We hope you are all well and you are managing as best as you can during this current crisis. The Committee have the following update on the current situation. Please take the time to read the complete message as it contains important information.

As most of you will be aware, sadly the tour had to be cancelled along with all pre-season games and any social events in the diary and obviously there is no cricket being played at present.

The Club, the League, and Essex CCB are all taking advice and guidance from the ECB who are taking guidance directly from central government. Their recommendation is to still suspend both practice and games for recreational cricketers until further notice. The ECB are working closely with the government to establish when and how it will be safe to resume play and further guidance on practice, which by its nature is more of an individual exercise than matches, is expected shortly.

Despite the recent changes to lockdown rules on exercising, please do not take it upon yourself to meet up in small groups to go over the club for a net or training, as it would be putting yourself, others and the NHS at a greater risk. No net pitches will be prepared until such time as the ECB approves this. The M&B Club is also closed along with the changing rooms.

The Essex League have stated that league cricket will not start earlier than the 10th of July. We would be made aware by mid-June IF this remains a possibility, however this is largely in the hands of the government. Should league cricket take place, the fixtures already published would be followed from the start date.

The current proposal from the SNEL is that there will be no promotion or relegation throughout the pyramid, although a league champion would be crowned in each Division. Nor would there be fines or penalties for clubs who couldn’t field teams.
Should we get notice in June that senior cricket is likely to take place we will survey members to determine likely availability. These are extraordinary times, so no pressure will be put on anybody to play and we would fully understand and support any decision you would wish to make, as we put your best interests first.

Thanks to those people who have already paid annual membership - we won’t make a decision on fees for this season until we have more clarity on how much cricket will be paid. That said, we recognize that the current situation has left a lot of people in financial difficulties, so if cricket does resume please rest assured that we will come to an arrangement with anybody who is having difficulties - if you want to play cricket, you will be able to.

On a positive note, the club grounds are still being looked after and being maintained by Chris Boniface and Asa Perry, the M&B groundsman The squares on both pitches are in good condition and we are in a better position than many clubs to be ready to go when we are allowed.

We would still need a day to put screens & covers in place and tidy up like we would have done at our NatWest Cricket Force Day, but again further appeals for help will be made if this becomes necessary.

On the junior front, the Havering league clubs are all committed to trying to play a Colts schedule later in the summer if guidelines allow. This may well be in the form of festival days hosted by one club, to try to maximize the games that Colts can play, but again this is all dependent on government guidance along with some work from Essex CCB on how best to safely run these events. In the meantime, Stuart Greaves is exploring how to better connect Colts & Parents online via WhatsApp & with the possibility of some online coaching videos.

Goresbrook CC is currently in a financially stable position, but as the cost of maintaining the pitches and clubhouse falls on the M&B Club, who currently have no revenue streams, it’s a worrying time for all clubs associated with M&B. All avenues for grants to help the club survive during lockdown are being pursued by the trustees, but it is possible that fundraising support will be required later in the year.

On that subject, thanks to everybody who have supported GCC’s online events. There has been a lot of hard work from Danny Gillham & Joe Curley in addition to the Committee, so a big thanks to everybody who has helped.
The nights organized so far have raised;
· Quiz Night – £103.59
· Bus Stops - £200.00
· Race Night - £922.00
· Bingo Night - £105.00 - Plus £100 to the NHS front line staff

That’s a grand total of £1,330.59 to the club, which is a fantastic achievement only made possible by you. Please do continue to be involved in these events as best as you can. We are constantly trying to think of new fun ideas, so if you do have any please do get in touch and share, like, subscribe all across our social media accounts, it’s the best way to promote and get other people interested in our club so we can grow from strength to strength.
I’m sure you are all deeply missing the cricket season as we are too, but we will meet again when it’s safe to do so. I’m sure it won’t take long to pick up from where we left off. Please let somebody from the Committee know if you have any concerns, questions or ideas, but until then.

Stay safe,

Regards,

GCC Committee #ONECLUB