2009 has been another good year for Hawkley Cricket Club. Our membership and fixture list have both continued to grow. We have played 23 matches this season, which included our first ever midweek twenty20 match. Out of these 23 matches, 9 were won by Hawkley, 9 lost, 4 cancelled due to the weather and one match was abandoned due to bad light. All matches were played in good spirit, with most matches being tight finishes, especially another last ball win against Steep! For every match Hawkley have fielded 11 players, with often 2 or 3 players on standby in case of injury to our finely tuned athletes! Our younger players have blossomed this year, and all 3 of them have become some of our best bowlers.

As well as our superb roster of fine cricketers we also have had strong support from the Hawkley WAGS. These fine creatures are pretty weather dependant, but on a sunny afternoon can been seen populating the boundaries at the Hawkley ground, enjoying the spectacle and following the game in fine detail (or is it enjoying the bubbly and wine in fine detail?)!

We were fortunate enough to have a very fine day for the ‘Viv XI’ match. As ever the match was well attended and great fun. The barbeque afterwards was a great success, helping to raise funds towards the maintenance of the pitch for next season.

The website (www.hawkleycc.co.uk) has been very popular, we have had hits from all over the globe, and has been a good source of information and fun for players and spectators alike. Numerous contacts have been made from touring teams via the site, and hopefully next year’s fixture list will be accommodating some of them.

Looking forward to next year, Hawkley have decided to run a Saturday league side. This will be captained by Nigel Brown and we are hoping for this to be a success. The Sunday side will continue in its current format, with matches being played for fun and entertainment for both players and spectators.

As ever there are numerous people to thank:

Larry and Doris Knowles for Umpiring and Teas. Charlie Knowles for ground keeping. Mark Hibberd for being fixtures secretary. Nick Hudson for writing match reports (and getting them all printed in the Petersfield post). Nigel Brown for groundwork. Viv Evans for providing the wonderful barbeque. Snaz for cooking the Lamb. Dominic and Sinclair for ground keeping equipment. Charlie Butcher for the Aardvarks barbeque match. Keith Madeley, Nick Hudson and Rich Humphreys for captaining the matches throughout the season. Finally to all the players and WAGS for supporting Hawkley Cricket Club and making it the success that it has become.

Nick Davis- Chairman HCC