Château de Thoiry Cricket Club Quarterly Newsletter: Winter 2011 Chairman’s notes The year 2011, our 20th Anniversary year, was a good year for Château de Thoiry Cricket Club. Spring brought an enormous amount of activity. In particular, the impressive turnout at our Working Weekends meant that the clubhouse and ground were transformed. The new seasonstarted with a new batting strip, a fully tiled clubhouse and showers. Thanks to all for the hard work. Our 20th Anniversary events were a great success. Many members gave up a lot of time in preparing for them, helping out on the days concerned or simply attending and making them a real pleasure for all. Saturday 11th June saw our Family BBQ Day at Thoiry. This was, in theory, the main event of the year where we awarded the 2010 season trophies for all our teams. Although turnout was lower than expected, we managed to produce a healthy profit thanks to the generosity of our in‐house caterers and the efforts of many others. But this event was happily overshadowed in July. What was initially an already ambitious international two‐day junior cricket event became even more than originally planned thanks to the visit of Sky Sports. This in turn meant that we could get the Chateau involved and help them increase their visibility. This is important as we should not forget that the Count and Countess have provided our ground to us entirely free of charge for the last 20 years and continue to do so. The presence of France 3 TV was a real bonus. All in all this has become a great advertisement for our club, the Chateau and cricket in France. We also now have a greatpromotional video. We also saw two initiatives in terms of communications with a new newsletter, linked to our redesigned and updated website. This became the reference point for information before and after matches. We need to use these and other tools more to promote our club. Membership is steady but we need to be vigilant, to find new members and to ensure that those who come along regularly sign up. This not only contributes to club funds for day‐to‐day expenses, it also means that we can provide the best possible facilities to all and ensure the future development of our club. We can look to 2012 with confidence. We have the funds required to support our development but must not be too complacent. I would like to express my thanks to the committee members and to all those who contributedin whatever way to this successful year. Robin Young ‐ Chairman

CLUB AGM Thursday January 26th 2012, from 7pm L'Osteria restaurant in St Germain-en-Laye It is important for everyone to understand where the club currently stands and where we intend to be over the coming year. It is also your opportunity to voice your opinions. We have arranged for the meeting to take place in the function room of the restaurant. It will be followed by a quality three-course meal with drinks included for a price of 40 euros per head. We hope that you will stay to enjoy the meal, partners and spouses are more than welcome to join us. This restaurant is half-way between Poissy and St Germain town centres. For those of you without a car, the two RER stations are very close and I'm sure we'll be able to arrange pick up and drop off from one or the other. http://g.co/maps/dx6h3

Château de Thoiry Cricket Club Quarterly Newsletter: Winter 2011 2011: That was the year that was International Press descend on Thoiry as the club celebrates 20 years of cricket played at the Chateau

http://www.skysports.com/video/inline/0,26691,12607_7075637,00.html

Le parc animalier accueille depuis 20 ans les passionnés de ce sport. Le parc de Thoiry dans les Yvelines est réputé pour ses animaux mais il abrite d'autres activités comme le cricket. Des rencontres ont lieu jusqu'à ce soir.

http://paris-ile-de-france.france3.fr/info/ducricket-a-thoiry-69623529.html

FRANCE LADIES vs JERSEY French Female Cricket team played their inaugural match against Jersey in Saumur: 6 Thoiry girls in the French Squad, including Captain Sharon Whiting, Maggie Beauclerk, Elaine Chancé, Emma Chancé, Chantal Woods and Carly Hicks ICC EUROPEAN U19 DIVISION 2

FRANCE U19 finish 3rd All Thoiry’s U19 players; Henry C, Rory G, Cameron B and Will S contributed to the performance, with Will hitting 58 not out to win the final match.

Quarterly Newsletter: Winter 2011 More from the International Press STOP PRESS: Here are a couple of press cuttings………

"They're not known as a cricketing nation, the French," Vicky Toole, from Lilies Ladies, told BBC Radio Jersey. "But they've got a couple of teams.

“(Thoiry) play their cricket about 30 miles west of Paris in the grounds of a 16th century chateau, home of the Count and Countess de la Panouse, who gave them the land when the club was formed. And if that wasn't enough, the grounds of the chateau also house a safari park - somewhat distracting for visiting teams when the lions roar mid-innings!”

