Clubmen, welcome to the Term 2 report. Term 2, the time when finalists realise it’s actually time to do some work, and Fresh increase their nights out as they draw closer to that fateful second year that counts. Lectures and seminars may have been disrupted by the UCU strikes, but clubmen have fought through the non-existent pickets to continue to train and circle all term. If clubs got funding based on consistency of numbers and size of numbers at circle, we would be top of the pile. I actually couldn’t get this out on the day term ended as I was busy submitting an application for planning permission to extend our corner of CR2 outwards.
One of the reasons Term 2 has been a stand out term for the club is because at the end of week 8 it was confirmed that the University of Warwick will have a Women’s Cricket Club next year. Sophia and their exec of Amelia, Chloe, Zoe and Hetty have encouraged lots of women to start playing cricket this year and have really pushed the drive for a women’s club and we are all very happy it has finally happened. Finally getting the go ahead from the Sports Exec is a testament to all their efforts. Thanks have to go to Rooty, Mihir, Sean and Louie as well, for helping run some of their sessions this year and I know they are all looking forward to the first women’s BUCS game at Warwick for at least 5 years.
On the Men’s side, this term we have had professional coaches from Complete Cricket come in to the squads sessions on a Tuesday and Sunday. Feedback has been good with everyone feeling they have improved their skills and are better prepared for this year’s BUCS season. One particular clubman who has improved is Jeremy Sloach, who only this year realised that running in straight might make him more consistent and quicker. The man is a mystery. A thanks must go to Louie who has helped run sessions and coach endlessly this term, many of the clubmen who have improved can put it down to him.
This training was all worth it in the end, when at the Varsity weekend in Desso we beat Coventry in a 2-innings match by 47 runs, bringing the crown back to Warwick after it has gone missing for the last 2. Louie scored 50* and Rhino was named man-of-the-match despite an almost flawless display from all 6 players. The only downside was that Mihir couldn’t quite hang on to his third catch of the match. 5 of the 6 Cov players were great sports, but number 27 became the pantomime villain when after hitting his own wicket to get out, he threw his bat across Desso. Rumours the travelling UWMCC barmy army will be making a reappearance to annoy him again when the 1s play them this summer in the BUCS league. Aside from the BUCS squads Mezza has secretly been coaching and building a strong friendlies squad and XI. Rumours he has dismissed the thought of playing the 4s and wants to challenge the 3s straight away. In all honesty, Sean has done a brilliant job of getting consistent turnouts at training. Him and his VC Wack Jallows, have filled out the Friday net sessions, had good attendance on a Monday and have managed to keep over 50 friendlies players engaged with the club.
On the footballing front Term 2 is where UWMCCFC have shined. Thanks have to go to Aneesh who has organised the games and always just about manages to get 11 of us together on a Saturday. This term we finished top of the Saturday league and on the 5-a-side front managed to get to the quarter finals of the cup and into the Europa League. Whilst some players, not naming names but the fresh, have tried to bring flair to the teams and been told to ‘be more boring’, we have overall played an exciting brand of long-ball football, especially given what Aneesh inherited from Roach.
On the charity side of things this term has seen the re-emergence of our Coaching in Schools programme. After-school on a Wednesday four clubmen led by Louie and Aragog have run an hour cricket session which has benefitted the school in Leamington and the pupils themselves. Choppy has also got the club involved in a very important campaign run by the Coventry and Warwickshire Mind charity. The campaign, ‘It takes balls to talk’ encourages men to speak out about mental health and to make people aware that it is ok to talk. Some clubmen volunteered for the cause at a Leamington FC match handing out flyers and chatting to people and this is something we hope to continue in the future. The only sad news on the charity front this term is that the Warwickshire Half-marathon that clubmen were down to run was postponed due to the ‘Beast from the East’. Although the Met office have said the snow was caused due to cold eastern winds, club meteorologist, James Murphy, believes that the Sesh gods were involved and they made it snow as they didn’t want clubmen to miss a Skool Dayz circle. In all seriousness, we are awaiting news on when it is postponed to and will have more information then.
Socials this term have continued in fine form with Joe running circles and organising a great Skool Days circle as well. Sadly, he is slowly just giving up control of 3rd session at circle with a great few cameos from Neeeeeesh, Tasty and I believe, although it’s patchy, Owen stepped into the ring once too. Another sad fact is that the speed of Mupdates has got worse than even the lowest levels of Tasty’s reign. Econometric and biological analysis has proved causally that Joe is useless in regards to Mupdates. He has got worse throughout the term and has no excuses. However, what he has done has been great this term.
Of course, this year’s international tour to Barbados needs a mention. I am currently writing this having completed the in-flight tour challenge and the airhostess cannot wait for some of us to get off. It should be a great 12 days of sun, sea and broken helmets, but look out for daily updates on our Facebook and Instagram pages. Despite the unheard-of levels of chat he has received, so far so good for Tour organiser Jeremy Sloach. He has, despite claims against this, put a lot of work into organising this and we all thank him for doing that. Let’s just hope we can still thank him at the end.
The club is still strong don’t worry. The fresh are actually alright and their sheer numbers are enough to help us keep our position as one of the most despised clubs in CR2 for a few years yet. They have already made the whole of Arthur Vick hate them, so they are only 1 chair into Ladies hockey away from turning everyone on us. Term 2 has been great but busy and we all look forward to actually playing some outdoor matches next term. Mihir has also organised a 1st XI tour to Cambridge in Week 0, so look out for updates on that to see how this years team is shaping up.
That’s all for now,
Dan