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Pre-season message from the Chairman - PLEASE READ

26 Apr 2023

Good evening DTs,

This weekend marks the start of the league cricket season.  After last year’s mainly dry season, during which almost all of our fixtures were completed, let’s hope that we see a repeat of that weather and all get to enjoy playing lots of cricket this Summer.

As your Chair, I want to extend a warm welcome to all the new members of the DTCC family.  Thank you for joining the club – we hope you enjoy becoming a “DT” and have fun playing cricket with us.

I also want to thank our vice-Chair (Gurjeet) and the club Captain (Uday) – as well as the captaincy groups of each of our 5 league teams – for their hard work this week in getting the selection work done and issuing all the teamsheets in good time ahead of this weekend.

For those of you who received your new club playing kit last season, please remember to wear this when playing league games for the club.  For those of you yet to receive your pack of club clothing, Gurjeet will continue to keep you updated on the delivery via the club’s main WhatsApp group – we are expecting to receive this in the very near future.  As before, I would encourage captains to ensure that lots of individual and team photos are taken at our matches this weekend, then posted on social media to help promote the club and our sponsors.

If any of you haven’t played league cricket before, please note the following regarding match days:

*  in each league team, club playing kit – pads, bats, gloves, etc. – will be available for use by those that don’t have their own kit.
*  team captains will co-ordinate the club kit, plus all required ground equipment for home games – stumps, bails, boundary markers, scoreboard, etc.
*  there are lots of non-playing tasks to be done on a match day – please offer to assist and help the captain/vice-captains to get everything done when asked.  This applies before, during and after each match.

Set out below are some important topics relating to the operation of the club and the responsibilities of members.  It is very important that all members are aware of these – so please read the content below and ensure that you understand it.  If you have any queries, please contact either me or Gurjeet.

1) BEHAVIOUR OF MEMBERS DURING MATCHES

Set out below is some text from emails sent to all members in April and June last year:

"Unfortunately, following the bad-tempered match with Edinburgh CC at the end of last season, plus the serious warnings issued to the club by ESCA at the disciplinary hearing late last year, I need to issue a warning about the standard of behaviour to all DTCC members. In simple terms, we need to be on our best behaviour this season and WE MUST NOT do any of the following:

*  Get involved in any bad-tempered arguments 
*  Use any bad or abusive language
*  Issue any threats or act in an aggressive or nasty manner

Essentially, we must behave well, and not give the opposition, umpires or even spectators anything to complain to ESCA about. If we don’t manage that, there is a strong chance that one – or all – of the club’s teams will be thrown out of the league. Please remember this warning throughout the season.

Now, the above doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t play hard and be competitive…we just need to cut out the bad behaviour and focus our attention on the positives. Let’s all respect the game of cricket and everyone that plays it. Even if sometimes that's hard to do!"

Please can you all ensure that you keep the above in mind as we start the 2023 season.  Whilst things were generally better last season, unfortunately, there were still a small number of incidents of bad behaviour/language.  As we will be operating under ESCA’s disciplinary warning until advised otherwise, these incidents MUST STOP.  Bad behaviour by members is simply not acceptable – regardless of the level of provocation.  For your information, whenever the club’s Committee receives a report of bad behaviour by a member, it acts quickly and firmly.  Any serious incident is likely to result in a player being suspended for selection or, worst case, being removed from the club.

One of the most common triggers for tempers to be raised are UMPIRING DECISIONS.  Please ensure that you DO NOT react badly to decisions by opposition umpires.  The best course of action is to mention any that occur to your Captain who can then pass them on to the club’s Committee and/or ESCA.  DO NOT allow yourself to be tempted to resort to deliberately unfair umpiring when we are batting – that is cheating and is unacceptable behaviour.

Also, when watching any DTCC league matches from the boundary, club members MUST NOT shout anything that might put off ANY of the batsmen, bowlers, fielders, or umpires whilst the match is being played.  Supporting your fellow club members and cheering any of their successes during a match is strongly encouraged.  However, winding up DTCC players or antagonising the opposition from the boundary is unacceptable behaviour.  Note: there may be certain friendly matches which are played in a fun & relaxed atmosphere by both teams, where some winding-up of players from the boundary can be entertaining – but this should only be done if you are sure that NONE of the players involved may get upset.

