It’s been a while since the last update, and a lot has happened since then. We’ve had centuries, Michelles, ducks, run outs, victories and losses. As well as a football tournament that I’m sure hasn’t escaped your attention. Welcome to your Chairman’s update for mid-season.

Our Twenty20 campaign ended with exit in the group stages. A disappointment, congratulations to group Winners Oldham. The T20s included a couple of memorable wins against local rivals Milnrow, as well as a 9 wicket victory over Oldham, a game which will be best remembered for the magnificent opening partnership of 128 between Ged Walsh and Scott Howarth which paved the way for an easy victory. The T20s were played in our new coloured kit for the season courtesy of our 4 new coloured kit sponsors, details of whom are available on the website. The kit looks fantastic, and will continue to be used for the first XI’s future Cup and T20 campaigns.

The First XI currently sit 2nd in their Division and reached the semi finals of the cup before being knocked out by Dukinfield on Sunday. Strong individual performances from everyone in the team continue to drive us forward, highlights being centuries from captain Micklethwaite and vice-captain Howarth, as well as strong bowling performances from Heywood, Pattison and Kashif. Howarth is comfortably leading the run-scoring charts after his incredible unbeaten century against Ashton, whilst Micklethwaite scored a sublime ton of his own in the mauling of Milnrow and Jamshed Raza scored his first century for the club in the cup against Bolton Deane & Derby. Chris Heywood leads the wicket taking charts and has two “five fors” whilst Paddy McMahon and Joe Pattison have also taken a five for each.

The Second XI are 9th in their division with a small cushion on the teams below them. Availability always affects Second XI’s more than other teams given that the First team take whomever they like, so a settled side is always difficult. Good performances for the team have been built around the batting of Obaid Iqbal (leading runscorer for the team), Matthew Mansfield and Umair Ahmed, whilst the bowling is led by the twin spinners of Marcus Young and captain Riley, Young having three five-fors to his name. The team have been bolstered by the return of Kammi “The (self proclaimed) Big Hitter” Ditta and Malik Pervaiz and can hopefully look forward to a strong second half of the season.

The Third XI are 8th in their division, having won a couple in style following a difficult start to the season. Adnan continues to dominate the run scoring charts, whilst a new player from last year, Safeway Ehsan leads the way with the ball. The mix of social players and people only available Sundays alongside some youngsters continues to be a difficult blend to properly maintain – new and younger players are getting a go in the third team alongside the occasional 4th XI friendly, and hopefully those new players can soon start climbing the ranks – providing they are available to do so!

Euro 2020 saw several evenings of live football in the clubhouse on our big screen projector. It was a shame that England couldn’t quite get the job done last Sunday night, but what a pleasure it has been to see our expanded membership coming in, enjoying the atmosphere and becoming more and more ingrained as members of the Club with each passing week. A huge thank you must go to all the bar volunteers for these afternoons / evenings on top of the regular cricket commitments. The Club wouldn’t be able to be in the position it is in without the people who put in the hours of hard work necessary to make it a place for the local community to come and enjoy themselves. Sweepstake winners have been announced – thank you all for supporting that fundraiser!

In recent weeks the under 11s and the newly formed under 9s have had their first games, and more importantly both recorded their first victories!! It is wonderful to see junior cricket back on at TCC, and I hope the juniors and their parents are enjoying their time down at the most beautiful ground in Greater Manchester. Massive thanks and respect must go to our junior coaching team who give up their time to provide opportunity for youngsters to get into this beautiful game, and your efforts do not go unnoticed. Long may it continue!

Sponsorship boards have gone up, and I would urge you all to consider supporting those local businesses when you are in need – many of these companies have a personal connection with TCC and deserve your support. We have also had our first sponsored match, which went down incredibly well, SMH Fencing enjoying the fantastic hospitality provided by TCC whilst the First XI smashed Droylsden on the pitch. For more details on sponsorship packages available please see the sponsorship pages.

We also had an evening of live entertainment provided by the local talent of Ben Davies, whom some of you may know from stints on TV. Ben provided some excellent live music and will undoubtedly be rebooked for future events. Upcoming throughout the next few weeks we have Quiz night on Saturday 31st July, the Golf Day on Friday 6th August and the big two of the Family Fun Day on the 22nd August followed by Ladies Day on the 28th August. Please message the social pages if you require any more information. Our end of season do is going to be Saturday 11th September, and the Presentation Evening will take place Saturday 9th October.

We are hopefully in a position to soon be able to relax many of our Covid restrictions in line with government guidance for pubs/bars and ECB guidance for clubs. Details will be published on the social pages as and when the specifics are ironed out. I would like to personally thank everyone who has taken those restrictions seriously and done their bit to reduce the spread – it hasn’t been easy nor has it been fun, but hopefully we are heading towards a summer which is a bit better than recent times have been.

All the best everyone – hope to see you down at the Club over the summer!