There is just a month until our first league game - the Men's Saturday 1s are away to Stowupland for their first Division Five fixture on April 18. That game is followed by 21 more tough league games over the successive weeks - can Tom Sidhu and the boys make it two titles in a row?

The Men's Sunday 1s are bidding to make it three titles in a row and their Hunts Division Two season starts on May 3 at Long Melford.

The Men's Saturday 2s do not start their league fixtures until May 9 when Eddie's team are at home to Brightlingsea 2nds. Before that we have a friendly T20 at Framlingham College on Friday April 24.

Overall there are plenty of fixtures and plenty of opportunities for everybody to play their part in a busy season - make sure you are up for it. Go to https://meltonstaudrys.play-cricket.com to see all the fixtures and perhaps peruse your past performances and statistics. Set yourself some targets for 2026. Make sure you are registered as a member of the site for full access.

Men's training continues on Wednesday nights (7.30 until 8.30 at Woodbridge School dome) and we will start outdoor nets after Easter.

But to make all that possible on the field we have a momentous but exciting challenge off it - to raise enough money to help buy the ground. We are in negotiations with Hopkins Homes as part of the Sports & Social Club and a number of individuals are putting in a huge effort to make it possible. We hope to secure various grants but the target is still a long way off. But every one of us can make a difference - are you supporting YOUR committee and officials to secure the future of cricket at Melton?
Go to https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/staudrys-club-freehold and back Melton's Big Appeal. Individuals or businesses can donate as much or as little as they can manage - every little helps.

And, of course, we have our 24-hour net practice challenge on March 28-29. I hope we can rely on everybody joining in, either by taking part, turning up to offer support - or just by donating. We have four players who are planning to carry out the full 24-hour challenge - Tamsin, Charlotte J, Lily M and Natty - and they have organised their own sponsorships. Why not give them a boost by making a donation? In addition Eddie and Mark are both taking on 12-hour stints as coaches/organisers.

Thanks to some great work by our various managers and coaches all of our age groups are taking part and there is considerable rivalry to see which group can raise the largest amount. Many thanks to Woodbridge School for making this possible by offering the use of the sports dome.
This is a great opportunity for the whole club to work together - make sure you play your part. Because it is the weekend when the clocks go forward the full challenge is from 8am on Saturday to 9am on Sunday - that last hour may be the hardest of all. Can you turn up and cheer them on to the finish line?
And it is also a great opportunity to carry out some intense personal training. Coaches will be on hand to offer advice and the bowling machine will be available on request. Of course you will have aches and pains afterwards - but you will have earned the right to be proud of those minor inconveniences as they demonstrate that the summer is edging ever closer.

To set you up for the season I encourage you to look at the link below, written over a century ago.
Twas ever thus!
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/apr/08/from-the-archive-1921-the-return-of-cricket

Malcolm Grubb, Chairman MSACC

We are getting together as a club to raise funds to help buy our ground and clubhouse.

For 24 hours on 28th and 29th March 2026 we will be having a non-stop cricket practice session, involving boys, girls, women and men across all our age groups from U9s to over 60s!

• each squad is joining in and running their own session
• coaches will be running non-stop sponsored coaching
• individuals are joining in for anything from 1 hour to 24 hours of non-stop cricket!

To get involved in the challenge visit the Melton 24 Hour Challenge page

Get ready for the new season!

Indoor nets start on
Wednesday 28th January
7.30pm until 8.30pm at
Woodbridge School Sports Dome

Melton St Audry's CC
Annual General Meeting
will be held at
St Audry's Club
At 7pm on Monday 26th January

Race Night gallops back to St Audry's this Good Friday 7th April! Hosts Deane, Eddie, Malcolm and Sue are under starter's orders to provide an entertainment-packed evening, with 8 films of actual horse racing. Simply bet on your favourite horse to win. It's a great, fun night for the family - all ages welcome!

Arrive 7pm for first race at 7.30 pm, £7 per ticket (includes sausage & chips), raffle and bar open. This is the club's main fundraiser of the year - all proceeds go towards the season ahead and our headline project of replacing the practice nets.

Contact Deane Weller by email or phone 07516 434988 for tickets.

Eddie and two Toms are stars of opening win

Race Night returns to St Audrys on Good Friday 19th April. Eight films of actual horse racing where you bet on your favourite horse to win. It's a great, fun night for the family - all ages welcome!

Arrive 7pm for first Race at 7.30 pm, £5 ticket (includes sausage & chips), raffle and bar open. All profit used to help fund our cricket club.

Contact Deane Weller by email or phone 07799 132553 for tickets, or Phil King on 07878 605657.

Malcolm has once again done a grand job in compiling all of the Men's and Women's scorebooks and stats for the full 2021 season. Click on the buttons below to find out who took the wickets and catches and who scored the runs!

It was a great end to our Cricket Week, particularly after the disappointment of losing Friday's activities to heavy rain. The sun came out for the Legends and so did a number of familiar faces from the past. Stuart D looked like he'd never been away, starting with a sharp catch in the opening and another at the end and then adding a 30+ retirement with the bat. Joe launched himself for a spectacular one-handed catch, Darren refreshed his memory as he opened the bowling and Richard hit the stumps three times (which would have met with approval from Stefan). Josh S would have enjoyed cleaning up Josh B with his seldom-seen seamers and we were happy to share the occasion with a Legend from another local team as Bruce collected another wicket to add to his vast haul for Woodbridge over many years.

The Melton Sunday side total was a manageable 137 and with retirement scores from Tom Sid and Stuart the Legends got home with five wickets and six overs to spare. This included two good wickets for Max and two for skipper Tom, who prevented the senior legend from adding to his club total.

It was good to see a few other Legends who put in an appearance - presumably Adam, Jack and Mick are now too old to play proper cricket (!)

And, of course, there was another chance to see Dougie behind the timbers. It was another tidy performance to add to the 500+ appearances he has made since 1996. Dot was there to support him and us - as she has done for all of those 500+ days of cricket. Also off the field we were grateful for Peter and Co for providing the barbecue and for Kate for keeping the finances and the scorebook in order. It was pleasing that the day created some more Melton memories and also raised additional funds for the club's ambitious future plans. It all helps to ensure more Melton Legends will be created over the years to come.

The match was an opportunity for the Legends to see the promise of the younger players coming through at Melton; for those younger players to appreciate the dedication and loyalty behind the runs and wickets on the records of the Legends; and to reflect on those who were unable to join us on a lovely day in the sun.

Suffolk Cricket have announced the following online courses, which are free and available to members aged 13 and above. All players are likely to be called upon to score and/or umpire in league games this coming season, so this is a great opportunity to brush up on your knowledge:

Working with the ECB Association of Cricket Officials (ACO) and the Suffolk ACO association, we've setup a dedicated Suffolk ACO area. Initially this offers anyone interested in getting to know more about umpiring or scoring (eg parent, guardian, teenager, senior players, non-players, committee members etc) the chance to take a "free" introductory online course. Whether it's scoring or umpiring or indeed both, it will hopefully be of interest to people, especially whilst we continue to be in lockdown. Details of the respective weblinks to register below;

Basics of scoring - https://booking.ecb.co.uk/d/pjq1gj

Umpire stage 1 - https://booking.ecb.co.uk/d/pjq1gb

This is very much aimed at recreational cricket and could be anyone that just wants to know more about umpiring and/or scoring, wants to help out with junior or senior matches at their club or players umpiring /scoring during club matches. If of course anybody would like to progress, then more courses are available, however it's not mandatory.