Dear Members and Friends of Eymet Cricket Club,
 
The new cricket season is now only a matter of a few weeks away and we are keen to tell you about some of the things which are happening this year at Eymet Cricket Club. The Committee have been busy during the winter months and we have been focussing our attention on seven main areas:
 
1. Training Facilities & Ground Improvements
2. Player and Social Member Subs
3. Fund Raising
4. The 2010 Fixture List
5. Encouraging the Social Side of the Club
6. Communication
7. Finding New (particularly younger) Members
 
We would like to tell you a little bit about all of these.
 
1. Training Facilities & Ground Improvements
 
As some of you will be aware, the concrete base for a new training strip has already been laid. We have now purchased the net to enclose the batting area and are close to sourcing the scaffolding which will support it. We are hoping to get the batting carpet out of storage in the next week or so with the aim of getting the training nets fully operational by the time of the first training session, scheduled for 6.30pm on 8th April. 
 
In addition, we are in the process of revamping the old club bowling machine. This faithful club servant was shelved some years ago following an identity crisis as apparently it would randomly select between deliveries from either Michael Holding or Derek Underwood with no prior warning. Excellent from a variety perspective, potentially lethal from a personal health one. Hopefully this schizophrenia will be sorted prior to it being unleashed on the Eymet batting line-up.
 
We have also set aside some money for improvements to the covered area adjacent to the stand. It is an extremely useful facility but feel that it could do with a bit of a revamp. We are therefore planning to put in a gravel base over the coming few weeks in order to provide a slightly more civilised area for match teas and other social events.
 
We will be sending out a separate e-mail shortly asking for your help in getting this work completed. As always, we would be extremly grateful for any support that you may be able to provide us. 
 
2. Player and Social Member Subs

Despite increasing financial pressure, we have decided to maintain player subs at €50 per season. With the improvements mentioned above, we will hopefully be able to provide better facilities for playing members without any additional cost to them. After much debate, we also decided that we could not, hand on heart, continue to charge Social Members €10 per season. We have therefore decided to abolish the Social Member subs for the timebeing. That does not mean to say of course that we do not appreciate the ongoing support of the friends of the Club whether financially or otherwise - we will continue to be extremely grateful for any support or donations that we receive! 

 
3. Fund Raising
 
The Club has held two extremely successful Quiz Nights this year, raising a very respectable amount of money for the Club. It never ceases to amaze me personally the time and effort that people are prepared to put in to making these evenings a success and particular thanks must go to Liz and Glyn Taylor and Clin Bond. 

4. The 2010 Fixture List
 
Fixtures have now been settled and we have an exciting summer's cricket to look forward to (see attachment). As well as the usual league and cup games, we have an interesting fixture against the France U-17 team (to which we are going to invite the Eymet Mayor) on 4th July and a number of games against English touring teams.  ECC will also be hosting the League Pool Play-offs on 31st July & 1st August, in which we will hopefully be featuring. We would be delighted to welcome you to any of these games.

5. Encouraging the Social Side of the Club
 
Reading newsletters from years gone-by and listening to long-standing members, it is clear to the Committee that the social side of Eymet CC is not what it was. We cannot promise to reach those dizzy heights again but we would like to try and put some life back into the social side of the Club. With this in mind, we are trying to arrange some more social events, namely:
 

• Drinks on the first Thursday of every month, following the evening training session.  It would be great to see a few of you there for a cold beer and a bit of a gossip (probably in due course about England's woeful performance in the World Cup) 
• Members' day to be held at home match against Bordeaux on 6 June. Details to follow
• Ladies’ day to be held later in the season, again details to follow.

 
6. Communication
 
The Committee is committed to keeping you informed about what is going on at the Club. Match reports, a summary of decisions made by the Committee plus any other news effecting the Club will be sent to you via e-mail on a regular basis. We are also anxious to hear your views - on any subject - about what you think we can do to improve the Club and how it is run. Please feel free to e-mail me or any of the Committee members directly and we will endeavour to get back to you with a sensible reply as soon as we can.  

7. Finding New Members
 
As ever, the Club is in desperate need of new members, particularly as some of the stalwarts from previous seasons will not be playing for us this year. We have had some success over the winter, particularly with the "Eymet Cricket Club" stand at the recent Eymet Sports Relief Mile, but we would urge you all please to continue spreading the word. Thank you.
 
I hope that I will get the chance to see as many of you as possible over the course of the summer,
 
Tim Smith
President