Crisis

The last week has been a turbulent time for Riddlesden Cricket Club. There have been two incidents that have hit us pretty dramatically. One is a long term change to the club, the other a short term punch to the gut that we will recover from.

First up, the immediate structure of the club. Just a fortnight ago we held an emergency meeting to address the problem of raising two teams we had struggled with all season, and came away from it thinking a corner had been turned. The people who attended spoke intelligently and passionately, and things looked to be on the up. But unfortunately they fell apart again within days, leaving us with no option but to concede the first team game at the weekend. Due to league rules, if we don't field a first team, we cannot play the second team either so that game too had to be conceded. Something had to give.

We were contacted by the Craven League to explain what the problem was. On the back of this initial discussion we were invited to attend an emergency league meeting on Tuesday night. At this meeting we explained the situation to the league and were cross examined on the viability of the club fulfilling its fixtures for the rest of the season. We also provided certain statistics of the players we had available, and were then dismissed to sit in a changing room (like naughty schoolboys) whilst the committee deliberated our position. When we returned it was decided that we would abolish our first team with immediate effect and all results to date in the first division would be expunged. The second team would be renamed as Riddlesden 1st team, but would remain in the third division. As we no longer have a second team, we would be ejected from our place in the cup competition. We also had to provide assurances that we would not play our genuine first team players in the third division as this would be deemed unfair on our opponents - having said that, some lee-way could be granted if anyone seriously wished to represent us at that level, but we would need to discuss that with the league and provide good reason for electing to do so.

So what does this mean to the club and the players? To start off with I think it means we will be saying goodbye to some quality players and friends. It also means that we now have a large pool of players available for the remaining team, with up to 20 players vying for eleven places each week. Clearly not everyone is going to be picked on a regular basis. We hope as many as possible will stay with the club, playing as and when absences and rotation allows, through to the end of the season as we strongly hope to start up a new second team in the 4th division next year and will need not only the existing players but also some new additions.

This is the plan for the future - complete this season as best we can, hopefully avoiding relegation now we can field a full strength squad each week, then build two teams fro next season with the aim of both teams growing together and progressing back up the league eventually. A lofty goal, but one we can do if we have the backing of enough players. Obviously should any players wish to leave for pastures new, we will understand their position and wish them well, and hope you will always have a soft spot for Riddlesden. But please talk to us first and hear our plans. We should be arranging a meeting/talking directly with as many of you as possible over the next week.

The second crisis of the week is that at some point over the weekend, some low-life pond scum broke into the club. They used excessive amounts of force causing considerable damage to the security shutters, doors and windows. The damage includes the theft of the till, a badly damaged pool table, tools taken and even all the sweets and crisps stolen. The clubhouse was thoroughly ransacked. This has caused us shock, anger and despair. But we've begun to fix things up already. Everything's been cleaned and tidied, so other than the damage to the pool table, there's nothing really to show what a mess it was inside. The windows and doors have been repaired and made secure. The shutters have been made secure also. We will have to work out what additional security we can put in place, but this wasn't a simple speculative attack - it was a determined assault to get past what can be thought of as good precautions. The changing room door wasn't broken as such - the entire casing was torn out of the wall!

In conclusion, we've been hit hard twice this week. We had no desire to go down to one team only, but circumstances forced the decision on us as we couldn't keep going with the way things were. And given the state we're in, the last thing we wanted this particular weekend was a break-in. Hopefully this signifies a turning point. Perhaps Saturday will bring us our first league win of the season? Maybe in a year or two we will be enjoying life as two successful teams play each week and this weekend will be a vague memory. I hope so - I hope everyone else feels that way too.