The nation will be listening to Boris Johnson on Monday with bated breath as it hopes to hear about the ending of the current restrictions. But no-one will be listening to the Prime Minister more avidly than members of Leek Cricket Club. They will be hoping that the Premier’s “roadmap” out of the pandemic lockdown will allow the North Staffordshire and South Cheshire Cricket League to begin preparations in earnest for a full 2021 cricket season.
Followers of the local cricket scene will be aware that Covid restrictions caused the 2020 season to be played in unusual circumstances with none of the hospitality that goes hand in glove with the summer game as a truncated season took place. The Highfield club want to get back to normality and revive some of the ambitious plans that had to be put on hold.
The Past v Present game – originally proposed for but later cancelled last summer – has now been provisionally pencilled in for Sunday August 8th when it is hoped that local cricket followers will be able to attend what is hoped to be a bumper feast of cricket. The date has been selected as it avoids clashes with other cricket in the area allowing as many players – both past and present – to attend alongside lovers of cricket from around North Staffordshire.
Club organisers have been delighted with the number of players who have agreed in principle to support the project and are particularly delighted that former England bowler Ryan Sidebottom – who was pro for Leek in 2009 – has agreed to play a part in the proceedings. It is hoped that the game itself will be the centrepiece of a day of festivities that will include the opportunity to enjoy food and drink and a DJ to whip up a T20 atmosphere.
The Past v Present day is just one of a number of events planned for the summer. One ambitious idea is, for the moment, wrapped in a strict cloak of secrecy but it has been announced that Leek Cricket Club is hoping to stage at least one Drive-In Movie evening.
You can find out more about Leek CC’s plans for the season by listening in to Moorlands Radio on Saturday afternoon when Moorlands Sport’s Senior Reporter Dave Stringer will be in conversation with Leek skipper Alex Mellor. If you can’t wait that long you can listen below:
