Avoncroft C.C. Mourn John

John Fletcher

Avoncroft mourn loss of club stalwart

Club chairman Rod Braithwaite rounds up the latest news from Avoncroft CC.

“Since my last update, the club has sadly lost another great servant. John Fletcher, a well-known and respected dentist in Bromsgrove for many years, suffered from health issues in recent times and died of Covid 19 in May.

“John was a hard-hitting opening bat and a very fine ‘keeper, especially standing up. He served the club for 40 years as treasurer and was also a trustee. His widow June hopes that there will be a commemorative event later in the year when lockdown is eased.

“The committee is delighted with the response of players and supporters to its requests for financial backing. More than £3,000 has been donated through advance subscriptions and donations. Should there be no cricket, or very little, this season then players can opt to carry their subs over and decide next year whether they wish to help further.

“Paul Athey and Mark Wood have been successful in winning some grants from the local council and Sport England, which will greatly help to tide us over our commitments this season and assist in our ongoing plan for new nets.

“Chris Pitt and his small band of ground workers/ exercisers have made huge strides in maintaining the square and with local assistance the outfield is now fit for purpose. We would be able to play immediately when we get the go-ahead from the ECB. The committee, in a recent Zoom meeting, spent time examining the guidelines for nets. We hope to offer a practice facility but the safeguarding situation is complicated at present.

“The ECB has not set any probable start date for cricket at club level. From what little information we have, we are hopeful that some cricket will be played before the end of the season. It is unlikely to be league cricket, probably all friendlies perhaps based on our existing fixture list. Naturally, players will make their own decisions on whether they play after seeing what the safeguarding conditions are.

“We will, of course, keep members up to date with any developments which will promote the game again as soon as possible. Many thanks to everyone for their help so far and we hope to see more of you very soon. In the meantime, stay healthy and make sure others do as well.”

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