Adel CC - The Sir Alastair Cook Challenge!

Aim

Adel CC need to raise £10k to help renew and regenerate the club’s facilities after Covid-19 left a huge shortfall in our funding.

In April 2021, Adel Cricket Club (CC) will be completing all 12,472 runs scored by Sir Alistair Cook in his Test career. The aim of completing this challenge, which equals a little more than 150 miles, is to raise the £10k needed to renew the facilities, starting with the refurbishment of the practice nets.

Our Club

Adel CC is one of the oldest clubs in the North Leeds region, founded in 1876. The Club is part of the Adel War Memorial Association (AWMA), putting us very much at the heart of the local community, not just in terms of players, but many locals and spectators too. The AWMA is home to a number of other clubs, from indoor sports such as badminton and squash, to football, hockey, archery, tennis, lacrosse, and a very popular lawn bowls square. All this means the cricket club is a a key part of life in the area, welcoming anyone and everyone who are in the neighbourhood – from touring teams from Qatar to World Cup winners.

The club currently has three senior teams in the Airedale and Wharfedale Senior Cricket League, one in the Dales Council Cricket League and one team in the Headingley T20 league. In recent years our junior section has flourished, and since 2017 we have been part of the English Cricket Board's All Star Programme, encouraging boys and girls from the age of 5 to get involved with the game we love so much. We now have over 100 local children playing across eight teams, from under 9s through to u18s, and they are very much the future of the club – on one weekend last year 28 out of the 33 players involved in the senior cricket teams had played for the club at junior level. Many of our players have been fortunate enough to represent the club at both Regional and County level as part of the Yorkshire set up, and our U11 team is the current Aire-Wharfe Champions, having won a thrilling final in 2019.

Our Community

Fundraising has always been a central part of the club’s ethos – we’ve survived on the generosity of the people around us, and we’re keen to make sure that kindness is passed on to others.  Each year we run several events, and in 2018 one of our junior members raised over £3,000 for the cricket charity Chance to Shine by breaking the Guinness World Record for the longest bowling run up (3.767km).

The Effects of Covid-19

Towards the end of the each cricket season the club has traditionally hosted The Adel Beer Festival, which sees more than 1,000 cricket and beer enthusiasts visit over three days. Each year this festival provides the backbone for the club’s finances. It culminates with a family day on the Sunday, attracting hundreds of visitors who enjoy the fun, games, food and drink. In 2020 this event had to be cancelled, along with our other fundraising events such as our wine tasting evening, race night and barbecues. This meant funds put aside for essential redevelopment of the club had to be channelled elsewhere to keep us afloat.

Our Project - The Present (Stage 1)

The practise nets at the club were becoming a major hazard and, with so many juniors playing, part of them had to be shut down to prevent anyone from getting hurt. Their refurbishment is essential to getting the younger players back to the ground and playing the game they love. The series of nationwide lockdowns has meant that none of our junior or senior teams have been able to exercise as they normally would through winter nets, so we need to get them outdoors as soon as possible and get the new season off to a flying start.

Reaching our £10,000 target will provide our club with a set of first-class practise nets, which are no longer a danger to those using them. The three main areas of concern are:

• the bowler’s delivery crease, which has become completely ripped up and has seen player injuries occur through slipping and tripping.
• the netting between lanes had deteriorated to such an extent that it no longer provided adequate protection for players, resulting in the middle lane being closed.
• the batting surface, which had been incorrectly laid over 15 years ago and had become a liability.

The new nets would involve a complete relaying of the batting surface, with several layers of aggregate and new matting extending right out to the bowlers delivery area. The nets themselves would be completely replaced, with the addition of a skirt for added protection, and extended further out to provide additional cover to bowlers in the other lanes. All these developments would also mean that senior and junior cricketers could safely train alongside each other (and maybe pass on a few tips).

Our Project - The Future (Stage 2)

Not only would the nets provide a fantastic facility for our players to train in, but they would be the start of several ambitious new developments for the cricket section. Stage 2 would require an additional £2,000 for the removal of an old artificial wicket, and relaying of a grass surface; £6,500 for the installation of a new hybrid wicket, making us the first team in the Aire-Wharfe league to have such a surface; £4,000 to rebuild the scorebox, providing better storage and security, and refurbishing the main pavilion with new decking area and balustrades.

We know how many clubs were so severely affected by the pandemic, and we’re incredibly grateful that we’re still going, when so many others have not been so fortunate. However we have a huge challenge on our hands to get Adel Cricket Club not just back to where we were before the pandemic, but with improved facilities that will benefit so many future generations in the area. But we like a challenge at Adel, so to raise funds for the new nets – and potentially kick start a number of projects across the ground – players will be completing all 12,472 runs of England’s greatest batsman, Sir Alistair Cook.

Our Challenge

Over the course of the 9th, 10th and 11th of April, players from both senior and junior sections will knock off all 12,472 of Sir Alistair Test runs, one at a time – that’s over 150 miles, or 50 miles per day. Depending on fitness levels, or driven by pride, they will sign up for an individual innings – anything from his magnificent high score of 294 versus India, or a more manageable 1* versus the West Indies. Prizes will be given out to each age group for the fastest centuries and most runs scored.

We will be inviting players from all sections to contribute runs, and we hope you can give generously to support this almighty effort. A few of the rules we have set ourselves to make it even more of a challenge:

• Runs have to be completed in full kit (helmets are optional – U9s exempt)
• Only one runner at a time.
• Runs must be taken one after the other.
• Runs to be completed at the ground over 3 days.

Our Future

 We believe this challenge is a perfect reflection of the community spirit and endeavour that has kept our club going for nearly 150 years. We know we’ve got an absolute mountain to climb to rebuild our finances, but by working together we can chip away at the total and reach our target. The refurbishment projects detailed above will mean that we can provide first class training facilities to support the growing number of families that are moving to the area, and keep cricket fit and healthy at Adel CC for many more generations.

Our sincerest gratitude goes out to you for your support – it will help drive us through every one of the 12,472 runs in our challenge!

This project successfully funded on 24th April 2021