Despite being in lockdown for the past three months or more, Uphill Castle Cricket Club have benefited from a variety of work being done in and around the club.
Volunteers from their club membership have spent many hours decorating the bar and kitchen areas of the club.
And, following on from suggestions from club members, it was decided to show more of their proud history which included many hours trawling through the club’s archives, finding team photos from all eras right back to the 1900s.
By doing this they were able to find collections of memorabilia that had been donated to the club from former professionals who had previously played for the club.
The club were able to display their new entrance gate, which was donated by the past players association – The Uphill Strugglers – which will now provide much needed security.
The Strugglers have become an important part of the club and are led by Andre Cox, as they work tirelessly to raise funds to allow Uphill to improve their facilities.
It was also decided that in recognition of the efforts of the former players’ support, the gates would be named The Strugglers Gates.
With recreational cricket due to return from this weekend, after updated guidance from government last week, the club have praised the services of groundsman Roger Fry, who has held the role for 30 years and has been working non-stop to make sure the ground is ready for play.
With supporters missing their fix of cricketing action, the club have formed partnerships with other local sports team like the Hornets to ensure there is something exciting to watch.
Uphill, who are supported by a number of businesses, are proud of the long-lasting partnerships and took the decision to ask for an invoice for the 2020 season and have still supported their sponsors through social media platforms as a little thank you for all the years of support.
However, despite the Coronavirus pandemic, the club have announced youth training will return again and under-13s and under-15s are booked out for every session, as Uphill will work alongside ECB and Government guidelines.
Unfortunately, the decision has been made to suspend the under-11s for the 2020 season but it is hoped that a full quota of youth teams will return for the 2021 season.
With the Somerset Cricket League set to return, the club are fielding two sides for the new local bubble mini leagues in line with certain players’ work commitments and some people shielding, but will return to putting out three senior sides for the 2021 season.
Training has also resumed with new and old faces and almost all of last year’s squad retained.
Ad each team, all the way from the seniors to the under-11s, are packed and many youth graduates currently playing Premier Cricket.
But Upill’s committee have worked tirelessly to make the club finances stable and ensure that there will be many more years of entertaining cricket at The Castle.
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