Please see most recent communication from WDCU to clubs regarding pre season friendlies.

As the Scottish Government has confirmed that the whole of Scotland will be returning to Level 3 from Monday 26th April, clubs can arrange pre-season friendlies on a local basis after this date on the same basis as games were completed in late August and September last year. As a reminder, please ensure travel is kept to a minimum and clubs should follow Scottish Government guidance and Cricket Scotland guidance when it is published in the near future.

Iain Kennedy
WDCU Administrator

Please see note sent to club contacts this morning from CMC Chairman Duncan Paterson:

Hi everyone,

Please find attached the Saturday League fixtures for season 2021.

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

The season will run from Saturday 22 May to Saturday 18 September dependent on Scottish Government and Cricket Scotland  COVID-19 regulations.  Should there be changes to regulations that impede the completion of the scheduled fixtures, the CMC may have to alter, suspend or cancel the league season.  This may also, as per the amended regulations for 2021 previously sent, lead to the suspension of promotion and relegation.

Compiling the fixtures for 2021 season has been a difficult task due, not only to the delay to the season and the challenges posed by the current COVID-19 pandemic, but also to an unprecedented amount of ground availability issues, coupled with the late withdrawal of three teams from the Saturday League structure.

In order to give every team the most amount of meaningful cricket possible, the CMC has merged Divisions 3 and 4 into one division of fourteen teams.  Despite the challenges, we have prepared a season comprising of fifteen fixtures for all clubs in that division over the eighteen-week season.

All other divisions will compete in a ten-team, eighteen-week, league season.

Due to the many ground availability issues, it has been unavoidable that some fixtures are scheduled on a Sunday and, although this is not ideal, we have had no choice this year.  We have kept it to the minimum possible amount and, at present, it only affects certain second elevens.

The CMC would like to thank David Sturgeon for his assistance in drawing up the fixtures. Should any club have any further issues with ground availability or their ability to complete their scheduled fixtures, they are asked to get in touch with the Administrator as soon as possible.

Kind regards.

Duncan Paterson
WDCU CMC Chairman

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