We have been busy over the winter making some significant improvements to the ground and facilities.

The entire perimeter of the ground has been cleared of undergrowth allowing a far more attractive view and more importantly, the easy finding of balls. We are also intending to erect a fence along the bottom of the 3rd and 4th team ground for even easier ball finding.

The entire outfield has been verti-drained and we have added further outfield drainage to make the ground as playable as possible, especially after the recent deluge, before the season the outfield will be over seeded too to provide a better grass coverage and Jamie has been busy ensuring the squares at Hutton remain as good as ever and Graham at Mountnessing the same.

The showers at Hutton have been improved with a pump for a greater pressure too and all changing facilities will be deep cleaned before the season.

Please carefully read all attachments and ensure you complete all documents even if a long-standing member as we are looking to update all databases to allow better communications etc.

Signing on night (subject to any changes of Government and ECB advice for cricket clubs) will be on Friday the 27th March and we would love to see you all and receive all signing on forms and payments then, look out for the new Golden Membership on the fees schedule.

If you can't make the 27th March please ensure the attached order forms and signing on forms are returned to Darren Tredgett , 13 Woodway, Hutton, Brentwood, Essex, CM13 2JH prior to the 1st April.

There will also be a players social (full details of a fun night coming soon) on the 25th April so ensure you are playing that day and join us for what we hope to establish as an early season event to rival Karaoke Night.

As I write the weather is warm and the sky is unbroken blue. So, we should be looking forward to the clocks going forward this weekend, outdoor nets next week and the start of a full season in four weeks time. Instead, most of us are confined to home (thanks to all of you working in the NHS or as carers or delivery drivers) getting our fix of cricket by playing Howzat or watching DVDs of the 2005 Ashes series.

We are following the ECB’s advice and have ceased all cricket and social activities until further notice. There will be no professional cricket until the end of May at the earliest and we are assuming that we’ll be on a similar timetable. Indeed, we think it most probable that we won’t get going until July, if there is any cricket at all in 2020. In the meantime, we are continuing to prepare the pitches at the Polo Fields and Mountnessing so that we can start playing as soon as we have the go ahead.

However, the big problem we face is the club’s financial position. April and May are our two biggest months for income generation as people pay their annual subscriptions and we start to generate match fees and bar income. In a normal year we generate around £15,000 in these months. We will not have this in 2020.

Our full year, fixed costs are around £21,000 which covers the cost of running the pavilion, insurance, grounds costs and affiliation fees. Last year we made a small trading surplus but without cricket at the ground we will run out of money quite quickly. We on the committee are working hard to reduce costs but our big need is to generate cash.

So we have a request to you all. For those of you that are able, please pay your annual subscriptions as normal. This will cover you for this season and you will get a proportional discount for 2021. For those of you who are not able to make a full payment even a part payment of £50 towards your subscription would help us to be in a position to survive in the current climate– again this will be offset against the fees for this year and next.

Our bank account details are:
Account Number: 45378460
Sort code: 56 00 47
If you wish to pay by debit or credit card, please phone Darren Tredgett on 07967 380303 or you can pay online via the website.

In the next week or so, we will be looking at ways of generating income in non-traditional and virtual ways. Some of the suggestions so far have included a virtual tea party, a bonus ball competition linked to the national lottery and an on-line quiz. Please support these initiatives and let us have any other ideas you can come up with. Our social secretaries Cathy Bough and Alison Southgate would love to hear from you: -

Until we can meet up once again at the Polo Field, we will keep in touch with all members through the club website and social media pages and the occasional direct mail.

Until then I wish you all good health and a speedy end to the current crisis.