FROME Cricket Club held their annual presentation dinner at the clubhouse on Saturday 13th October. Once again, the clubhouse was transformed by an army of volunteers to celebrate a great year of cricket for the club.
This year saw extra awards in 2018 with the first ever Ladies presentation, along with the reformed 3rd XI and a new trophy in memory of Mark Dredge donated by Mark’s family.
After an introduction from club secretary Nick Larder, head coach Robin Lett started the review of 2018 with an oversight of the Frome Falcons U19 T20 campaign, where the club again reached finals day for the third year running, with a special thanks to Joe Smart for all his work with the Falcons this year.
3rd XI captain Nick Larder gave an overview of the 3rd XI and their first season back in the Somerset Cricket League; a great season finishing 2nd in the table and gaining promotion. The award recipients went to Andy Lamb for batting and Shane Ford for bowling. Nick also presented bouquets of flowers to tea ladies, Nikki, Sara, Jackie and Lynne.
The newly-formed Ladies team were next up and captain Kathy Dredge gave an amusing and informative insight into their first season in the mid Somerset softball league. The award recipients went to Lauren Sanger for batting and Hannah Dredge for bowling.
Up next was arguably the most important award of the evening, the Graham Barnes clubman shield. This award goes to somebody who goes over and above the call of duty to make the club tick and run smoothly, especially on match days. Gary Smart talked about the recipient of the award and thanked her for all her work over the year, from making teas to cleaning, to making sure everything was ready for matches. It is with great pleasure that the shield was presented by Carole Barnes to Caragh Handford.
Back to the cricket awards and the young player award. This was presented by Robin Lett to Ethan Cox, who has worked hard to improve his cricket over the last few years and made a great impact on the 3rd XI this year. The last award before dinner was a new award in memory of Mark Dredge, who we tragically lost last year. It was presented by Mark’s parents, Colin and Mandy, with Mark’s wife Sonia and children in attendance, to Nick Larder in recognition of his work for the club.
Following that emotional presentation, the attendees enjoyed some great food provided by Ebbie’s kitchen before the final awards were issued for the players’ player of the years and the 2nd and 1st XI. First up were the players’ player of the year, important trophies as they are voted on by the players. The awards went to Ladies: Kathy Dredge, 3rd XI: Andy Lamb, 2nd XI: Andy Veal, John Fuller Shield for the 1st XI: Reece Croker.
Next up was the 2nd XI and captain Richard Potter gave an amusing talk on what was at times a difficult season for the 2s, following back-to-back promotions, but the second half of the season saw them galvanise and remain in division 2 of the Somerset cricket league. The award recipients went to Jon Dredge for batting and Matt Knight for bowling.
The final review was for the 1st XI, following promotion in 2017, the 1st XI battled hard to finish as runners-up in the West of England Premier league Somerset division, a great result for captain Mark Sanger and the team. The award recipients went to Reece Croker for batting and Tom Barton for bowling. Mark thanked everybody in the club for their hard work and support over the season.
That concluded the awards for the evening and the club would like to thank all our sponsors and partners of the club, to Schneider Electric for seven years of support, to Payman.co.uk for the support of the Falcons youth programme, to all our boundary board sponsors and of course to all the volunteers who have helped out with the running of the club. Thank you.
