There has been a deal of uncertainty about when the weather would allow practice, let alone match play and there’s also been more than a few anxious moments in our quest for an overseas player.

We are more confident on both those matters so can go to press.

April Showers – and a lot more!
April should see some cricketing activity outside. Not in 2024. We had several warmup games in the diary but, as we all know, the weather has been appalling. The Paignton game on Saturday April 13 was lost to ground conditions and we notified North Petherton that the ground would not be playable for April 20.

It does however look as if we will get some part of the Brice-Nelson weekend played. We are certainly hoping to welcome the Saints to the Convent Field on Saturday April 27 for a 12.30 start. We do hope that there will be a good crowd supporting us for our first game of the season. The bar will be open!

On Sunday April 28 we are currently hoping to host a warmup game v. Weston Super Mare.

Keep checking on the various club platforms to be up to date on team selection.

For obvious reasons we have not been able to practise outside but we have been able to extend our indoor training on a Tuesday evening at King’s. Our first outdoor training for the men’s section was on Tuesday April 23. This was followed by a players’ meeting where several club officials spoke.

We have a large number of young men who will be pushing for places in the 2nd and even the 1st XI. The focus of all the contributions focussed on attitude rather than technical skills. We want to see players contributing to the team effort and showing intensity in every aspect of their game. We want each and every player to know they have done their best and we hope that, win or lose, players will get great enjoyment from being part of the Deane – on and off the pitch.

Ground Force Days
Thanks to all of you who came along for our #GetSetWeekend.

We had an excellent turn out and, despite the frequent, sharp showers many time-consuming but essential tasks were undertaken and completed in a cheerful way.

It was something of a surprise for onlookers to see some of our most senior members finding the task of washing down the sightscreen panels as an excuse to play splashing games!

The process of replacing redundant advertising boards is ongoing but Will has made a great start.

I will say more about our new club partners in another newsletter, but you will be seeing some new names appearing this season as we refresh and extend our number and range of club partners.

Another New Face – Our Overseas Player - Ali Hamid
Our first two newsletters highlighted the people stepping forward to help run the club, making sure we have necessary capacity to put 21 teams on the pitch every week.

This month we want to introduce you to Ali Hamid who will shortly be joining us as our 2024 Overseas Player. In fact, Ali may well be with us for the Tuesday training session on Tuesday April 30.

Before that introduction, I want to say a huge thank you to Ben Osborne who has devoted so many hours and endured so many setbacks in his determined quest to secure an overseas player – our first for many years. He can eat out on his numerous 3.00 a.m. discussions with agents from around the cricketing world. He can also regale you with the complexities of dealing with the Home Office on visa requirements.

Ali is a 23-year-old Zimbabwean cricketer who already has three first class hundreds to his name. He is comfortable opening the batting in limited overs cricket but has batted in the middle order in the longer game.

He bowls leg spin but can also bowl off breaks. Just as important as his cricketing ability we understand that he will be a good fit with our club.

Ali will be leading or helping with most of the midweek training and coaching sessions.

He is, it seems, also quite keen on golf so that will also help him get to know a wide range of club members.

He will, at least in the first instance, be staying with Will and Clare Mellor. Arranging an overseas player is far more than an enormous administrative task. Helping a young man on his own to feel comfortable in a new country is an important part of the process and Ali will come to understand very quickly how fortunate he is that we have club members like Will and Clare who are prepared to do so much in so many ways to help the club.

This is a really important move for our club and we hope that our young players, in particular, will benefit from spending time with Ali.

The League Season Starts
The WEPL committee asked clubs if they would favour a re-arrangement of the first men’s league game on May 4. Following that consultation, the decision is that the league season starts, as originally planned, on May 4.

So we look forward to welcoming Wellington, newly promoted, to the Convent Field for a 12.00 start on Saturday May 4. Please note the new start time for WEPL Saturday league games – 12.00 not 12.30.

Full fixture dates will appear on the noticeboard by the main gate and on our various social media platforms as well as in this newsletter.

Who’s Who
Particularly for new members, it can be difficult to know who does what.

Over the coming weeks we will putting up some photos of some of key members of the Deane community. There will be captains, ground staff and committee members. We hope you will find this helpful. There will also be a noticeboard dedicated to Safeguarding. We strongly urge you to make a habit of reading the notices Ann and her team will be posting there.

Over to you…
If you want to offer help at the club, if you want to become a Club Partner or if you simply want to make a comment, please do so to Dave Smith dcsmithtdcc@btinternet.com or 07584908727.

Dave.