Formed in 1924 with the primary objective of encouraging cricket in all Surrey schools the club prospered under its founders. Names like “Shrimp Leveson-Gower, Hilary Chadwick-Healy and Douglas Strachan will be familiar to some of our older members. No record of names would be complete without the late Derek Fenner, a very fine left arm spin bowler who did so much during his 40 plus years with the club and in his own way fostered the traditions of the club while always looking to the future. Other well known names include Douglas Jardine, Peter May, Mike Bushby, Richard Jefferson et al. Without the drive and enthusiasm of all those there would be no Grasshoppers today.

2009 was a strong year for the Hoppers! Out of the 11 fixtures that managed to get played the results were: Won – 7, Lost -3 and Drawn 1. Turnout was reasonable, but with considerable new blood for the club discovered over the last couple of years much hope remains that future years will continue to improve. Turning out teams, however, is still largely down to the enthusiasm of match managers and playing members are encouraged to sign up for more games.

The fixture list for 2010 will contain 12 matches and we now hopefully have set up a system whereby match managers will get all the assistance needed to ensure that a good competitive side is turned out for all matches. Much of it is down to the match managers but without the support of playing members there is little they can do.

With the various initiatives in place it is hoped and anticipated that 2010 will be another strong year for Grasshoppers cricket, both in terms of results and player availability. Wandering clubs such as the Grasshoppers offer a unique brand of cricket and it must not be allowed to die out.

Can I please ask therefore that match managers and players alike start early. The web site can do so much but not all and it is no good sending an e-mail 10 days before the game saying that you have only two players and expecting the rest to just happen. There is no substitute for playing in the early games and, if you are running a match start collecting then or as a player tell match managers of the games in which you would like to play, making a commitment and sticking to it. We have a club with a lot of good cricketers and with a bit more commitment the Grasshoppers could and should return to being one of the top wandering clubs.

It is interesting that with a lot of home clubs playing less on Sundays there are more grounds available and more players looking to play a more relaxed form of cricket. I think this represents an opportunity for more matches between wandering clubs and indeed our fixture list this year reflects this. These games are always well contested and great fun, generally played between 22 like minded cricketers.

We welcome to the club the following new members in the sincere hope they will play regularly and make a real contribution: Richard Ackworth, Justin Gregory, James Gordon, Patrick Knight, Rob Dale, Guy Hicks and Ollie Bristowe.

In other roles Aidan Kendall continues as Honorary Secretary and Jamie Strachan continues as Honorary Fixture Secretary. We also thank both Aidan and Jamie for their hard work. Cuthbert Kendall will also be assisting and has specific responsibility for the web site.

The annual golf day for 2010 took place at Worplesdon Golf Club on 26th March 2010 and following all the rain that had come down previously was a sunny spring day. 13 members took part and the Derek Fenner trophy went to Chris Dorman with an excellent performance in sunny but nevertheless windy conditions! Next year the day will be on 25th March 2011 and it would be great to have a few more members play.

Finally may I ask any of our older members who may have a little time on their hands to turn up to the odd game and give the club some support. You will be assured of a warm welcome and a familiar, friendly atmosphere.

Patrick Strachan
President
March 2010