Jesse Bishop was re-elected as First Team Captain. Kevin Sibley remains as Vice-Captain and Chairman Ben Hosford continues his dual role as Second Team Skipper. Greg Passingham is the new Second Team Vice-Captain and has also taken over from Richard Davis as Secretary. Laurie Jones has decided to stand down as Third Team Captain and will be replaced by Chris Rawlings.
The meeting began with reflections on the life of Roger Bird who had sadly passed away. Roger had been involved in the club for more than seventy years and had carried out nearly every role in the club. After he finished playing, he continued as umpire and was a great supporter of youth cricket. His presence at club matches will be sorely missed.
In his annual report, the Chairman said that it had been a challenging year, beginning with the weather, which affected both the preparation for the season and the season itself, and forcing a number of wash outs and rain affected games. The general drop in availability and commitment to cricket continued but Hosford said that this is not an issue isolated to Timsbury Cricket Club. He said that there was natural disappointment that the First Team will be playing Division 1 cricket next season. However, he had no doubt that the club can bounce back under Jesse’s leadership, and assured the Captain that the club would do everything in its power to support him.
Hosford said that the Under 19s and in particularly to Captain Will Rawlings, deserve great credit for their season which ended on a high with two wins after a couple of years of incredibly hard graft and the under 15s too finished in winning style. All Stars and Dynamos were again a great success and the chairman thanked Dan Hill and many others who worked to make it all worthwhile.
“We saw everything that is great about our club in the planning and delivery of the Charity fundraiser in memory of Jer Thompson and Richard Ford on the 27th August,” said Hosford. “ It’s overwhelming to know that we all helped raise well over £13k for two fantastic charities. To see the large crowds, the Lords team enjoying being back together again and younger current players showcasing their skills was amazing”.
Plans were announced for a major club room development thanks to funding from the Somerset Cricket Board obtained under the stewardship of Bid Manager Mike Passingham . Plans are also afoot to celebrate one hundred and fifty years of Timsbury cricket in 2025.
M Tucker