Tolchards Devon Cricket League
Secretary’s Report – 2020
When I started work as the new Secretary of the Devon Cricket League, in April, it was doubtful whether any cricket would take place at all in 2020. By the time DCMS confirmed recreational cricket could get under way, albeit with some stringent guidelines, we had lost half of the regular season. Influenced by a club survey, we launched a significantly altered DCL match programme on 25 July and played matches through to 12 September, meaning we organised 390 matches in an initial group phase, followed by a further 75 matches in a Play-Off phase (semi-finals and finals) with a total of 465 organised matches.
The weather played its part in disrupting the programme, but we still ended up with 366 matches completed. That was a phenomenal effort, not only by the DCL League Management Committee, but by the many individuals at cricket clubs across Devon, and I applaud them all for ensuring so much meaningful cricket was played this year.
To say it has been an ‘unusual year’ to begin a role as League Cricket Secretary is truly an understatement. The Covid-19 pandemic and its devastating impact on all areas of our lives has meant we are all in unchartered territory. To the many club chairmen, secretaries, players, and all club volunteers I offer a most sincere well done for steering your club through these difficult times.
Whilst I am sure we all hope there will be brighter days in the not too distant future, it’s also likely that every club will continue to face enormous challenges. The DCL is not immune to the challenges faced by its member clubs and will do all it can to support and help its clubs in any way it can. By us all sticking together as one, we can hopefully emerge from the pandemic as strongly as possible.
I have been extremely impressed with the calibre of those sitting on the League Management Committee. I haven’t been able to meet many of them face-to-face, for obvious reasons, but through our emails and phone calls as well as during our occasional zoom meetings it’s been abundantly clear the LMC is made up on some very hard-working, dedicated and talented individuals. I must single out the Chairman, Nick Rogers, for his support and patience whilst I try and familiarize myself with the operations of the DCL.
Work on planning the 2021 DCL season is well underway and we continue to have our Plan A as a full, regular season running as usual from early May to late August 2021. However, it is imperative we have a Plan B in place too, in case the Covid-19 Pandemic continues to disrupt cricket in 2021 as it has this year. Having delivered a significantly adjusted 2020 match programme, based around providing competitive cricket within smaller groups (to minimize travelling) means we do have a ‘go-to format’ which, with some tweaking based on feedback from participants in this year’s programme, we can put in place quite quickly should the need arise. We remain hopeful that cricket can return in its full, uninterrupted glory next summer.
I would like to thank the many individuals form clubs across Devon who made contact to welcome me to the Devon cricket family; I’ve been made to feel very welcome and am grateful for all of those kind messages. Finally, I would like to record my sincere gratitude to my predecessor as Secretary, Ed Leverton, who has been unfailingly generous is his ongoing support and advice. His wealth of knowledge and the pleasure in sharing as much as he can with me has been immeasurably helpful to me.
Dave Sheppard
Secretary, Tolchards Devon Cricket League
