Church are pleased to announce the signing of Johnny Riekert as Professional for the 2018 season. Johnny is from Durban in South Africa and is a top order batsman and medium pace bowler. Johnny made his 1st class debut in the summer 2015-16 for Kwa-Zulu Natal and has experience of playing in England as Professional at Euxton in 2017 where he scored over 800 runs. Johnny is a qualified coach and he is keen to help develop and coach junior and senior players at the Club.
Church would like to thank Rob Humphries at World Sports Xchange for his help in this matter.
This year the Club will be holding its NatWest Cricket Force Day on the morning of Saturday 18th March starting at 9am. As usual we have a great team of volunteers who prepare the ground all year but this is a time we need your help to get the ground ready for the season, so any help on the morning would be greatly appreciated.
We are very sad to announce that our Honorary Life Member Mr Les Powdrill has passed away. Les was a life long supporter of the Club and will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by everyone at Church CC.
We are excited to announce that ex England cricketer and local legend Graeme Fowler will be our guest speaker at the Club's Annual Sportsmans Dinner on Friday 24th February. In addition to this, celebrity impressionist Mike Maguire, who is taking the comedy circuit by storm will be an excellent addition to the evening.
The ongoing support of volunteers has continued to transform the Club's financial position and thanks went to all those who have helped the Club during the year. Special praise went to the parents for their continued support of the Club and to the juniors themselves for both their commitment and on-field success.
The Club would like to thank Abid Riaz at Proelite Sports for their help.
Following the conclusion of his playing career Bill remained a loyal supporter of the Club, through good times and bad, and he contributed a huge amount of time to help Church, serving on the Committee, helping out on the ground, assisting with machine maintenance and being a friend to all those connected with the Club. Everyone knows of Bill�s passion for the game of cricket, his willingness to help others and his unfailing support of his Club. Bill will be dearly missed by all at Church and our sympathy goes out to Maureen, Simon, Fiona and family.
By this time Bill was a perennial presence at the ground and in the club-house, always smiling, encouraging, cajoling but never overbearing or unduly critical. My enduring memory of him will always be of a smile and a cheery greeting, some good chat and a sense that while it�s a game to be taken deadly seriously and worked damned hard at, it is also a pursuit to be enjoyed and relished both while you�re playing, working hard on making the place fit for others to play and while enjoying the company of team-mates, opponents and officials after.
That was Bill. A link with a time now sepia-tinted on old photographs but still interested enough and sufficiently enthused to remain infectious and engaging company.