Bits and pieces from our supporters Akash Restaurant in Paris is owned and run by one of our players, Arif Jamil. It is well worth a vist Reservations : 01 42 72 44 15 Open every day, lunchtime and evening, including Sundays.

http://www.akash.fr

Metro Châtelet - lignes 1, 4, 7, 11 et 14 Bus 67, 69, 70, 75, 76 - bus stop "Châtelet" RER Châtelet les Halles : RER A, B et D

FRANCE CRICKET To celebrate the Olympic Games in London 2012, a French XI will play the MCC at Thoiry on 16th June 2012. Keep the date for your diaries www.Francecricket.com Thoiry Gym

A new gymnasium is now open in Thoiry. Although no firm commitment has yet been made, the club are looking at the possibility to use it next year for a Sunday indoor cricket tournament or similar.

For information, the Safari Park and Château, who kindly provide us with our ground to play on are closed until 4th February 2012. Both are well worth a visit. For more information visit: http://www.thoiry.net/

STOP PRESS: First fixture currently Old Thoiry vs Young Thoiry on 14th April

Quarterly Newsletter: Winter 2011 Thoiry around the World Victoria Cross. I see David Bordes is involved at some other club, a nice guy. Still in touch with a number of the RSA guys that This may come as a big surprise, but I often sit on came across and played for Thoiry in the early days. my verandha, in sunny South Africa, Durban in fact, and look at the various photos I have of the club, My son still lives in UK, in Waltham Abbey, and is going back to its very beginnings Member of MCC, but is very limited with regards to playing as he developed a rare kind of arthritis. It really doesn’t seem 20 years ago that it all started He is under some special experimental treatment. Still working , but semi retired. He just had a son, so no doubt he will teach him the Not directly involved in cricket anymore, for various skills of the noble game in time reasons, but still very much associated with a host of private schools in RSA , some of which have visited Would love to hear from u from time to time Thoiry previously Willie Ferns

Durban, South Africa

Just decided to log onto internet, and see what is happening with the club and was amazed to see that you are still doing such sterling work for the clubWhen do they give you the French version of the

Houston, Texas

“After being transferred out of France in 2009, I have been incarcerated (from a cricketing perspective) in the US. My playing days have reduced substantially, principally due to the game not having universal appeal in this country. Both my sons also lament this fact. On a more positive note for us, India won the World Cup which we are still basking in, although the outcome of India’s summer tour to England took some (but not all) of the sheen off, with some redemption in the 5-0 ODI return series by England in India.

Willie is the Club’s Patron, who helped us in many ways in the 90’s, including financial assistance during the early days. A great guy, with the usual South African grit

I travel to France occasionally and if one of my trips falls during the summer and is over a weekend, I will beg to play for Thoiry one more time. I will be sure to practice my leg spin beforehand. The memories of the beautiful Thoiry cricket ground are still vividly etched in my mind. I still work for Schlumberger Limited (it is my 24th year with them) and currently, I am the VP & Treasurer of the company, which means I have to manage the company’s capital structure, cash and investments and in these troubled times, keep them safe. If you guys get your act together in the Eurozone sometime soon, that will help me immensely in my job !! Both my sons are now in High School with my older boy getting ready to go to college next year in the Fall. All the very best to Thoiry Cricket Club and all its members. Come and look me up if you ever visit Houston, Texas.” Best Regards,

Krishna

Quarterly Newsletter: Winter 2011 Captain’s page 2011 saw a total of 40 Thoiry players playing 21 competitive games wining 12, losing 9 including our first ever mini test match. This is up by 2 victories in relation to 2011 where we played the same number of games. Batting In terms of runs scored, we scored more runs than in 2010, but paradoxically we scored less boundaries (22 less 4’s, and 7 less 6’s). This did not prove to be too much of a problem because we ran over 300 more runs, contributing to winning more games this year. As a captain I am inclined to say “ok, that’s fine.” • Best Performances • Highest run scorer was Tim Fawbert with 506 runs with an average of 72.29 from nine innings. • Mark Moodley was second with 472 runs with an average of 36.31 from fifteen innings. • The highest score in a match was 126 not out by Mark. • Thoiry batsmen scored over 50 runs fourteen times: • 4: Tim • 2: Henry Collins, Mark Surridge and Mark M • 1: David Greaves, Kester Lovelace, Rory Gribbell , John Hardy Bowling For the second year running we were missing a genuine pace bowler to open the bowling but this proved not to be a problem., and our figures are impressive: Remember same number of games as the previous year, but we bowled far fewer overs. The main reasons for this reduction in the number of overs are more games played in 30 overs, one game where we were all out for 48 and the fact that in the games that we lost the opposition got their runs quickly.

