Meeting with the Council

I had a meeting this morning with the Council and that went well. The Council are very interested in helping us as much as possible. They're slightly concerned about the fact that cricket pitches are being under-used and so they're definitely interested in the potential that we might be able to form a team and make use of the facilities.

With regards the flattening/preparing of the wicket at the "5 tree field" (Gloucester Park) they're bound by H&S regulations and couldn't go anywhere near the idea that they might partially "Prepare" the ground in any way even if it was to drive along the length of the wicket in thier vehicles to smooth it out a bit. As he pointed out there are 2 wickets only a matter of a few hundred yards away that are prepared and maintained properly.

So the situation is that in the short term I've still got to forge contacts with the Gloucester Park blokes and get them playing at the "Five Tree Field" and try and get them to play cricket properly with real balls and get the basis of a team together. If I can do that it may pan out that sometime in the summer they we'd be in a position to hire either Murray Fields or The Rec a couple of times and play a real match.

The Council have said that at any time once this is beginning to take shape if we give them a couple of days notice they'd take us around the facilities and show the others what's on offer. I was shown the pavillion at The Rec and it's quite impressive inside - showers, kitchen, and several rooms - enough for 4 different teams.

In the short term the main thing as always is that I meet with the Gloucester Park crew and get some practice sessions going on the Five Tree Field. I must admit I have come away from the meeting not quite sure how they'd feel if I started to mow a wicket at Gloucester Park?