Welcome to our Winter Newsletter. We hope you all had a great Christmas & New Year and with so much cricket on TV at the moment from around the world, that its whet your appetite for the coming season. We also extend a warm welcome to a number of new members that have contacted us over the winter and will hopefully be joining us this summer.

Men's Winter Nets
Our Winter Practice Programme gets under way on Sunday 12th February and Wednesday 15th February, both at Blatchington Mill School. Entrance is on Nevill Avenue & Post Code is BN3 7BW. It’s a couple of weeks later this year as the Sports Hall is being used for exams. As there are only 2 nets and a practice area, we have again had to split the teams between sessions. Feel free to attend the session for the team you played for most last year. If you are unsure or new to the club then reply to this email and we will let you know which one to attend.

The sessions are :

Sundays 16:00 to 17:30 – 5th & 6th XI’s
Sundays 17:30 to 19:00 – 3rd & 4th XI’s
Wednesdays 19:30 to 21:30 – 1st & 2nd XI’s

Sessions continue for 8 weeks, after which we move outdoors to the Nevill Sports Ground.
Each session will cost £5 and is collected via Slate.

Details of the Women's & Juniors winter practice sessions will be notified seperately.

Season Details
We have a few Men's pre-season friendlies arranged for the weekends of 14th/16th & 22nd/23rd April. The season kicks off with a 1st XI T20 friendly against a touring team from Norfolk on Friday 14th starting at 15:00. The bar will be open and Bluey will be cooking up something special so lets get everyone together for a season launch evening. There’s more fixtures, including plenty of Colts action, on the Saturday where again the bar will be open and food available. More details of the other fixtures nearer the time.

The season kicks off proper with the T20 competitions on Saturday 29th April, with our 1s, 2s & 4s entered into the Cup, Trophy & Plate competitions. The draw will be made soon and we will let everyone know via our social media sites.

The league season kicks off on Saturday 6th May, however this is also King Charles’ Coronation so we are awaiting ECB advise on whether these matches can be played.

Our 6th XI don’t start until 20th May as their division has 2 less teams this season, which is aimed at reducing the high number of concessions that were seen last season.

Men's Captains for 2023
We announced Matt Wood as our new 1st XI captain at the AGM following Bryce Hounsome’s move to play & coach in Australia for the next 18 months. We thank Bryce for his efforts over the past couple of seasons and wish Matt lots of luck & success for the season ahead. There have been a couple of other changes to our skippers for this coming season. They are :

1st XI – Matt Wood
2nd XI – Chris Grammer & Jon Goldstraw
3rd XI – Ryan Goodman
4th XI – Wayne Hawkes
5th XI – Dan Mouland
6th XI – Andy Whippey

Annual Membership Subs
This season’s Men's Annual Membership Subs have stayed at £160 (£80 for those not in full time employment). This hasn’t increased for the past few years but does depend on all members paying on time. Subs are due by 1st May 2023 and increase to £185 / £105 after this date.

If you are unlikely to play many games or would find it difficult to pay the full subs, then please reply to this message and we will always come to an arrangement on payments.

We do offer a monthly payment scheme costing £13 per month. Just setup a Standing Order payable to the details below and reply to this email once its done :

Brighton & Hove CC
Sort Code: 30-96-83
Account No: 00542625

Bensons Fantasy League
We will once again be running our Fantasy League where you pick your team of Bensons players for the coming weekends matches and score points based on their performances. More details nearer the season but start shaping your teams now !

Player Feedback
At the end of last season, after our Men's 3’s, 4’s, 5’s & 6’s had decent seasons, but our 1’s & 2’s were relegated, we asked a cross-section of our playing members for some feedback on what we were doing well and what could be improved.

We asked for candid & honest feedback and the responses have given your committee & captains plenty to consider as we creep towards the new season. Many thanks to all those that responded. The anonymised feedback that we received can be found HERE

Player Registration
If you haven't already registered with us, or any of your personal details have changed since you first registered, could you please complete our Registration Form again please.

Lastly we would like to wish you all a very successful & enjoyable season and we look forward to seeing you all in the bar after the first matches and then picking up some silverware come the end of the season !

Dave Mates – Secretary
Pete Underwood – Chairman