• Thoiry used 25 bowlers to bowl 405 overs. • 24 of these were maidens, Steve Yolland having bowled 7 of them. • 90 wickets were taken. • Best Performances : • Christian Chancé was the highest wicket taker of the season with 11 wickets. • The best averages for the season were• Rory Gribbell -13.00 from 17 overs • Sharon Whiting-15.33 from 25 overs • Steve Y-24.50 from 44 overs. • Christian had the best bowling figures in a match with 4/39. • Sharon had the best bowling average in a match with 3/13 at 4.33.

General Generally speaking in terms of stats, the season was not as statistically exciting as 2010, but as we won more games, I shall not complain.

We did not quite have the consistency with our opening batsmen and bowlers resulting in lower wicket partnerships, and less wickets taken by our opening bowlers. However? More players chipped in with 20’s and 30’s, and our bowlers bowled a better line and length. A major factor in the fewer wickets and less games won however, was due to the number of dropped catches in 2011. In one game, we dropped 11 catches. We lost the game by 10 runs. It is disappointing as we are playing better tactical cricket, and we are setting better more strategic and attacking fields, to be obliged to go on to the defensive because we cannot hold our catches. It is vitally important that in 2012, to be more successful, we must use the slip cradle every week. It is not realistic to think that after a winter away from cricket, and then playing 1 game a week, we are instantly ready and able to catch a flying cricket ball in the middle of a game. Four people, for five minutes on the slip cradle every week, and you will catch at least 20 balls, which will train your hands and body to move and to succeed in match conditions. To coin a phrase ; Catches win matches.

My personal high points: • The mini Test-match against Old Caths • The Sky match against Juveniles • John Hardy’s 90 against Eleevar • An excellent double over Chantilly this year • Thoiry scoring over300 runs TWICE and only of 35 overs. And finally………………………..………………. Congratulations must go to our 4 U19 internationals, Will, Rory, Henry and Cameron. Good luck to Rory and Will who have been invited to the French senior squad training sessions. I must also congratulate all those players who come and play in the only objective to play and to enjoy their cricket and good company. Many thanks to all the people who made teas in 2011. We only had to resort to a Mark Tea 3 times, and even then it was pretty good. Many thanks also to my fellow committee members who work year in and year out in preparing the season and running the club without whom we would not have a club. All of us together are making a wonderful club, and a pretty good competitive cricket team.

EDITORS NOTE Despite lots of team catches dropped, Tim who could not catch a cold in 2010 caught 7 and dropped none. Well done Tim, Lots of love, Tim xxxx

Quarterly Newsletter: Winter 2011 Statistics and Highlights BATTING STATS 2011 2010 Delta

