Please see note that went to all club contacts this morning:

Good morning,

This is a note to inform you that the above fixtures are now available in the Document Centre on the WDCU website.

League and cup fixtures – Western District Cricket Union (wdcu.co.uk)

The Saturday League fixtures will be uploaded shortly along with the updated Saturday League Regulations document for 2021, and two messages from the CMC Chairman Duncan Paterson.

Please let me know as soon as possible if there are any scheduling errors with the fixtures

Iain Kennedy
WDCU Administrator

Please see note from Cricket Scotland introducing a number of new development posts:

We are delighted to announce that this week, three new staff have started in their roles to provide support to clubs and development groups in the coming six months:

Caitlin Ormiston, Development Coordinator (caitlinormiston@cricketscotland.com, 07889-596859).  Caitlin will be providing administrative support for all development programmes.

Please note that all support for domestic/adult club cricket has moved to the Operations Team lead by Paul Macari.

Blair Carnegie, Regional Development Officer, Central (covering Dundee and Angus, Fife and Forth Valley) (blaircarnegie@cricketscotland.com, 07889-596861).

Nathan Allison, Regional Development Officer, West (nathanallison@cricketscotland.com, 07889-596858).

Blair and Nathan are the local point of contact for Cricket Scotland support for all junior cricket programmes and formats, women and girls’ cricket (with Rosy Ryan), workforce development (with David Bordes), community engagement (with Ammar Ashraf), and disability cricket (with Barry McGeachy).  Both Blair and Nathan have large geographical areas to cover, so they will not be in a position to deliver regular (taster) sessions at schools, but they will be able to support any club/community coaches that are doing school delivery and provide that important link between clubs, communities and governing body.

Support for clubs in the North and North-East remains in place with:

Alex Green, Regional Development Officer, Highlands (including Moray) (alexgreen@cricketscotland.com, 07889-594242).
Tony McKenna, Regional Development Officer, Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire (anthonymckenna@cricketscotland.com, 07889-594232).

Support for clubs in the Perth and Kinross area remains in place in partnership with LiveActive:

Richard Rennie, Development Officer Perth & Kinross (rrennie@liveactive.co.uk, 07703-023905).

We hope to appoint a Regional Development Officer for the East region in the coming weeks.

Please see most recent communication from Cricket Scotland

1. Duke of Edinburgh funeral

Following the death of the Duke of Edinburgh, the national mourning guidance sets out that it is for individual organisations to decide on the most appropriate response. The guidance from Scottish Government can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-duke-of-edinburgh-mourning-guidance/

In line with the UK Government, Scottish Government ask that sports avoid activity between 2pm and 5pm on Saturday, April 17, when the funeral is scheduled to take place, however there is some uncertainty about how long the funeral will last.

2. Travel guidance from Friday 16 April

From Friday, some travel restrictions will be relaxed to allow travel across Scotland for the purposes of meeting outdoors with friends and family.  This will allow travel for informal physical activity, but not for organised sport.  Travel restrictions for wider purposes – including organised sport, leisure, shopping, visiting hospitality premises or staying in tourist accommodation – will remain until 26 April, as originally planned, when all travel restrictions within Scotland will be lifted.

Please see below a letter from the club to raise support for this venture. Please get involved and help if you can.

Please see an update sent to club contacts this morning:

Hi, and good morning,

Please find below an update from the WDCU.

The WDCU remains hopeful that we can have as full and meaningful a cricket season as possible. We are currently waiting on the most up to date guidance from Cricket Scotland and sportscotland to help shape our plans. This is expected in the very near future.

I am sorry to inform you that very recently St. Michael’s CC intimated that they will not compete in the WDCU league this year and also that Clydesdale CC will only field three Saturday teams.  This has meant our planning for the year has had to be reviewed and final league structures are being amended.

Could I ask all clubs with outstanding ground issues, or other issues of concern, to communicate with the WDCU as early as possible.

Please remember we are still taking ball orders for the season ahead, and should you wish to take advantage of this offer please place an order as soon as possible.

Could I also remind you that your subscription is due by the 31st of March if you haven’t paid it already.

Finally those that haven’t updated their club contacts for the year, could you please do so as possible.

As things are moving at a pace just now I would anticipate providing more regular updates between now and the start of the season.

Iain Kennedy
WDCU Administrator

Renfrew CC are on the lookout for a Head Coach for the upcoming season. Please see link below for more information.

Renfrew CC Head Coach vacancy

Cricket Scotland is holding Introduction to Coaching Cricket Courses in late March and early April.  If you are interested in starting your coaching journey please see the details in the link below.

Link

Please see a note sent to all club contacts this morning:

Just a note to say that the WDCU was pleased to hear the recent lockdown easing steps planned by the Government. We are now optimistic that we will be able to organise meaningful competitive cricket sometime this summer.

We await further guidance from sportscotland and Cricket Scotland to assist us with our planning.

I will keep you up to date with progress on this matter.

Iain Kennedy
WDCU Administrator

Please see most recent update regarding a safe return to cricket from Cricket Scotland.

Morning all.

A bit of good news on a Friday – following the Scottish Government announcement on 9th March, the key changes permitted for outdoor sport and exercise come into effect today, Friday 12th March.

The key changes for cricket activity concerns adults (18+) youth (12 and over) and juniors (Under 12).

1         Outdoor sport and group exercise – 12 and over

Up to 15 people can take part in outdoor non-contact sport or exercise (training or intra-club competition). This number includes coaches.

2        Outdoor sport and group exercise – Under 12

Up to 30 juniors can take part in outdoor non-contact sport or exercise (training or intra-club competition). This number includes coaches.

3        Travel restrictions

People should stay as close to home as possible, in line with current travel restrictions, however some flexibility will be given to under 18s allowing parents to drive under 18s outside their local area for their regular organised group activity. Adults must stay within their own local area.

Please note that restrictions remain and risk mitigation continues to be paramount in the opening of club cricket – for full guidance please visit the Cricket Scotland COVID-19 page here.

Iain Kennedy
WDCU Administrator

Please see latest information sent to clubs from the WDCU regarding a safe return to cricket.

Good morning, please see an information update on a safe return to cricket to all clubs from WDCU.

You may have seen the update from Cricket Scotland on Friday which briefly commented on planning for a potential start to the season in late May/early June.  This would give the possibility of a full or only slightly reduced league season if achieved, but will be dependent on a number of variables, most notably Scottish Government tiering and travel restrictions which are unlikely to be known for some time yet, and may mean different associations take different approaches. We must also remember that the position could change during the season. We appreciate that this is as frustrating for clubs and players as it is for us, but ask for some patience in what is a very challenging situation to manage . There are a number of options in the planning stage, based on various scenarios. In the meantime, we would urge all clubs who have not already done so to respond to the request from our Administrator on ground availability up until mid September, which is essential for us to plan effectively.

Iain Kennedy
WDCU Administrator