Cricket week

The annual festival of cricket is being held as usual at the cricket club. There is cricket played each day from Monday 4th August through to Friday 8th August. After each game the pavilion is open to all for a drink and a home-cooked meal. Everyone is welcome and it is a great opportunity to meet some friendly faces from the village. If you want to play, sign up on the lists that will be posted to the notice board in the pavilion or send me an email. On the Friday of cricket week, the nets will be formally dedicated to the memory of John MacDonald. Click here for further information or contact Simon Jones on 01483 892860.

John Macdonald memorial cricket match

You may remember that two years ago we held a "John Macdonald Memorial" cricket match on the Friday of our annual Cricket Week to mark the passing in 2005 of a valued friend who was for very many years the main driving force behind the development of Blackheath Cricket Club. On that day the "ceremonial" aspect was somewhat lacking, partly because we had no tangible memorial to him. We felt that it warranted something more than a bench or a plaque, but we hadn't yet decided what that should be.

At the start of the 2008 season we built a new set of practice nets, incorporating three wickets, proper bowlers' run-ups and so on. In the best traditions of Blackheath these were constructed on a tight budget, largely with volunteer labour, and they went straight into full-time use in May. Since then they have been in constant use, with almost 100 boys between the ages of 8 and 18 receiving regular coaching in them, and the benefits to the club are already becoming apparent. Roughly half of the players in our adult teams are now aged between 15 and 25, with many talented young players soon to follow them, we hope.

John was passionate about the game, and about Blackheath in particular. He recognised the importance of young players within the club and he would very much have approved of this latest development. We have therefore decided to dedicate the new nets in his memory. On the Friday of this year's Cricket Week (8th August) we will be playing against a President's XI, captained by Duncan Hollowood and featuring several ex-Blackheath players including Andrew Macdonald. After the game, at around 8pm, Andrew and his family will help us to unveil a plaque to mark this dedication.

This will be a very simple ceremony, and the cricket match itself is not intended to be quite the major "re-uniting of the clans" that we had in 2006, but it would be great to see as many as possible of those who knew John, and indeed some of the many new faces at the club who did not, to help us mark the occasion. If you can make it that day then you would, as always, be very welcome. Graham Webb.

Blackheath boy plays at Lord's (30/06/2008)

Alan Cope, who earlier this season made his first class debut for Loughborough UCCE, today captains them in the MCC Universities Challenge final against Leeds/Bradford UCCE at Lord's. Last time they played there in 2005 their star bowler was a certain M.Panesar.

Last week Alan led them to victory in the 20/20 version of the same competition. His chance to captain comes as a result of regular captain Matt Spriegel having been promoted into the 1st XI at Surrey.

http://www.lords.org/latest-news/news-archive/mcc-universities-final-preview,1091,NS.html

New nets ready to use

A magnificent new practice facility was unofficially opened at the Blackheath Cricket Club on Thursday 8th May 2008. Representing the Gentlemen, Mr. N.Harrison received the very first delivery from G.Webb (Players). Sadly this was a wide (!!), but the young men of the Under 15 squad then took over and normal service was resumed, with a rapid delivery from Henri Peters to Ben Hodges breaking one of the brand new wickets purchased for the occasion.

The new nets, to be named in memory of the "father" of the club John MacDonald, who died in 2006, will be officially opened very soon. Details to follow.

Special thanks to Nick Harrison for managing this ambitious project and to Brian Hibberd for the man power, together with Terry, Colin, Graham and Richard, to name just a few.

Blackheath boy makes his first class debut

Alan Cope, who grew up at Cobbins on the boundary at Blackheath and has played for us on numerous occasions including last year's Cricket Week, made his First Class debut on Wednesday 7th May 2008. Representing Loughborough UCCE against Worcestershire he top scored in his side's first innings with 51.

Club shirts

This season we have new good quality Blackheath Cricket Club shirts. The details of the shirts are:
Finden and Hales 3/4 length sleeve shirts with our Blackheath club logo on the left breast.
Sizes are available for children from 6 upwards through to xlarge adults.
They are available to buy (£20 for colts and £25 for adults) from the club on Friday nights and in pavilion during the week and weekends.
Please, please BUY ONE as this is a fund-raising exercise and not just providing smart club shirts for matches!
Any queries please contact Jayne Barlow on 01483 893169 or email - themewshouse@aol.com