RUNS 3741 3562 179

FOURS 277 299 -22

Total 1108 1196 -88

SIXES 50 57 -7

Total 300 342 -42

Runs run 2333 2024 309

T 4's + 6's 1408 1538 -130

BOWLING STATS Overs bowled Maidens Runs conceded Wickets Averages of

2010 642,2 46 3332 139 23,97

2011 405 24 2524 90 17,6

Difference 237,2 22 808 49 6,37

-36% -47% -24% -35% -36%

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS: JOHN HARDY V Eelavar! John Hardy hitting a very hard hitting 90 (9 x 4’s et 5 x 6’s) of only 54 balls, a strike rate of 1.8 runs per ball…in a game where we gave Eelevar 11 EXTRA chances to win. Zut, they did; Thoiry 212-3 beat Nomads 211-5 by 7 wickets. Report by Tim Fawbert Captained by Taff Fawbert playing his last regular match for Thoiry, great Thoiry bowling by John Hardy, Steve Yolland, Daniel Davidson, Christian Chancé and Christopher Watson kept Nomads to 211, with Wakefield, Howe, Surridge, Nitin; all past centurions being denied. Then the Collins, Senior and Junior, Daniel with another 50, spearheaded aThoiry win by 7 wickets with 9 balls to spare Thoiry wins first ever "test match” Thoiry CC beat Old Caths (Bristol) by 19 runs in a 4 innings match Thoiry through the extreme heat, wind and rain won came out the winners by 19 runs. A great dedicated performance from all. Old Caths came out requiring 113 off 15 overs ; A rate of 7.53 an over. Thoiry stood tall. Good, tight, accurate bowling with good fielding proved too much for the old Caths who finished in the last over with 21 required to win. With the wind and the rain now falling, up stepped our illustrious chairman, who then bowled nearly the perfect over, giving away only 1 run. Thoiry 276-5 beat Lisse 271-5 (35 overs) by 5 wickets with 3.5 overs to spare Tim Fawbert (47, and passing 500 runs for the season in the process), Steve “Thirty something” Yolland (37)and David Greaves (45 not out), complemented by the hard hitting of Daniel Davidson (52) and David Bordes, saw Thoiry home. Thoiry 218-8 beat Juveniles 214-9 by 2 wickets with 4 balls to spare John stood on a burning deck Playing a game of cricket A ball aimed at his trouser leg Was hammered through mid-wicket Whoever said cricket wasn’t an intellectual sport has obviously never had Tim F in his team. Probably the game to win with Sky TV filming for Club Life and with virtually all of the UK and the cricket playing world watching, WE WON an incredibly tight match with 4 balls to spare.

Quarterly Newsletter: Winter 2011 The Ladies

Dames de France - Thoiry has six of them. In 2011, for the first time, France was represented by a ladies cricket team - les Dames de France. These six girls, along with their Thoiry team mates were key participants in a year filled with France Cricket events, and of course, tussles with the Royal Brussels Cricket Club as well as, for the first time, Luxembourg Optimists. The year began with two portes ouvertes where players from St Brice, PUC and Essonne were introduced to the game of cricket. Both of our coaches, Mark Moodley and John Hardy were initiators, along with David Bordes of France Cricket and Arun from the men’s national team. The selection of the Dames de France began with a weekend at Chantilly. Four teams competed, playing XI a side in matches of 12 overs per innings. Thoiry’s experience outshone the other teams and they won each of their matches and hence the tournament. Following a further selection trial held at Thoiry, six Thoiry players were chosen to represent France. Sharon Whiting, Chantal Woods, Elaine Chancé, Maggie Beauclerk, Carly Hicks and Emma Chancé represented France well in their first international match. In June, the Thoiry club departed for their 2nd annual trip to Brussels. There is a marked improvement in the skills of the girls from RBCC each time the teams meet and Thoiry have to fight harder with each match. Thanks to the toughness instilled by coach John, the Thoiry girls were able

to display their own skills when put under pressure. Thoiry won this encounter with 2 overs to spare. September saw a triangular tournament at Thoiry with RBCC and the Optimists from Luxembourg. In the first match, against RBCC, Thoiry fought hard in the field and were able to restrict the runs of RBCC. Thoiry won by 18 runs. Thoiry’s second match against the Optimists looked as though a win should be easy but some very slow loopy bowling proved very difficult for the cautious Thoiry batsmen. In the end, Thoiry attained the runs with an over to spare. This finished a successful summer season for the ladies of Thoiry. There were the usual solid bowling performances from Maggie, Sharon, Elaine and Emma. Krissie displayed her skills with the bat and in the field, taking some very sharp catches at her specialist position of short mid wicket. Chantal worked hard as wicket keeper and scored valuable runs with the bat Newcomers Helen and Carly proved valuable assets to the team, scoring runs and being solid in the field.

The ladies give their thanks to both Mark and John for sharing their skills and wisdom which were a major contribution to the team’s successful season. The ladies are now competing in a France Cricket Indoor Tournament, playing once a month with cricketers from other clubs in Ile de France.

