Chairman's Annual Newsletter - Season 2021

Good day to all members,

I write this newsletter just one week out from the start of the new cricket season with plenty of information to share. 2020 efforts for both our teams were very admirable, with the 1st's making it out of the group stage and as far as the Semi-Final but were very unlucky to be closely beaten by YMCA 3 to miss out on the Final. Whilst our 2nd's team had a mixed bag with 50/50 results going our way. As you know it was a shortened season with a shift to T20 games only due to Covid, with no guaranteed promotion or relegation spots. Onwards and upwards for the 2021 season and I have confidence that we can achieve greater success this year. It was a great opportunity to include some of our budding youngsters in the 2nd’s team fixtures, with 2-3 of the lads taking part regularly with positive results for not only their development but for the progress and development of our Club.

The ‘Return to Training & Playing Protocol 2021’ was distributed to all members yesterday via the social media accounts and website: https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/wexfordwanderers/d/documents.html. It is also attached below. I encourage everyone to familiarise themselves with this document prior to the commencement of the season.

I would like to take a moment to give a big thanks to the outgoing 2020 committee members Haq Nawaz (1st team captain), Paul Messette (public relations officer) and Sami Jan (general committee member) whom all dedicated much time and effort into the day-to-day running of the club. There is a lot of work involved in keeping a club up and running, let alone being successful. I would also like to formally welcome the incoming committee members Sharjeel Shaikh (1st team captain), Stefan Carty (2nd team captain) Luca Forte (public relations officer) and Tony Murray (general committee member). Incumbent committee members that are continuing on are Sean Dunk (club secretary), Alan Murphy (fixtures secretary), Peter Hudson (treasurer), Herbie Honohan (youth coordinator), myself Attila Stahlut (club Chairman) and Liam McCormark (club president). Last but not least is our new Covid Officer for this year which is Carmel Moran, welcome aboard!

FIXTURES
The League season will start on the 7th June with the 1st’s Away to Terenure 2. In a change to the past, Cricket Leinster decided to centrally arrange all of the competitive fixtures this season (and future seasons). Our Fixture Secretary Alan Murphy will shortly arrange a number of Development/Taverners with local south-east clubs to ensure plenty of matches for all. Our first Home fixtures are scheduled for the 12th & 13th June.

• The 1st team will take part in Division 5 league again
• The 2nd team have been promoted to Division 14
• Both Senior teams will take part in their respective T20 cups (YMCA Salver & Minor Cup).
• Unfortunately, due to the slightly shortened season the 40 over Cups will not be ran this year.

All presently scheduled competitive Fixtures have been inputted into the Club’s Pitchero website/app, and this will once again be the primary method for players to advise of their availability for selection.

DEVELOPMENT / TAVERNERS TEAM
Development/Taverners fixtures will be primarily scheduled across the school holiday period of July & August as per usual, to ensure as many youths as possible can partake. Herbie Honahan and Peter Hudson will co-ordinate the team and liaise with the youths and their parents accordingly.

Ensuring we have an active Development/Taverners team is important as it gives youths somewhere to play on their progression into senior cricket. An amount of responsibility is to be given to the youth players with direction and support provided by fellow senior players (part-timers, those retired from senior cricket, parents of the youths, etc).

JUNIOR & SCHOOLS CRICKET
Herbie and Peter as usual have been busy lining up many of the schools in the county for youth cricket. So far they have confirmed one-day visits to 24 Primary Schools before the end of June.

• The Youth cricket will continue as per previous seasons with weekly training and friendly matches being arranged. Herbie and Peter to advise further via a meeting with parents once the season kicks off.
• Herbie & Peter recently paid a visit to Transition year St Peters College with 126 students participating.
• Unfortunately, the creation of the new 'inter-schools wexford cup' competition which is to be called the Crossy Cup (the same cup previously used between Pheonix and Wexford has had to be postponed for another year due to Covid as the mixing of schools is not permitted at present. Fingers crossed for next year as it is sure to bring added excitement and exposure to our sport across the county.

SELECTION PROCEDURES
A 'Selection Committee' has been setup again, following on from its implementation last season to ensure fair selection processes. The selection committee for 2021 comprises of the following:

• 1st Team Captain (Sharjeel Shaikh),
• 2nd Team Captain (Stefan Carty)
• Neutral Committee Member (Sean Dunk).

Whilst the team captains will still largely be responsible for selecting their weekly lineups, the cross-referencing and agreement between the selection committee will be required and a weekly discussion prior to naming of the teams is to take place accordingly.
As per last season, there will also be a concerted effort to include junior players into the 2nd's team.

