This coming Saturday would have been the opening weekend fixture of the summer for Yoxford CC. While next week we would have seen begin all our weekly coaching and practice sessions at Grove Park.

The summer of 2019 was historic for English cricket while our club continued to expand positively with new members and teams. So we were obviously looking forward to another fantastic summer that would have seen us grow cricket even further at Yoxford. Sadly none of this will be possible in immediate weeks and months.

At some point cricket will resume at Yoxford and the club commitee is working hard to ensure Grove Park will be ready and waiting when that happens. But like so many aspects of life the club will not come through this unscathed.

The club committee is taking all possible action to reduce costs while cricket is suspended and are also actively pursuing emergency funds being offered by both the ECB and Sport England. However some reoccuring costs are unavoidable and essential work must continue if we are going to retain any chance of cricket being played at Grove Park later this summer.

During April and May the club would usually benefit from the influx of members annual subscriptions as we prepare for a new season.

So in this unprecedented situation we are launching a Start of Summer Appeal to our members. We hope you can support the club during this period of financial uncertainty and help minimise the impact of what is for now the total loss of our income.

If you can afford to - we are asking each household to consider making a £25 payment to the club to mark what would have been the start of our club summer.

Online payments are preferable : Yoxford Cricket Club, SortCode: 20-92-08 Account No: 70993735

For those who may wish to support the club even more generously - please contact us at info@yoxfordcc.co.uk to discuss our options joining as a Vice President of the club.

This appeal is being made to members and friends of the club as well as our local community for which Grove Park is an asset.

For playing members this £25 will be treated as an advance on any subscription (reduced) and playing fees the club charges when cricket resumes this summer. In the grim situation that no cricket whatsoever is possible this season - the sum will become a donation to help the club cope with this worst case scenario.

We very much hope our members can support the club during this difficult period, but we understand not everyone will be able to do so because of the impact on personal finances as our members jobs and businesses suffer a similar impact at this time.

Wether you can help the club or not - our best wishes to you and your families at this time.

#StaySafeStayHome

Kind regards.

On behalf of the Management Committee
Yoxford Cricket Club