The Grasshoppers Cricket Club

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.

2008 was a better year for the Hoppers than the washout of 2007! Out of the 13 fixtures 3 were rained off. Of the remaining ones the results were: Won – 5 and Lost -5. 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 2009 remains at 13 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 very much hoped and anticipated that 2009 will be a 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.

e welcome to the club the following new members in the sincere hope they will play regularly and make a real contribution: Tom Clode, Peter Keenan, James Skegg, George Hellyer, Christian Jason and Tim Lee.

In other roles Aidan Kendall continues as Honorary Secretary while Jamie Strachan takes over from Richard Smalley as Honorary Fixture Secretary. We thank Richard for all his work over the last few years and hope to continue to see him on the pitch from time to time. 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 will take place at North Hants on March 25th 2009 and is always a beautiful sunny spring day. Last year 14 members took part and our thanks to Miles Dorman for organising a great day. The Derek Fenner trophy went to Tim Lynch-Staunton thus removing the trophy from the Dorman family where it has spent a considerable amount of time over the last few years!

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
February 2009