MERRION CC NEWSLETTER APRIL 2019

Dear Merrion Club Members,

The start of the 2019 season is fast approaching and it promises to be an exciting time for our Club. Here is a quick round-up of what’s ahead of us.

SENIOR CRICKET

 Men’s 1st XI: John Anderson (c) and Patrick Tice (vc) will lead our Men’s 1st team this season off the back of a very successful 2018. Joining the squad will be Ollie Newton, who plays for Wellington in New Zealand where he was the joint-leading taker in the 2018-19 Super Smash. We are also delighted to have former Irish all-rounder, Max Sorenson, joining the team who has been working the team hard throughout pre-season in his ProFitness Gym in Dundrum. The team kick-off the defence of their title at home on the 20th of April at home to Terenure and it would be great to get a strong Merrion contingent out to support the team on the day.

 Women’s 1st XI: Rachel Delaney (c) will once again lead our Women’s 1st team this year, and they kick their season off at home to Malahide on the 25th of April. Rachel Delaney said the following about the upcoming season, “Having come so close to winning both the league and cup last season, the women’s first team are looking forward to the prospect of some thrilling cricket over the summer and hopefully bringing some silverware back to Merrion. We are particularly looking forward to seeing the further development of our young and upcoming players including sisters Emily & Kate McAlinden, amongst others. After receiving the Damien Poder scholarship at the end of last summer, Leah Paul has spent the winter in Australia playing with Ringwood Cricket Club. We are excited to see how her skills have developed. Celeste Raack will also be returning to Merrion for another season. Since last year, she has become qualified to play for Ireland. We anticipate that Celeste will become an integral part of the Merrion and Irish set ups in the future. We are also glad to announce that Nicky Kenny is to continue in his role as women’s first team coach.”

 Here is a look at the 1st teams’ fixtures for April: o April 20 – Men’s 1st XI - home to Terenure, 12.00pm o April 25 – Women’s 1st XI home to Malahide o April 27 – Men’s 1st XI away to Clontarf, 12.00pm o April 28 – Men’s 1st XI home to Rush, 12.00pm

Please get down to Anglesea Road to support your Club!

Other fixtures can be found here on the brand new Cricket Leinster website at www.cricketleinster.ie or on our club website www.merrioncricketclub.com

Accommodation? We are looking for accommodation for our overseas players and coaches. If you have a spare room available please contact our Chair of Cricket, Jim Walsh - [email protected]

YOUTH CRICKET

 The Youth Open Day is on April 6th at 3.00 pm – we hope to see all of our kids and parents there the BBQ will be sizzling and the bar will be open. We encourage your cricket playing kids to bring their friends along to introduce them to the game.

 We are running our highly popular Easter and Summer Camps – please contact [email protected] to register: o Easter camps - April 15-17 and 24-25 o Secondary school camp – June 10-14 and June 17-21 o Primary and secondary school camp – from June 24 for six weeks

 Director of Youth Cricket: We are delighted to welcome Celeste Raack to the club as our new Director of Youth Cricket. Celeste joins us from the Tasmanian Roar and Hobart Hurricanes and will be in charge of running our youth section over the coming season. Celeste will be taking over from Merrion legend Isobel Joyce who we wish all the best in her new roles with Clontarf CC and Cricket Leinster. We are also delighted to announce that one of Ireland and Merrion’s greatest will be taking charge of the clubs U9s, he takes over from Pat Carty who is spending the Irish summer at home in Australia this year.

Other dates for your diary

 Social Activities o Youth Open Day – April 6 from 3.00pm o Senior start of season BBQ – April 20 from 12.00 pm. It would be great to see as many members as possible down for this event when we’ll look ahead to the season to come as the Men’s first XI open their season against Terenure. o Youth start of season BBQ – April 26 from 5.00 pm. o We are also looking for members for our Social Committee to help organise social events in the Club. If you are interested please feel free to contact club president, Andrew Kay at [email protected]

 Club Bar o Bar opening times will remain unchanged from last year. The bar will be open from the times below and by request for other matches: . Thursday 5.30 pm . Friday 5.30 pm . Saturday 12.30 pm . Sunday 12.30 pm

o To host a function at the Club please contact our Club Manager Anne Fitzsimons at [email protected] We can arrange catering to your specifications.

 Training Times

Team Day Time Seniors – commencing April 2nd Men 1-3 Tuesday & Thursday 6.00-8.00 pm Men 4-8 Wednesday 6.00-8.00 pm Women Monday 6.00-8.00 pm Youth – commencing April 27th U9 Boys & Girls Sunday 9.30-10.45 am Minor Boys & Girls (5th and 6th class) Sunday 9.30-11.00 am Junior Boys & Girls (1st and 2nd year) Saturday 9.30-11.00 am Colts (3rd and 4th year) & U17 Wednesday 17.00-19.00 pm

As you can see 2019 promises to be an exciting season for the Club. I would like to wish all of our teams and members an enjoyable and successful season. I would also like to thank all of our Club volunteers for your efforts in getting things ready for the coming year. I hope to see you all at Anglesea Road soon!

Kind regards,

Andrew Kay President

CLUB SPONSORS Personal and corporate sponsorship is a vital part of the Club’s funding and would appeal to all members and parents to look to their companies in our search for:

 Main Club Sponsor: name appears on Anglesea road entrance gate sign, website, pitch signs and team match kit

 Sponsor for our four new covers with printed company logo on the four canvases

 Sponsors advertising on our pitch-side signs

If you, a friend or family member, work in a company that might be interested, please contact our Chair of Finance, Philly Quinlan, for further information at [email protected] or 086 834 1313.

We would like to thank our existing Club sponsors who provide valuable financial support to the Club. We encourage you to support these business in return.

Merrion Cricket Club sign sponsors: