Welcome:
Welcome back to the fourth edition of the Shelley Cricket Club Newsletter. The newsletter is designed to keep everyone informed of the key information and events that can be shared to everyone at the club including social members, players, parents and guardians.

We hope everyone is doing well despite the none stop rain over the past couple weeks.
April is finally here and the month of the year which is meant to bring up the beginning of the season. However, due to the inclement weather recently we are unsure if any cricket will be played in this month. None the less, Shelley Cricket Club is ready to get the season underway!

April’s Events:
• Senior Training at Stumps Indoor Cricket Nets on Tuesday 16th April 7.30PM – 8.30PM.
• Senior Training at Stumps Indoor Cricket Nets on Thursday 18th April 7.30PM – 8.30PM.
• Senior Training on Tuesday 23rd April Time and Location TBC.
• Midweek Team Fixture (Away) vs Thorpe Hesley & High Green on Wednesday 25th April 6.15PM onwards
• Senior Training on Thursday 25th April Time and Location TBC.
• Junior Training at Westerley Lane on Friday 26th April 6PM – 7PM.
• 1st Team Fixture (Home) vs Marsden on Saturday 27th April 12.30PM onwards.
• 2nd Team Fixture (Away) vs Holmfirth on Saturday 27th April 1PM onwards.
• Singing Pineapple Catering Company on Saturday 27th April
• 1st Team Fixture (Away) vs Shepley on Sunday 28th April 12.30PM onwards.
• 2nd Team Fixture (Home) vs Linthwaite on Sunday 28th April 1PM onwards.
• Monthly Quiz Night on Sunday 28th April Time TBC hosted by Simon Rotchell.
• Senior Training on Tuesday 30th April Time and Location TBC.

Chairperson’s Message:

Now the time for a message from our chair Donna Mellor!

Hi All,

Just wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself as the newly elected Chairperson of Shelley CC! My name is Donna Mellor, I’m born and bred in Barnsley and proud of my routes. I have a very close knit family and work full time for a Care Company in Huddersfield as Care Manager. My background is mainly Health & Social Care previously I was an NVQ assessor.

So who am I etc? I’ve been married to James for over 28 years and proud mum of Ellis who is a senior player at Shelley and Junior Coach. Watching and Supporting Ellis is the reason I came to Shelley and I just never left. Two main beliefs I have is that you should always want to spend time with your kids which I do and that you should always put something back in to something you get enjoyment from hence the reason I’m here.

Shelley CC has some great people on and off the pitch and behind the scenes. Being elected as Chairperson is an honour to me and I take the role very seriously. I believe we have a strong committee of passionate people like myself who want to give something back and get us into a position where everyone knows our name for the right reasons.
So a little bit of information on what’s happening at Shelley CC. 12 months ago we had no junior teams and with some help from our younger senior players we are now in the fortunate position to have entered 2 teams into the league for 2024. We have the 2 senior teams and have also entered a more light-hearted mid-week league for anyone who wants more games or wants to have a go at cricket.

Bar 1871 is running well and as a result we are able to put money into refreshing, redecorating and rejuvenating the facilities. We launched our membership offer last month and this is working well with over 100 members. The clubhouse and facilities are able for hire so please get in touch.

During the coming months you will see food trucks and live music at Shelley CC as well of many other events including our very popular quiz, which we will communicate with you as much as possible. We want to make the club a place children, families and adults of all ages are able to come and be part of a community. We will again be hosting the Shelley Gala and Community Bonfire later in the year. It’s not all about cricket and in July we host our Runs4Research game raising valuable fund for Alzheimer’s.

Continuing with the positive vibe we have just secured a National Lottery Grant which means we are able to run some summer cricket camps for our kids and also replace some old and worn equipment so watch this space.

For any of you who do already know me you will know I am very approachable and also very level headed (most of the time.) I am happy to listen and talk to anyone and share with you the Shelley CC news as we approach the 2024 season and beyond.
That seems like enough for now just to say I hope to see you all at some point during the coming season, when the sun will hopefully shine and we can share a few drinks, laughs and memories.

Please believe me when I say that every one of you is an important part of this journey!

One club! One Community! One Shelley!

Regards Donna

Reflections on March:
We are pleased to finish off our business in the transfer market as we round off with two important signings. Jakob Taylor previously of Silkstone United Cricket Club is an extremely handy batsman to have in Jake Holling’s side playing some creative shots and looking to score runs quickly and positively. He will be a great addition to the side. Last but not least we have the mighty Reece Abrams back from Perth, Australia after joining us from Kirkheaton last season. Reece has already settled back into life in England and it great to have him back for 2024.

Unfortunately due to the poor weather conditions over the winter period the Huddersfield Cricket League announced that the first game of season on the Saturday 20th April for both our 1st and 2nd Teams has been cancelled and a decision if these fixtures get played will be decided in due course by the league officials. We are still unsure if we will be able to the ground in a safe and fit condition for play by the Saturday 27th April but this will be decided closer to the date to see if the weather offers any let up.

Memberships were launched for 2024 with great success. Bar 1871 is doing great as a result of members’ support in which we now have over 100+ paid members. These people range from social members to players of both junior and senior teams. Once again thanks for your support in this space.

We hosted the Shelley Preschool & Cabin event to help them raise just over £700 despite the awful weather including rain and wind it was good to help our community out!

Winter nets for both seniors and juniors are now over and we had well attended sessions through the winter months which we would like to thank everyone for. The current state of Westerley Lane despite our groundsman’s best efforts it is still a bog and we will try to get outside training as soon as possible!

All-Stars:
We are pleased to announce we will be continuing our All-Stars programme in 2024 which will run for 8 weeks starting on Monday 3rd June 2024, for 5-8 year olds. Excellent to see we are continuing our programme for the 3rd year running and hopefully the children enjoy themselves!

Thank you:
Thanks for reading and keep on the lookout for anymore news and information that is posted on our social media and website.

Thank you for your continued support!

Shelley Cricket Club