We hope that you and your families are continuing to keep alert – things are moving all the time, and no doubt the coming weeks may stir us all into action, perhaps with an overwhelming keenness to play our favourite summer game once again.

We are relieved to report that our Club President, Charles Dracup, having contracted the virus a few weeks ago, has come through it and now continues his recovery from his terrible fall in South Africa on Boxing Day. We continue to think of him and his family.

The most recent announcements from the government suggest that some outdoor practice at our ground is possible. We are, however, awaiting further guidance from cricket’s governing body, the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB), before we prepare the ground for practice – please continue to be patient and watch out for updates from your team managers and captains. We are also in communication with Total Play, the company that was due to start building our outdoor net facility at the end of March – again, keep an eye out for updates on this.

In the meantime, we take another opportunity to dig into the club’s heritage. This time, we look at our pavilion. Originally, the pavilion was a farmhouse, with stabling for horses on the ground floor and accommodation for the farmer above. Some features of the early building (a stone staircase outside and earthenware feeding troughs) were not removed until improvements were made in 1958. Indeed, the club’s amenities up to 1958 were poor – there were no lights, gas or electric, water drainage was limited and tea making facilities were primitive.

Preliminary improvements were made in 1957 – the enclosure in front of the pavilion was dug out, flagged and edged with white posts connected by ornamental chains. Then, in 1958, alterations were made to the pavilion, including removal of two inner walls on the ground floor to make one large tearoom and the conversion of the large dressing room on the first floor into two separate rooms. Repairs were also made to the pavilion roof, inner walls and floors. Friday 18th July 1958 saw a Grand Opening of the refurbished pavilion (see accompanying photo), with a President’s XI playing against a Captain’s XI.

Subsequent improvement works occurred in 1977, the year of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. The highlight for Menston Cricket Club that year was a Celebrity Match on 29th May, the biggest event (at the time) ever undertaken by the club, during which the famous Fred Trueman opened the recently completed pavilion improvements and two marquees catered for over 1,000 people.

Improvements in recent times came in 2015 when the old single storey toilet block (accessible from outdoors only) was dismantled and a new two-storey extension built in its’ place (with access from within the pavilion). New showers were inserted on the second floor and a larger umpire’s room was created. Downstairs, modern washroom facilities were inserted and, perhaps the most eagerly awaited aspect of the works, a new bar area was created in the club room. And, only a couple of months ago, we were able to re-roof the pavilion just before lockdown hit us.

The club’s volunteers are continuing to think to the future – there are plans to extend the pavilion again, moving the tea-room to the opposite side, thus increasing the size of the bar area, and building a third changing room on the top floor. We hope to be a position to apply for grant funding as soon as the relevant funding stream becomes available once the current crisis is behind us.

In the meantime, the club is looking for help in the hope that we can return to cricket this summer. In this respect, you can help by committing to carry out some work in and outside the pavilion, including:

Outside – paint benches, tidy surrounds of field (e.g. weeding), tidy behind scorebox

Inside – paint changing rooms, sort out kit and equipment, paint downstairs hallway and toilet areas

Please send an email to menstoncc@btinternet.com or inform your team manager / captain of what work you can help with. Alternatively, if you feel you can pledge a donation to the club’s COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund, then please do so via this link: https://www.spacehive.com/menston-cricket

Thanks in advance for any help you can give and we look forward to welcoming all our supporters, players and members to the club as soon as practicably possible – so keep a watch out for further updates!