Gidea Park & Romford Cricket Club

Having qualified by winning last weeks Essex tournament, GP&R have won the All London Disability Cricket Festival. More details to follow...

Gidea Park and Romford Cricket Club are the Essex Disability Cricket Champions after winning the "Hit The Top" Disability Cricket Festival held at Gallows Corner on Thursday 8th April.

Four teams from around Essex took part in "Hit the Top" which is a specific programme which feeds youngsters from Special Needs schools into local cricket clubs, it has been established by the Cricket For Change Charity and is supported by Essex County Cricket board. Top performers then get the opportunity to go on and represent Essex and England.

The Festival held at Gallows Corner was the first disability Cricket Festival of its kind in the UK and was supported by the England and Wales Cricket board who sent along their Cricket Factory for the youngsters to enjoy. Springfield CC and South Loughton CC Disability Squads took part as well as a team from West Ham In the Community.

Playing Street 20 style cricket the games are fast paced and designed to allow all children to participate. GP&R started strongly and some excellent fielding, batting and bowling enabled the team to claim the trophy under the watchful eye of coaches Donovan Miller and Adam Hall. GP&RCC now go on to face the teams from the other London Counties at the Cricket For Change Centre on Friday 16th April.

"The day went great and to see the clubs excelling at a great rate is fantastic. The Clubs have really embraced disability Cricket and its fantastic to see". Adam Hall Cricket for Change Development Manager.

The 2010 Shepherd Neame League programme has been published and GP&R's Premier League season begins with a visit to Hainault & Clayhall on May 8th followed by a home fixture with Wanstead. As for 2009 the first five games will be in the 50/50 over format followed by nine 120 over matches and finishing with four more 50/50 games, the final match being at home to Woodford Wells. All fixtures for each XI can be seen on the Gidea Park & Romford website at www.gprcc.co.uk or the Shepherd Neame Essex League website at www.essexcricket.com.

The club's annual awards were announced at November's AGM:
Alan Stevens Batting Trophy - James Patient 549 league runs in the 3rd XI league,
Fletcher Cup for Bowling - Rajesh Kanojia 36 league wickets in the 4th XI league,
Peters Cup for Most Outstanding Performance - Muazzam Ali 109 v Wanstead in the Premier League,
President's Cup for Player of the Year - Jakk Carver,
Andy Evans Trophy for Best Bowling Performance - Andy Jenner 8 for 32 v Upminster 6th in the 4th XI League,
Fielding Trophy - Chris Lamb,
Chairman's Cup for Most Improved Young Player - Aaron Hughes,
Brazier Cup for Club Services - Claire Brett,
Congratulations to all the winners.

Indoor nets for senior teams begin on Wednesday 2nd December at Ilford County High School from 8-9pm. For more information and to book a place contact Brijesh Patel.

GP&R will be taking part in the first ever junior disability cricket league in 2010 along with South Loughton CC, Springfield CC and Belhus CC. Matches will be played on a festival basis at five grounds on the following dates and venues with a proposal for the final festival to take place at the County Ground, Chemsford.

May 23rd – South Loughton CC
June 20th – Springfield CC
July 18th – Belhus CC
August 8th – Gidea Park & Romford CC
September – County Ground

For more information on GP&R's involvement with disability cricket see the Disability Cricket section.

Friday night saw the Colts section hold its presentation evening. Awards were presented to Players of the Year in each age group and from "The Hit The Top" disability group.

The Club would like to thank Mervyn Westfield and Maurice Chambers from Essex Couty Cricket Club for coming to present the prizes.

Age Group Winners were:

U11 Joe Thompson
U13 Adam Thain
U15 Ahmed Wain
U16 Chris Mckie

Thanks also to Maria Carver for arranging the evening.

1st XI (Premier Division) - 8th,
2nd XI (Division 1) - 3rd,
3rd XI (Division 9, 3rd XI Premier) - 4th,
4th XI (Division 12, 3rd XI Div.3) - 6th,
5th XI (Division 15, 4th XI Div.2) - 4th,
Full league tables can be viewed in the League Tables section.

Gidea Park & Romford CC hosted the launch of ‘Hit The Top’ in Essex on Wednesday July 29th at Gallows Corner. 'Hit The Top' is a programme designed to provide opportunities for those with learning and physical disabilities aged 10 to 16. On the day a number of clubs and county squads that have set up through ‘Hit The Top’ were showcased: Gidea Park & Romford Giants, South Loughton Lions, Essex Junior VI, Sussex Junior VI, Essex MLD, London MLD, Essex Pan For photos of a very successful day see the photo gallery section of the website.