The first official Club evening took place on the 14th of January at the Kampong Clubhouse, ahead of the start of scheduled indoorwinter trainingsessions from Saturday, the 16th.  

Read more about this evening. A contribution from Saurabh Zalpuri.

With a snow- laden field outside, the meeting kicked off by a short talk by the new KNCB CEO Richard Cox. It was an exercise aimed at promotion of Club- KNCB communication channels, as well as keeping the member updated about the working of the Board under the new CEO, the direction KNCB is looking to, what potential changes are in store for the coming season and what it could mean for the clubs, a little bit about the structure of Dutch domestic cricket and what is being done to promote it at home and overseas. This was followed by a Q & A round with the local club members firing away their queries and enquiring about what all the proposed changes to KNCB, pitch committees, re- structuring of the leagues etc. imply for the participating clubs.

Shaun de Kock would be joining us again this year as the overseas coach- player and this is very welcoming news. To build up on the 1^st team’s progress last season and go on a run of some consistent performances this season, it is very important to have a sense of continuity in and around the team, and Shaun coming back this year would be of immense contribution.

On the membership side, we have three new members Sean Trouw, Nikki Vieler and Karel Vieler who would be joining the club this season and hopefully contribute to our future plans on and off the field. It is always good to have a few new characters around and we look forward to welcoming them once the training and season starts. It was good to meet Sean and Karel.  Nikki is in South Africa.

The members helped themselves to generous servings of the delicious “erwten soep” courtesy Netteke and Minou which was followed by a pub quiz organized by Mike. The questions ranged from cricket trivia to general knowledge to music and were thoroughly enjoyed by all. Team C- “Ginger’s Army of Merry Men” finished second, but did deserve a mention being the rowdiest of the lot.

There were a few suggestions all around about the upcoming pre- season tour to England to take a relatively big contingent, and that is something we would work upon. Another bright one was trying to increase the attendance for our women’s team’s home matches. With Heather, Suus and Kate consistently helping the men’s 1^st team out, we are hoping to reciprocate it with kind, hoping to help them out and lend some support. Talking about bright ideas from yesterday’s “get- together” was supporting a charity. An example could be breast cancer, where players on the field and support staff off it could contribute whatever they think is appropriate towards a donation to one of the charities and wearing ribbons in support.

So the night ended with plenty of thoughts and budding ideas, and with a collective endeavor to organize a variety of social events off the field. With a new league structure, the coach coming back, hopefully an exchange player as well, some new additions to the club membership and an increased effort to keep things smooth and efficient off the cricket field, let’s all hope for enjoying our game and improving the team and the club.