Message from Chairman!

Fellow Cricketers

It gives me immense pleasure to welcome you to the Club if you are new to us, and re-welcome you if you have been with us for a time.

The difficulties that arise from COVID-19 are wide-ranging. Every part of our society is impacted by the threat that this virus brings as we go about our daily routines. These are indeed unprecedented times for all of us.

Our first and most important message is to wish all members continued good physical and mental health both now and over the coming weeks and months.

Naturally the Club is taking steps to ensure that we do our part in protecting the health and wellbeing of all of our members within our Community in line with national guidance both from UK Government; the Cricket Scotland, WDCU and other regulatory bodies that we interact with.

In particular I wanted to thank you all for your continued and loyal support during what has been one of the most challenging years. In addition to that, I also wanted to express my gratitude to all of those who have already renewed their Membership. The number of Membership renewals and new members that we have received has been fantastic and everyone at the Club has been genuinely moved by your desire to support your Club during these difficult times. Your unwavering backing during the current situation has been nothing short of magnificent and your loyal support is one of the main reasons why East Renfrewshire Cricket Club is so incredibly special.

I appreciate fully well the trial, tribulations and prospective benefits that lies ahead. My key objective is to pursue sustained improvement in all on, and off field activities.

ERCC is a young and vibrant club, thanks to the unconditional and interminable efforts of our committee members, without their involvement, devotion and perseverance we would not have sustained and grown at this pace. The newly formed Club feels ‘on the up’ with several new features this year.

The club provides opportunities to play and watch cricket for people of all backgrounds, ages, gender and abilities. 

There is a clear requirement to increase our network of voluntary support that is currently associated with the club. The Club survives on volunteers and long may this continue.

Our local hero Ammar is working tirelessly around-the-clock as a junior convenor, development officer, coach, fundraiser/charity drive, community engagement coordinator and also managed to develop core program for community services that we now deliver every year.

We run two adult men’s teams on Saturdays, one on a Sunday League games and two in midweek cup games.  We have a thriving youth section with all age groups catered for from under 9’s to under 17’s, as well as running ECB ‘Get into Cricket’ programmes such as All Stars for younger children and Dynamos Cricket. 

Greater involvement by parents of junior players is a prime focus, and we utilise the assistance offered by Cricket Scotland, WDCU and ERC.

The solid base that was formed in the start-up years of the club now allows us to add new and exciting activities to our portfolio. First and foremost, our club strives to be a warm, welcoming and inspirational environment for our members.
Further, every effort will be made to increase sponsorship, and funding from appropriate agencies.

I would hope that all our players will avail of our new outdoor nets practice facilities, especially those players in the 1st, and our 2nds on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. Those players hoping to play for the first and second teams will be expected to train on at least one evening and commitment to such will be considered by the new Chairman of Selectors, Parvase Majeed.

The best part: We truly do it together, on the basis of strong personal commitment. Helping each other where we can, while mindful of the busy family and professional lives we all lead.
If you are interested and have strong passion for cricket, come and meet us.

Finally
I wish you a very enjoyable and successful season ahead, both personally and for your team. Taking a full part in the Club will bring you a sense of purpose and friends for life.

2021 promises to be an exciting one for East Renfrewshire Cricket Club.

Afzal Shaikh
Chairman ERCC
April 2021