For those looking at the rain and wondering when Summer starts, wait no more! The cricket season in North Luffenham starts tomorrow Tuesday 30th April.
The team will kick off with a home match on the Oval against Egerton Park. The match starts at 6pm
If you’d like to donate money you can do so through the JustGiving page
The annual Bonfire & Fireworks event hosted by North Luffenham Parish Council will go ahead on The Oval on Sunday 5th November 2023.
Doors Open 5.30pm; Bonfire lit 6.15pm; Fireworks 6.30pm
In order to make it a safe and successful event, we do need more volunteers on the night to assist with Stewarding & Bucket Collections. If you can help, please email Tim Smith at timsmith@northluffenham.org.uk
The weather’s forecast to be fair, the ladies of Luffenham are busy baking summer treats and the ingredients for the jugs of Pimms are ready & waiting to be blended for you to enjoy a relaxing afternoon @ the Cricket Pavilion. Do come along and while away an hour, chatting to friends old & new whilst raising much-needed funds for our local Charity – The Rutland Food Bank.
Anyone who has played cricket will know the importance of the condition of “The Square” – the hallowed area where the wickets and creases are located.
Following two years of lockdown, the pitch on North Luffenhams own “Oval” was in very poor condition. Nick Davenport agreed to take on the not inconsiderable challenge of maintaining the area and temporary repairs were made in June 2020 to ensure the surface was safe to play on for this season.
Advice was taken from Keith Exon (ex head groundsman at Glamorgan County Ground & Oakham School) who, along with his son Alex, now offers a pitch maintenance and renovation service through his business ‘Perfect Pitches’) and they were able to advise on what could be done do to return it to it’s glory days during the off season.
As it happened, Keith phoned at the end of September to say that he had finished a job at Old Trafford, and had a gap in his schedule before he went to Trent Bridge, and could fit North Luffenham in – elite company for a village pitch indeed!
The cricket club accepted the offer, and Keith arrived with his highly specialised equipment
Keith used a Koro Field Top Maker to remove all surface vegetation from the top 6mm of the square, levelling out hollows and bumps and preparing a good base for reseeding as you can see in the following images. A huge amount of surface vegetation was removed and at the Butt Lane end of the pitch a further 2mm was removed to lower the slope around the crease and the excess soil was placed at the opposite end to fill a depression which ran along side the top side of the wicket. This should ensure the pitch is perfectly level.
The next step was to use a scarifier to remove any remaining vegetation and leave grooves at 20mm centres to give better seed/soil content.
35kgs of grass seed and 25kgs of fertiliser where then applied and covered by 1250kgs of Boughton County Loam.
Keith’s last step was to drag a matt/lute by hand for final levels and so ensuring a good finish for germination.
Keith’s attention to detail and his professional expertise have been crucial to the renovation of the square. We could not have achieved the same outcome and ongoing support for the care of the wicket without his intervention. We should not underestimate this given Keith currently carries out the same task for county grounds such as Trent Bridge and Northamptonshire.
Watering wisely then became a key factor to encourage germination and support the emerging grass in what turned out to be a hot spell. This required frequent visits to the oval to move the sprinkler to avoid drowning the seed and avoiding the hottest time of the day to prevent scalding of the emerging grass. The outcome of all this has been 99% germination, great coverage of grass and to date two cuts to keep the grass at 20mm to encourage tillering and strong root growth.
The plan over the winter is to keep the grass level to 20mm and then in spring begin a regime of gentle rolling to settle any upheaval caused by frost. Gradually lowering the cutting height to around 6mm and increasing the rolling as we move towards the start of the season.
Cricket at the Oval tonight, 15th June, from 6:15. Bring a blanket, a drink, may be a picnic and enjoy a lovely evening in the sunshine.
Getting the pitch ready for this evening’s game of village cricket on the Oval
North Luffenham Cricket Club play in the Tuesday evening Borough League (Division 3)
For those who might be interested in playing or watching an evenings cricket on The Oval the home games this year are below – All games start at 18:30
Tuesday 21s t May – vs Hickling
Tuesday 4th June vs Frisby
Tuesday 18th June vs Sproxton
Tuesday 16th July vs Melton Mowbray
Tuesday 30th July vs Syston
The North Luffenham cricket team won their first home match against Sproxton this evening by 5 wickets.
