Cricket Scotland has launched a new resource which is designed to provide extra support to cricket clubs. This exciting new Club Development Tool will guide clubs through a series of topics, each of which is designed to help a club analyse its current status and assist in planning for its development. Clubs can complete a self-assessment online – and will be provided with specific feedback, a report, an action plan and access to Cricket Scotland’s Regional Participation Team for further support and guidance.

Clubs will be able to complete this process working to their own timeline. As a club feels progress has been made, it can complete another online assessment to measure progress, analyse any changes within the club and help plan for the next phase of its development.

Cricket Scotland is also able to add value to this process through support provided by a new section of links and key resources on the Cricket Scotland website. This section will be updated as new information and additional examples of best practice from around the cricket community become available.

The benefits of using the Club Development Tool include:

:: Completely free to Cricket Scotland member clubs.
:: Provides you with an instant overview of your club.
:: Provides your club with unique feedback from Cricket Scotland.
:: Provides your club with relevant guides and links.
:: Provides your club with a live editable action plan document.
:: Supports your club in making strategic decisions.
:: Provides your club with a PDF report.
:: Allow your club to review progress against historical results.

If your club is interested in accessing the Club Development Tool please follow this link.  For any other support with the tool, or your club’s ongoing development, please do not hesitate to get in contact with West Regional Participation Manager, Tim Hart.

The following Umpire training courses for 2020, in the west, are now in place.

At Dumfries CC – Stage 1 on Saturday 8 February 2020 and Stage 2 on Saturday 15 February 2020;
At Clydesdale CC – Stages 1 and 2 on consecutive Tuesdays, 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31 March 2020; and
At Stirling County CC – Stage 1 on Saturday 14 March 2020 and Stage 2 on Saturday 21 March 2020.

Those wanting to attend should contact Allan Jack for information on the registration procedure.  Only those registered will receive the workbooks and Laws.  A fee of £40 is to be paid on attendance.  There is no need to pay when registering.  Allan will also answer any other questions prospective umpires may have.

Aamir Gul of Uddingston CC collects the WDCU Premier Division Bowler of the Year, 2019 from WDCU Administrator Iain Kennedy.  Aamir won the award for taking the most wickets in the premier division. He took 33 wickets at an average of 9.76, strike rate of 22.6 and an economy rate of 2.59 runs per over.

Aamir was delighted to receive his award at Shawholm today as he had missed the official awards night earlier in the month. Well done Aamir!!

Cricket Scotland has recently announced its annual awards evening will take place on Friday the 7th of February 2020 at The Village Hotel in Edinburgh. The evening will give guests the opportunity to celebrate the 2019 season, both on and off the pitch, where attendees will have the chance to mingle with national team players as we revisit the highs of the 2019 cricket season covering the domestic, regional and international game!

Cricket Scotland is pleased to add five new participation awards for this year and are now welcoming our clubs to submit applications. Our new awards are:

Communication Award
The Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Award
Volunteer of the Year
Young Volunteer of the Year (under 25)
Ground & Facilities Award

Clubs have until the 23rd of January 2020, at 1pm, to submit their nomination(s).

Can you think of a club or individual who is worthy of a nomination?  Click here to find out more information and access the nomination form.

It is with great sadness that I have to inform you that David passed away at 12.30pm on the 10th of December at Hairmyres Hospital, East Kilbride.

David Craig’s  funeral is on Thursday the 19th of December at 10am at Blantyre Old Parish Church, and then 11am at South Lanarkshire Crematorium.

He was a great bowler taking over 2,400 wickets (information taken from Cricket Scotland Guide, 1999).  A great sportsman and a true gent, he will be sorely missed and our condolences go to his family and friends at this time.

Stirling County Cricket Club is currently looking for an experienced Head of Grounds to maintain the playing surfaces on its two ovals at “New Williamfield”, Stirling. The ideal candidate will have experience of preparing cricket pitches to a high standard, and will be willing to identify and implement improvements to facilitate more top-level representative matches to be held at the ground.

For more information please contact the club by email at: ContactUs@StirlingCountyCC.co.uk, or view the full job advert on the club’s website: https://www.stirlingcountycc.co.uk/index.php

Following on from yesterday’s news please see below details of the umpiring courses planned for this winter.  It would be great if a good number of former players or other interested people would sign up to begin the umpiring journey!!  Who knows where it will take you…..

Dumfries CC: February 8th and 9th, and 15th and 16th (two weekends)
Clydesdale CC: March 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th and 31st (five Tuesday nights, all at 7pm)
Stirling CC: March 14th and 15th, and 21st and 22nd (two weekends)

Please contact lead trainer Allan Jack for more details or, to sign up, also email Allan.

WoSACO has recently released their umpiring categories for 2020. Please see the information in the document below.  This information can also be found in the umpiring pages of the website.  There are 48 umpires listed and it is hoped to increase that number through the winter so look out for the dates for the training courses.

Umpire categories, 2020

The WDCU end of season forum took place at Meikleriggs on Sunday the 6th of October.  23 representatives from sixteen clubs attended the forum.  A further two members of WoSACO were also in attendance. There was keen discussion on a number of topics and the notes of the meeting are attached below for perusal.

The WDCU forum – summary report, October 2019

WDCU is sad to report the passing of Howard Jefferson and Malcom Renny. Both were past presidents of the club and gave a lot of time and energy for the betterment of the club. They were regular supporters and could be seen most weekends at Cambusdoon, old and new, supporting the teams. Thoughts go to both families at this sad time.