sutherton of the
Spinner & Burgamot Pub
that has been a superb
addition to our
equipment. Repairs to
the wicket mower meant
we were back to a full
compliment of equipment
ready for the beginning
of the season.
The outfield was
slit, courtesy of Adrian
Smith, in the autumn of
2007 and the whole
ground sprayed, courtesy
of Chris Leach in early
summer. Both actions
have helped refresh the
outfield and remove some
of the weeds & moss that
have accumulated over
the years. A brush
attachment for the SISIS
machine has enabled much
dead grass to be removed
from the square during
the season and the
acquisition of a powered
sprayed, a super little
tool, has allowed more
controlled treatment and
feeding of the square.
All the above have
provided a start and are
moves in the right
direction to provide
much-improved wickets in
the seasons to come.
Having spent a lot of
time and resource on the
ground, next season,
2010, is the 125th
anniversary of Cricket
in Davenham and one that
we hope to celebrate
with a series of events
during the season. In
preparation for this we
are looking at
refurbishing the
clubhouse. The club have
some resource to plough
into the project but
ultimately it will be
external finance that
will determine the
extent to which we can
improve the size, design
and ambience of the
building. We have
applied for planning
permission to make some
minor external changes
and have received the
blessing of the Parish
Council for our efforts.
Applications have been
made to both WREN and
the Charterhouse
Charitable Trust for up
to £25k of funding
towards the project and
we hope to hear by the
end of the year whether
funding may be
forthcoming. We are
currently considering
backstop positions in
the event that these
external funding sources
may not be available. We
certainly hope to be in
a position to move
forward in the New Year
with the hope and desire
of having something
tangible to show off for
the start of next
season, our 125th.
Whilst continuing with
our capital
developments, the club
continues to grow,
building on the
successful introduction
of the U9 section a
couple of years ago, we
have introduced a Girls
section during 2009.
This expansion offers
challenges and we are
delighted to have 3
additional volunteers
taking up coaching
qualifications during
this Autumn / Winter. We
hope to attract more
volunteers as we move
forward in the future.
Colin Day
Club Development Officer