Quarterly Newsletter: Winter 2011 Youth Cricket Triangular Tournament Thoiry / Standard / Luxembourg In early September we were able to have a weekend’s cricket with the visit of a team from Luxembourg and the involvement of Standard Athletic in a triangular tournament. On a fabulous sunny day on the Saturday we had a very close game. Having won the toss and elected to bat, we reached 97 from our 20 overs with top scorers Oliver Patrick and Ben Bullough well supported from some good late hitting by Alex Watson and William Gillham. In the Luxembourg innings, we initially gained some early wickets, fielded superbly and restricted Luxembourg’s ability to score runs with some tight bowling from our bowlers. However, we lost concentration in the second part of the Luxembourg innings and had to endure some very tense final overs. However, we held out and eventually ran out winners by 3 runs. Top wicket

takers were Alex Watson and James Whitehouse. On the Sunday, unfortunately the good weather deserted us. Luxembourg and Standard bravely played out a 20 over game in the morning in a continual drizzle, which Luxembourg won comfortably. The drizzle stopped before we started the final game against Standard and we again won the toss and elected to bat. However, within the first over the heavens opened and the ensuing deluge washed out play for the rest of the day which was a disappointing end to the weekend. We plan to have a similar triangular tournament next summer and are currently looking at further possibilities to play teams from the UK and from Brussels next summer.

Coaches Notes

U15 The Under 15 training sessions have continued through the late summer / autumn period. We have averaged between 15 and 20 players each week and have been able to use the two gymnasiums since the beginning of October. At the BSP gymn we have been able to work on batting techniques through the use of the bowling machine and certainly hope to see significant improvements in batting scores come the new season. At the Jean Moulin gymn, we have been able to focus more on bowling and match play. Many thanks to all of the other coaches – Steve, Robin and Julian.

U11 We will be obliged to strictly apply a minimum age of 8 years old from 1/1/2012. The main reason for this is that we are no longer able to ensure enough trainers to keep all our keen youngsters occupied. We want to ensure that those who have already grasped the essentials of the game, and who can start playing more organised matches, are given priority.

U11s around the World Hello to all the U11s (past and present) from Germany. Tom and I are missing the Sunday training, but are just in the process of finding a new club to get involved with over here. A bit tricky because they start at 10, but hoping to persuade them to make an exception  I attended an official England and Wales Cricket Board coach-training session recently and have got my Level 1 Coaching Qualification. I can highly recommend it to all current coaches and Dads looking to help. There were at least 6 people with previously limited cricket experience on the course who have leaned many skills that could help in coaching and helping at both U11 and U15 level. Although these guys will probably not go for the higher coaching awards immediately, they have the possibility to do so in the future. I thoroughly enjoyed it and came away with many things, not least of all the confirmation that we have been doing many things right at Thoiry. I hope we can come and take part in a training session some time in the New Year. Tim & Tom

Quarterly Newsletter: Winter 2011 Members News DID YOU KNOW? Membership for Thoiry for 2012 will cost just 45€! Senior matches also require payment of a match fee of 15€ for Seniors and 5€ for juniors, but it remains one of the cheapest Associations in Isle de France

Subscriptions: Another Century! We have over 100 members in 2011! For 2012 of you please start to register as players, as soon as possible. Membership cards will be required for access to the ground. Please download and Complete and returned as instructed via the following link www.thoirycc.com

Training Dates Group

Day

Location

Time

Contact

Men

Thursday

BSP

8.00pm

M Moodley

Women

Tuesday

BSP

6.30pm

S Whiting

U15

Sunday

Stade de Croissy

11.00am

R Young

U11

Sunday

Stade de Croissy

9.30am

S Mitchell-Harris

BSP (British School of Paris): 38 Quai d’Ecluse , 78290 CROISSY SUR SEINE Stade de Croissy: Parc Omnisports , Route du Chemin de Ronde, 78290 CROISSY SUR SEINE

Club Committee Thoiry on the “net ” We do have a club website: www.thoirycc.com. If you have any ideas, news or views, do not hesitate to use the contact details on the site to lest us know. Visit our Facebook page

Château de Thoiry Cricket Club Women's Team

Just a reminder, the committee members are as follows President : Vice President: Vice President: Vice President Youth Cricket: Treasurer: Secretary: Committee Member: Committee Member: Committee Member: Committee Member: Committee Member: Committee Member:

Robin Young Graham Chetwood Steve Collins John Hardy Bill Ratcliffe Elaine Chancé Mark Moodley Sharon Whiting Maggie Beauclerk Cédric Fleuroux Ian Thomas Tim Fawbert