Shepshed CC is building for a prosperous future...
AFTER the pandemic saw the cancellation of the 2020 Leicestershire and Rutland cricket league campaign, league officials are hopeful that the 2021 season will be able to take place.
For Shepshed Cricket Club it will be a chance for its supporters and players to be able to make the most of various ground improvements which have been carried out and to progress a club which has flourished since its creation in 2016 when Shepshed Town and Shepshed Messengers agreed to a merger of the two clubs.
Club spokesman Chris Burton said that they had installed new covers, completely refurbished nets, a new artificial and a new pavilion roof at Morley Lane and new sightscreens and boundary ropes at Pudding Bag Lane.
He said: “We feel that we have the framework and the facilities now to be one of the most attractive clubs around for cricketers of all ages.
“Club chairman Steve Chantrill wanted to make sure we didn’t stand still last year just waiting for things to happen to us. He was committed to being on the front foot as and when things opened up.
“Julie Rayson-Flynn and Paul Felton completed risk assessments and worked through the logistics in terms of PPE etc to allow us to safely open up the ground. While the improvements themselves have enabled us to ensure that the facilities are of a top standard and safe for our members.
“The pavilion roof at Morley Lane has needed replacing for some time and two of our stalwarts Ken Large and Phil Ashdown completed the work this winter, just ahead of the snow and rain.
“New covers were purchased thanks to the kindness of our sponsors. We obviously hope that these will improve the quality of our pitches and to reduce the number of games that we lose.
“At Pudding Bag Lane we had new sightscreens, a new boundary rope and a new pavilion floor. We have just secured sponsorship from Robot SM Ltd to build a new scorebox with an attached storage facility on this ground.
“It’s important to ensure that both our grounds are in as good a condition as they can be because our young players take their first steps in senior cricket at Pudding Bag Lane.
“We’ve had boys and girls from our Under 13s playing senior cricket. In fact we had academy players in all teams and played a full quota of junior cricket.”
The club has also forged a link with Tom Flowers Cricket Coaching (TFCC) and in December became an affiliated club.
Chris explained the reasoning behind the decision saying the club believed affiliation with TFCC was to add to its all ready successful academy framework.
“Young players in the club who want to push themselves have an extra opportunity to access extra technical coaching.
“Good junior players when they get into second and first team cricket have to find a little bit extra and Tom and his team will help to bridge this gap.”
And Tom Flowers added: “We are delighted To be working with ship Shepshed Cricket club again in 2021 we see this as a mutually beneficial relationship working alongside a very progressive and forward-thinking cricket club.
“We hope the progress made with players in 2020 was only the start of a long-lasting partnership between us, and results in seeing many local young cricketer’s benefitting from the coaching relationship.”
• To find out more about the club it is on Facebook @shepshedcricketclub and the club website is www. shepshedcricketclub.com