I hope you're all looking forward to the new season – less than 4 weeks to go! League fixtures start on Easter Saturday 19th April. Fixtures should now appear in Pitchero and are also available at https://ashley.play-cricket.com/Matches

Our volunteers have been working hard during the winter to prepare for the new season. I have listed some of things that you might be interested in below.

Women and Girls Cricket
I am delighted to report that our women’s team and girls' team will be playing some soft-ball league games this season, captained by Liz Greening and Freya Jones. We are looking for more members! Jon Jessop and John Greening have made an application to Savills’ Managing to Give grant scheme for funds to go towards coaching and equipment.

Switch from indoor to outdoor nets
Indoor nets at BTH are coming to an end this week, and your captains and coaches will be in touch to let you know when outdoor nets start. The ground is looking good so keep your fingers crossed for dry weather!

All Stars and Dynamos
Bookings are now open for our programmes for younger children. If you know a boy or girl who would like to give cricket a try, please spread the word!

All Stars is for boys and girls in Reception to Year 4
https://ecb.clubspark.uk/Book/68839ba6-6fe8-42a6-9fbc-a0ae86fa2afe?venue=ashley

Dynamos is for girls in years 4 to 9 inclusive
https://ecb.clubspark.uk/Book/506b013e-10af-4404-90ae-2ba400f17af1?venue=ashley

Overseas player for 2025
Pierz Cyster is a 23 year-old all-rounder from Western Province in South Africa. We have an offer to host him from a family in Ashley and the final arrangements are being made for him to come over in late April. Pierz will be strengthen the first team and will helping our volunteer junior coaches. You can meet him on Quiz Night, Friday April 25th, and he will make his playing debut the following day, Saturday April 26th.

Dates for your diary, come and have fun and support the club!

• Quiz night, and meet Pierz April 25th
• O40s cup at Chester Boughton Hall Sun May 11th
• Race Night Fri Jun 6th
• President’s Golf Day possible dates Fri June 13th or Fri June 20th
• Sponsor’s Day Thu June 26th
• Sale Sharks Supporters v Alty FC supporters Fri June 27th
• Club Fun Day tbc Sun June 29th
• Junior BBQ tbc Sat July 12th
• Past players meet-up tbc Sat July 19th
• President’s XI match Bank Holiday Mon August 25th
• Last league games, senior and junior presentations, Sat September 13th

Lottery grant - 'Creating a Community Asset'
We have started to spend the £20k Lottery grant on improvements to the interior and exterior of the clubhouse. You will notice new carpet, new ceiling and freshly painted walls (thanks to Steve Prichard). Unfortunately, we have been unable to afford the planned car park extension because of the additional rent proposed by Tatton Estates, but we will be improving the state of the access road, and mending the fence between the ground and the donkey field.

Sport England drainage grant
We have received £15k from Sport England to improve the outfield drainage. The existing drains will be cleared before the season starts, and some new drains will be laid in September/October.

New mower
We have taken out an interest-free loan with ECB for a new Dennis mower.

Cheshire Cricket grant - 'Creating a Welcoming Environment'
We have received a grant of £7.5k from Cheshire to go towards the cost of a project to build a raised terrace at the level of the existing veranda. We will have to raise a similar amount through a crowdfunding project. A planning application is going in soon.

FCC grant application
The Landfill Communities Fund supports non-profit organisations like ours within a ten mile radius of a landfill site. We first need planning permission for a more ambitious version of the terrace extension, and then will be applying for this grant. If successful, we might be able to open up the bar area to the terrace with new glass doors.

Thanks to our sponsors
Reside – thanks to John Greening
Vision Cricket – thanks to Phil Mcguire
The Framing Shop – thanks to Debbie Gresty
Sai Spice - thanks to the Nuthalapati family

Good luck to our captains for the 2025 season
Alex Morfitt 1st XI
Salman Baig 2nd XI
Jon Lloyd 3rd XI
Aamar Iqbal 4th XI
Joe Winstanley 5th XI

New Club Safeguarding Officer
Emma Taylor is working hard at reviewing and updating our safeguarding arrangement to make sure we look after our junior members. She can be contacted at mrsemmajtaylor@gmail.com

New players are always welcome, for more details please contact
Juniors Andy Murray andy.murray@neuven.co.uk
Seniors Nick Liddell nickliddell8@hotmail.com

I look forward to seeing you all at the club soon, and I hope you have a great season!

Patrick Doyle
Chair