IMPORTANT: Annual membership fees are due to be paid IN FULL by June 30 in order to gain selection for all 3 teams (this is as per previous seasons and Club Constitution). However, inline with recent Cricket Leinster policy all prospective members MUST be registered on the Cricket Leinster website before being allowed to train or play, in addition to having arranged payment of their annual subscription with the Club. If you need to arrange a payment plan, please arrange this with Peter Hudson (Treasurer) directly. Membership fees can be paid via cash to either of the team captains or the treasurer, or deposited directly in the club bank account.

GROUND MAINTENANCE
Work on the ground to prepare it for the upcoming season has commenced. Eugene Brennan has offered his skills and time to do the pitch preparation this year (aka Lead Groundsman), and I’m sure he will appreciate any offers of help from those that can spare the time.

As you know we have a traditional grass pitch which requires a lot of work and upkeep. Being a small club with limited funds we need members to help as much as possible, be it watering, rolling, painting the lines, etc. Many hands make light work so please talk to myself or Eugene directly throughout the season if you're able to offer a helping hand at all.

ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS
It was decided by the committee to keep our annual membership fees the same as 2020. The club has a lot of outgoing expenses such as ground rental, insurance, grass seed, grass cutting, petrol for mowers, equipment, cricket balls, etc etc. In order to meet these expenses the club has to ensure its income is viable.

Please note that Wexford Wanderers Cricket Club still offer one of the cheapest memberships across all of the clubs in Cricket Leinster.

• The 2021 fee structure is broken down on a flyer which is viewable on the website: https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/wexfordwanderers/d/documents.html and is also attached below.

CLUB KIT
Our Secretary Sean Dunk has previously in 2020 setup a Club Shop with SHREY in the UK and last season saw us trot out in branded Wexford Wanderers 'Club Kit'. This club shop is accessible via this link: https://www.shreysports.co.uk/teamwear/wexford-cricket-club (password is 872020), with many club branded items available for purchase (clothing, jackets, equipment, etc).

The 2021 season brings in a new mandatory requirement by Cricket Leinster for ‘Coloured Kits’ to be worn in all T20 Cup games. Sean Dunk has put in a lot of work with another clothing kit supplier in NI called Grizzly, and the committee agreed on a new club branded kit design consisting of the Wanderers colours of Navy Blue/Light Blue. The club has subsidised a portion of these kits for those members that paid their memberships upfront at the start of the year. Additional ‘spare’ kits have been purchased, so those members that have joined the club more recently will be able to purchase these from the club directly if required. Please contact Sean Dunk for details if you would like to purchase your own colour kit separately.

FUEL SUBSIDIES
The fuel subsidies that have been in place for previous seasons was removed by the 2020 Committee, and the same approach has been agreed by the 2021 Committee. The €5 per player match fee actually brings in a lot of crucial revenue for the club, and is better off going into the club bank account.

Those that are getting a lift with others to Away games will need to make their own arrangements with the driver privately regarding contributions for fuel. This will also encourage us to car-pool more efficiently, leaving a smaller carbon footprint on the environment at the same time.

FUNDRAISING
Our public relations officer Luca Forte, with help from other committee members has been very busy throughout the pre-season and managed to secure a couple of very valuable sponsors. AHM Constructions are our main sponsor for 2021, and as such we will wear their company logo on the front of our new T20 kit. Bolands Mercedes Benz are also on board as a club sponsor. We have also received some generous amounts from private sponsors. These additional funds have allowed us to purchase a brand-new (& much needed) Scorers Shed which is now in place at the ground.

Regarding our traditional fundraising activities (e.g, Quiz Night, Club Raffle, Annual Dinner Dance, etc), it is still unsure with Covid as to exactly what we may or may not be able to proceed with this season. The committee will look at this more later on once restrictions allow more activity.

TRAINING
Seniors Training will commence next week on Wednesday 12th May at 6:30pm and recur every following Wednesday for the entire season. For those that can’t make the midweek session (or just need extra time in the nets, etc) we have also arranged Sunday training sessions commencing 16th May at 11:00am and continuing for 4 consecutive Sundays until the season fixtures start. Once the competitive season commences, we are looking at bringing in a Friday afternoon/evening session to replace the Sunday session.

The numbers that attended training last year was absolutely phenomonal, which was great to see for the development of our Club. It would be wonderful to see similar numbers take part again this year. Just like last year, the Wednesday training sessions will follow a bit of a 'structured approach' with a couple of our more experienced players setting up targeted drills and activities, instead of just blind netting.

IMPORTANT: Due to Covid requirements it is mandatory that all members attending training advise their attendance by marking themselves as ‘available’ in advance of turning up. The Club has a duty of care to ensure numbers attending training are inline with government guidelines, as well as having an electronic record of attendance. Your cooperation in regards to this matter is greatly appreciated.

CONCLUSION
That's all from me for now. Here's to another great season full of success for Wexford Wanderers, but most importantly to great friendships, camaraderie and having the banter and craic. See you all on the pitch.
Regards, Attila
Chairman.