Rye Cricket Club enjoyed its Annual Dinner last Friday night, September 6. For the first time the celebration was held in the newly extended Richard Merricks Room in the club’s pavilion. The evening celebrated a successful season, as the 1st XI came 3rd in Division 3 East, the 2nd XI came 4th in Division 6 East and the 3rd XI 5th in Division 12 East, recording the best-ever finishes in the Sussex Cricket Pyramid.
There was even more exciting news, that the Club had been successful in a bid to The Rother Community Grant Fund to refurbish the toilet for the disabled and build regulation-compliant access to the toilet. The work is to be carried out in the autumn, and at that point the pavilion will finally have completed all the outstanding major works.
There were notable individual achievements:
Richard Merricks Clubman Award – Chris Ashbee
U21 Player of the Year – Tobias Farrow/ Luke Payton. Both still teenagers, they made outstanding contributions to the success of the 1st XI.
U16 Player of the Year – Spencer Sharkey. Outstanding opening bowler in the 2nd XI, taking 35 wickets in the season.
1st XI Player of the Year – Harry Smeed. Harry scored 651 runs, making him 4th in the Division rankings.
2nd XI Player of the Year – Scott Balcomb. Wicket keeper and batsman with 372 league runs.
3rd XI Player of the Year – George Jempson. George, 15, made an impression with both bat and ball.
Best Bowling – Martin Blincow. With 6-10 v Laughton – top wicket-taker for Rye Cricket Club with 38 wickets.
Hat Trick – Mike Stonham v Crowhurst Park.
Centurions – Harry Smeed / James Hamilton / Scott Balcomb.
The club is already planning the 2020 campaigns with the recruitment process underway for an overseas player. The Club Development plan is to be submitted to The Sussex Cricket Board by the end of September, and Winter Coaching commences on October 3 for those young people aged 9-12 wishing to start playing hard-ball cricket. Please contact Secretary Martin Blincow on blincsfamily@aol.com
Image Credits: Rye Cricket Club .