This week cricket returns to Rye, as we all adjust to the new Covid-19 regulations surrounding the sport. On Wednesday and Friday night this week the club returned to net practice at the Salts, putting in place a raft of mitigating measures. These include, pre booking of net attendance, register of attendees for test and trace, each player to provide their own ball, marked to identify ownership, regular sanitising, and so on.
The Colts will start hard ball nets on Thursday July 23, following the same processes. The softball sessions are delayed until the club receives the final official guidance on safe practice for group sessions.
The first fixture of the season takes place on Saturday when Rye travel to play Crowhurst Park. The following Saturday the 1st Xl travel to Linden Park and the 2nds travel to Iden.
The club has entered two teams in the rapidly organised August cup and there will be five Saturdays of 40 over cricket, starting on August 1 and these are locally arranged fixtures to reduce travel.
In these new games, players will need to sanitise their hands and the match ball every 6 overs, there will be lines marked 2m distance from either side of the wicket to ensure bowler / batsmen are apart, clubs cannot provide teas or changing facilities and there are a wide range of mitigating actions for clubs to carry out.
Sadly, this has meant the club has postponed the fixture on August 4 in memory of the late president David Dee, who passed away suddenly in January. The intention is to rearrange the fixture in August 2021, when Rye is planning a cricket week, which will also involve a fixture versus the MCC. The club is still proceeding with its plan to place a defibrillator machine on the pavilion in memory of David Dee.
Rye has submitted a 10 page risk assessment to Rother, which will need to be accepted before fixtures can be played at the Salts but it does mean that we will have a taste of the best game there is. If anybody would like to be involved in nets / matches then please contact club secretary Martin Blincow at blincsfamily@aol.com.
Image Credits: Rye News library .