The team are playing at home against Frisby next Tuesday where hopefully the weather will be more favourable to evening matches
After a long period where there have been no issues with vandalism in the village, unfortunately the problem has reappeared.
Someone in the last couple of days has sprayed graffiti onto the Cricket Club toilet block
Can anyone who might have any information about who might have done this please contact Charles Cade
The Cricket Club will be holding a Fund Raising Race Night on Saturday 15th October
Entry Fee is £10 (£50 for a table of 6) and includes a Fish and Chip supper
There is an option to become a Horse Owner for the evening (£5 per horse)
The winning owner for each race receives £10
Contact the Race Steward – Barry Read – on 01780 721237 for tickets, more information and race sponsorship opportunities
The Cricket Club will be holding a fund raising Curry Night, with home made Indian food available, details are below
Curry Night at the Pavilion
Friday 29th April 7.30pm
Main course & dessert £12.50 per person
Wine available to buy on the night
Raffle
Tickets available from Sallyanne
07787 557511
Many thanks from the Cricket Club to everyone, both members and non members, who helped out on the “Ground Force” clean up of the Pavilion. It was a great demonstration of community spirit.
The building is looking much better for a Jetwash, repaired guttering and roof and a cleaned and repainted interior.
There are still some details to finish off, and the new carpets that have been ordered need to be fitted.
Once all the work is completed, the pavilion will once again be fit for hosting the cricket team, and also any other village community events who wish to utilise the building
For those of you who have thought recently, “h’mm the Pavilion is looking a bit grubby” or have mentioned things could do with a tidy up, now is your chance to help to make a difference.
The Cricket Club have obtained sponsorship for materials from Natwest, & is undertaking a “Get Stuck In” weekend from Friday 1st April to Sunday 3rd April. Obviously “Many Hands Make Light Work” and so we would welcome help from anyone who would be willing to assist in any way (for any period of time over the weekend) to get as much done as possible.
The intention is to spruce up the pavilion with a clean up and do some general maintenance – painting and repairs etc to make the pavilion and the area surrounding it a more pleasant place to be.
The pavilion is a village facility, able to be used by various different organisations within the village, and a clean up will make it a more welcoming space for anyone who wants to use it
If you can help out, please contact 07787557511 for further details and we look forward to seeing you over the weekend.
In preparation for the 2016 Cricket season, the Cricket Club will be holding a Meet and Greet social evening at 8pm on Thursday 25th Feb at the Fox.
Anyone who is interested in playing for, or supporting, the Club is most welcome to attend.
The club will be entering a Senior team in the Tuesday evening Borough League, along with Friendly games and participation in the Junior Leagues
Look forward to seeing you there
The Cricket Club will be will be holding an Open Day in conjunction with their annual “Lads vs Dads” cricket match on Sunday 13th September
Everyone is welcome to attend and enjoy a fun afternoon on the Oval – it would make a great village day out in conjunction with the Garden Club show, and an excellent opportunity to see what the Cricket Club is about, and what goes on there – you might even be lent a bat to try out the new nets.
There will be a barbecue and the club have obtained a licence for the afternoon and will be selling wine, soft drinks & beer from the pavilion
A Sweet & ice cream stall should be present, and also some fun games.
Lewis Hill from Leicestershire County Cricket Club will be joining us for an hour at around 3.30 – 4.30 to help with the award presentations.
Hope to see you there on Sunday afternoon.
Last Wednesday – 25th June – North Luffenham Under 11 team scored a fine win in the local derby against Ketton – highlight of the match was a hat trick (3 wickets in 3 consecutive balls for those not fully conversant with cricket terminology) for Ellen Marson, which helped to limit Ketton to a total of 167 runs – 37 runs less than they needed to beat Luffenhams total of 204 -well done Ellen!
As its looking like a pleasant evening you may be interested in wandering up to the Oval to support North Luffenham in their Tuesday evening Burrough League Home match vs Great Dalby – start is 18:30, maybe see you there
Those of you who were there on the evening will already know that North Luffenham won 🙂
This Sunday sees the 2nd Annual Presidents match to be held on the Oval.
This is a friendly game between a team comprising parents of the Junior players, and a team representing the club President.
The event is fun, family friendly & informal and we welcome faces old & new at the Pavilion. If you’ve ever fancied playing cricket, let us know via the form below and you could end up on the pitch involved in the action!
Even if you simply love the sound of leather on willow please feel free to join us from 2pm onwards.
