After best endeavours by all parties, this weekend’s opening team match with Ember is cancelled. Neither club could safely commit to playing on their greens.
We still intend to reopen our green at the earliest opportunity and certainly for Club Night on Tuesday 2nd May.
It’s a disappointing start to the season but hopefully it’s all for the better .. as some of you may know it’s been decided to close the green for the time being! The green is too heavy and needs time to dry out. As a precaution the first team match on Sunday 30th (a friendly vs Ember) has been switched to an away match.
It’s been decided to commence Club Night on Tues 2nd May at 6pm. A wet March and much of April thus far has done the green no favours! The green will officially be opened later today but it’s still damp in parts. The grass has been cut down to 8mm and if the weather plays ball it’ll be down to 6mm soon.
On Tuesdays please sign in at 5:45pm and be ready to bowl at 6. If you’re running late and know you’ll be there you can let me know and I’ll advise the co-ordinator.
Unfortunately the green opening and first Club Night are postponed for a week. Just one step onto the green this morning confirmed its closure until next week due to it being so soft and wet.
The green opening is therefore rescheduled for Sat 22nd and the first Club Night for Tues 25th.
After two days cleanup the green and grounds are almost ready for opening on Saturday. Unfortunately the weather looks a bit wet over the coming week so we’ll defer to head green keeper Dennis as to whether it’s okay and safe to open and then play the first Club Night on the following Tuesday.
Dennis and the green keepers team have quite rightly been concentrating on the green itself and despite the wettest March in decades have got the green looking pretty good.
The rooms have been tidied and cleaned over the last couple of days with the team sheets posted on the boards. Remember to sign up or contact club captain Di via txt/WhatsApp/telephone. There’s also an online sign-up sheet on the website. Sign-up
The flower bed has been attended to and some of the hedges have been trimmed and weeds cleared but there’s still more to be done so if you have a spare a hour or two please head on down anytime.
The ditches have been cleaned out, edges cut and matting put in place. One of the biggest remaining jobs is to attach the matting to the back wall of the edges. David and Brian have tested a method and plan to see how it goes.
The aim is to get the green and grounds all sorted in readiness for our first home match on 30th April. The Fixtures Booklets details all the matches/events but please refer to the online calendar for updates. Calendar
The season is nearly here so please come and sign-up on Tuesday 4th April from 7:30pm. Entries for the club competitions will open then too.
Activities to support the start of the season are gathering pace and there’s a request for members to help prepare the grounds over the weekend of 8-9th April. Any spare time you may have is appreciated. The actual opening day is planned for Saturday 15th April and the first Club Night on Tuesday 18th. Both are subject to change according to the weather etc.. so watch this space. All the dates are available in the Calendar and printed in the Fixtures cards, which will be distributed on Tuesday evening.
Looking further ahead, the Open days for prospective new members are planned for Saturday 20th May and Bank Holiday Monday 29th May.
The last of the winter socials went well with most folk getting to grips with Slippery Ann.
The next big event is Joining Night on Tues 4th April 7:30pm. Full details and all the forms including competition entries will be available and posted here soon. Work on the green has been put on hold during the wet and cold spell but will ramp up again soon. Also please look out for a request for help to get the grounds looking good for the season ahead.
Just a final reminder that the car park resurfacing will proceed on Monday 13th from 7:30am. Also here’s what happening at the main club over the next week and beyond.
Sat 11 Mar: Bournemouth v Liverpool PL 12:30pm BT
Italy v Wales 2:15pm ITV
England v France 4:45pm ITV
Crystal Palace v Man City PL 5:30pm Sky
Sun 12 Mar: Fulham v Arsenal PL 2pm Sky
Scotland v Ireland 3pm BBC
Newcastle v Wolves PL 4:30pm Sky
Mon 13 Mar: CLOSED
Tue 14 Mar: CLOSED
Wed 15 Mar: Real Madrid v Liverpool CL 8pm BT
Thu 16 Mar: Arsenal v Sporting CP EL 8pm BT
West Ham v AEK Larnaca EL 8pm BT
Fri 17 Mar: Nottm Forest v Newcastle PL 8pm Sky
Surplus Café open from 6:15pm
Sat 18 Mar: Scotland v Italy 12:30pm BBC
France v Wales 2:45pm ITV
Ireland v England 5pm ITV
Chelsea v Everton PL 5:30pm Sky (if demand)
Sun 19 Mar: Sheff Utd v Blackburn FAC 12pm ITV
London Irish v Exeter 2pm BT
Man Utd v Fulham FAC 4:30pm ITV
Sat 15 April LIVE MUSIC in the Bar with ARCTIC ROLL 7:30pm
(featuring our very own David Price!) Donations on the night
Sat 29 April: LIVE MUSIC with THE NAKED PENGUINS 8:30pm
Members can now purchase tickets for £6 each using this link:
https://www.sunburycricket.co.uk/payments/club-live-music-night-29-april-88119.html.
Spring is nearly here and work on the green and surrounds is ramping up. The next bit of work is planned for Sunday 1pm with rolling & cutting of the green .. and much more – any help welcome.
The calendar is taking shape and can be viewed here Calendar 2023. Please treat the dates as provisional for the time being.
After a highly competitive night of skittles a couple of weeks ago, the next social is Tues 7th March with an evening of cards. It kicks off at 7:30pm .. everyone welcome.
Our Treasurer Barry has been busy working on a new shirt design and here it is, freshly approved by Middlesex Bowls.
The club shirt currently has two different designs and we are now moving forward to a third one. It creates a more unique club identity for match play and is also an opportunity to change our badge to recognise the sun in Sunbury .. our current badge with crossed shepherd crooks is Shepperton’s emblem!
Prices have been increasing since we last stocked up and the new shirts cost £29 but early orders will receive a discount. Please contact Barry if you wish to order one – he’s happy to discuss sizes (see chart below) and will be at next week’s social. He aims to get an initial order in asap.
# treasurerssbc@gmail.com
# 07513 249755
PS: Middlesex county have adopted navy blue trousers/shorts and are encouraging us all to embrace the colour at local club and county level. Whites and greys will undoubtedly be around for some time to come but we don’t advise anyone purchasing new white/grey bottoms from now on.
