I am pleased to announce that our 2018 Fixtures are now available to view (Fixture cards will be available shortly).

We have reduced the number of fixtures for this year in an attempt to address the player availability issues we saw in 2017. The list may be shorter but I believe we have improved the quality, and we will be trying some new match formats as well.

Unusually, I'm going to start the run through of the upcoming season with our last fixture. We close the season with the Terence Hair Tournament. This will be a 4 team, 6 a side tournament and fun day which gives us all the opportunity to come together and remember "T", pay tribute to the great man and raise some funds for charities supported by Terence and his family. I urge you to mark this date in your diary now and support the day as much as you possibly can. More details to follow soon.

Another great Mountman gets our season off and running with the Nick Clough trophy, on April 29th before we travel to Chalkwell Park for an Old Westcliffians "fun day"... More details on that as I get them. Next up we host Canewdon for a 2 innings limited overs game before our first break of the season.

We resume with the JWTW XI game on 3rd June followed by a weekend off before the busiest part of the season. This period sees a return game with Canewdon, fixtures against Brentwood Victorians and St. Aidans as well as the President's XI and our first ever Friday night T20 match vs Great Wakering.

The tour runs from 22nd to 26th July but I shall leave it to DT to provide all the required information on that!

We travel to Felsted on August 5th for what is always a challenging fixture before Terence's tournament on August 19th wraps things up.

I hope you agree that we have a great season ahead but as always, we rely on your support to make it happen. Player availability requests coming soon!

I trust you are all well and enjoying the near tropical conditions! As we have a number of members away or otherwise engaged this weekend there will be no pre-season training on Sunday. We will resume the following week (18th March at 10.30am). The sessions thus far have proved very popular with all that have attended and if you are able to come along from the 18th, I’m sure you will find it both beneficial and great fun.

I am also pleased to advise you that we have been invited to join Westcliff on Sea CC (WOSCC) at their indoor winter nets sessions. These are held at Westcliff High School for Boys (WHSB) on Thursday from 6.45pm. In addition to the usual batting/bowling practice, there will be some cricket coaching/drills and fitness work as well. We are fortunate to have the opportunity to join in and benefit from WOSCC’s excellent new coaching team so I encourage as many of you as possible to take advantage. A small donation of £3 each may be required but represents excellent value. This will be confirmed on the night if not in advance.

The address of the school is Westcliff High School for Boys, Kenilworth Gardens, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex SS0 0BP although, I believe it is best to use the entrance on Eastwood Boulevard.

It is planned to commence outdoor nets at AC as soon as possible after Easter. These will be held either one evening during the week and/or as part of Sunday’s pre-season training – obviously, weather permitting.

The season will be upon us before we know it and I and the rest of the committee look forward to sharing details of a fantastic fixture list, upcoming social events and some exciting new initiatives with you in the very near future.