2) TEAM SELECTION

Once again, the club is running 5 league teams with player selection being carried out by the club’s Selection Committee.  Members should be in no doubt that the selection process is never straightforward and can often be extremely challenging! Unfortunately, there were a few issues of confusion and misunderstanding last season – we will endeavour to minimise such incidents this season.  The process continuously evolves and we try to factor in improvements as we go along.  Communication is the key here – if any members have frustrations about their selection, or non-selection, please pass on your feedback.  However, members should always remember that they are members of a club – NOT a particular team – and that selection decisions are made in the best interests of the club.

As before, to assist the selection process, please note the following:

Availability: please ensure your future availability on the club's website is updated and accurate on an ongoing basis; selection for matches starts - and sometime ends - with the level of availability; please ensure that your availability for a Saturday match is updated by the previous Sunday evening - if not, you may not get selected; if at all possible, please don't change your availability at short notice - this makes things very difficult for the Selection Committee and Captains.

Selection Decisions: we will do our best to reflect recent good (and bad) form within the selection process; however, selection to a higher, or lower, team can't be guaranteed; again, please provide any relevant performance feedback to the Captains and Selection Committee - the more information we have, the better decisions we can make.

Player Frustrations: if you are frustrated with the batting/bowling opportunities you're getting, please communicate this clearly with your Captain - ideally in a constructive manner before or after a game; if these frustrations persist, feel free to contact the Selection Committee; however, please remember that we are all amateurs who play once or twice a week - so be realistic about where you think you should be batting or when you think you should be bowling; importantly, we all play as part of a team - that means we have to play with and respect the needs and desires of our teammates.

3) TIMEKEEPING

There have been too many occurrences in recent seasons where players have arrived late to matches.  This makes life difficult for captains & vice-captains and is unfair on your teammates.  Every selection email will have the start time of the match and, more importantly, the meet up time at the ground.  It is important that every player notes this when they receive their selection email and makes appropriate travel plans to ensure that they arrive at the ground by, or before, the meet up time.  DO NOT use the match start time as your target for arrival at the ground.

Meet up times are usually set 30-60 minutes before the match start time and are designed to allow time to set up the ground (home games), get changed, have a quick warm up and allow the captains to discuss plans for the match with the players.  If you turn up late, this means an unfair extra workload (e.g. ground set up) for those that do turn up on time and can cause problems for the captains re their strategy for the match – for example, an opening batsman turning up late messes up the batting order.

Also, please ensure that you make your travel plans BEFORE the match day.  You will normally receive your selection email on/by Wednesday ahead of a Saturday game.  You should make your travel plans as soon as possible after being selected.  Also, each player's travel plans are their own responsibility.  It is lazy and selfish to expect your captain (or any others) to organise your travel plans for you.  If you need assistance re travel, please be proactive and contact the other players listed on the selection email & ask if they can help you out.

This season, to try and manage the issue of late arrivals, all Captains will be advising the Selection Committee regarding any DTCC players arriving after the meet up time set out on the selection emails.  Any player that arrives late to more than one match MAY BE DISCIPLINED BY NOT BEING SELECTED for future matches.  Note: a bit of planning and some good communication is all that’s required to avoid this.

Obviously, there will be occasions when something unplanned may occur that causes you to be delayed.  Hopefully this will not happen but, if it does & you realise that you will be late for the meet up time for any reason, please message the captain AS SOON AS POSSIBLE & let him know your expected arrival time.

4) FRIENDLY MATCHES

A quick reminder that, as well as the Saturday league matches, the club also arranges a number of friendly matches on midweek evenings and Sunday afternoons.  These often get set up during the season so it's worth regularly checking the fixtures section of the club's website, then updating your availability.  Remember, these matches are always played as friendly (non-competitive) matches, so are a great opportunity for members to try out or improve different areas of their cricketing skills.

That's all from me for now. Good luck to everyone playing this weekend.  Go well and enjoy yourselves!

Gus