Dulwich Society advertising an on-line talk on Tuesday 7th November at 8pm entitled the River Effra a South London Vanishing Act: online local history talk by Jon Newman


The talk will focus on the River Effra, its local Dulwich connections, its disappearance within Bazalgette's 1860s drainage works and its curious and enduring presence today.  I am sure that it will cover the river running near and under our sports ground.
 
Tickets £5. Time: 8.00p

The talk will focus on the River Effra, its local Dulwich connections, its disappearance within Bazalgette's 1860s drainage works and its curious and enduring presence today.  I am sure that it will cover the river running near and under our sports ground.
 
Tickets £5. Time: 8.00p

The first game of the cricket season was rescued with the help of the amazing groundsmen and co-ordination between the trust (SCST), Ploughmans CC and South Bank CC. A memorial game was arranged in the memoray of Ploughman's CC player Nasser Khan.

Somehow we beat the rain to get 80 overs of cricket thanks to the DSG team, and our friends at @southbankcc

Great to start the year with so many players, old and new, with family and friends down to start this #HotPloughSummer

#cricket #cricketlover #surrey #southlondon #Summer

Perfect: New astro turf outdoor seating area, come rain or shine.

#dsg #scst #summercricket #cricketlondon #dulwichsportsground

March 16, 2023, A summer users meeting was held at the Pavilion by SCST. The attendees included South Bank CC, Ploughmans CC, Dulwich CC, BOCA, SCST representatives Jackie Howard, John Howard (JH), and John Smith (JS), as well as Sportsturf representatives Andy Allen and Rory Moore. Several topics were discussed, including dressing room allocations, teas, and catering, and the opening of the bar.

Sportsturf noted that the grounds at the Dulwich Sports Ground were very busy with cricket being played virtually every day and usually on 3-4 squares. The wickets on the Burbage & Hollies pitches had improved by 30-50 runs per match, but the Belair pitch looked tired by the end of the season with some low bounce, and the Nursery pitch had improved least and may need more work. The outfields had held up despite the major drought from July.
Winter renovations had been completed by the end of September, and the squares were ahead of schedule until the freeze in mid-March. A Football Foundation improvement grant was spent on verti-draining, fertiliser & seed on all football pitches, which should result in improved outfields.
The "house rules" for the use of the ground were discussed and agreed upon, including no use of sawdust on the square, squeegee drying rollers can be used on outfields but never on the square, bowlers should not use studs to mark run ups, and batsmen should not damage the pitch by making excessive marks on the crease.
Volunteer help from clubs was offered to Sportsturf if needed, and good communication between ground staff and skippers was emphasized as key to a successful summer.

The SCST (Southwark Community Sports Trust) has been making significant improvements to the sports ground over the autumn and early spring. Sportsturf and contractors were brought in to clean up the edges of the ground, including removing low-hanging tree branches and shrubs. The Hollies were particularly affected, with sleeper maintenance being used to maintain the western boundary. The SCST has also invested in renovating the artificial surfaces, including new surfaces for the outdoor nets and a new artificial pitch on the Hollies. The SCST equipment, including sight screens, covers, and scoreboards, has been checked and prepared for use. Drainage issues have been addressed throughout the whole ground

There was also a detailed discussion on preparations for the upcoming season.
The following is a summary of the key points discussed:

1. The club has received money from Southwark Council to improve the outfield.
2. The club is currently in the process of obtaining insurance for the upcoming season.
3. The new bar manager, Neil, has been introduced.
4. The club has received new cricket covers, which will be used for the first time this season.
5. The club is looking for volunteers to help with the preparation of the cricket pitch.
6. The club is in the process of planning a fundraising event in June.
7. Prasanna volunteered to recruit volunteers for a task force activity at the Trust on 1st April from 11am-1pm. The list of jobs includes replacing tarpaulin on Cricket covers, applying hoses to all covers, checking cricket stumps, bails and flags, and checking that dressing rooms are ready for use.
8. Last Man Stands cricket has requested three artificial pitches on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesday & Thursdays from 6-30pm in May and June.
9. The club uses Open Play to record all fixtures and activities, with updates sent out every Monday and Friday. Simon Bannon publishes all matches on the TV screens on the veranda every Saturday and Sunday morning. Rahul Nair was introduced as a volunteer who will introduce social media information and good news stories.
10. The club reinforced their policy on cancellations, with decisions being made by Friday of each week based on pitch readiness and weather forecasts. A final deadline of 10-30am on the day of the game was agreed upon for cancellations.
11. Dressing room allocations: John Howard confirmed that the 2022 dressing room allocation would remain the same, with a separate dressing room for junior teams in the afternoon. Clubs were reminded to check their dressing rooms at the task force day and John planned to clean the showers and dressing rooms extensively over Easter. Jackie suggested setting up signs after Easter.
12. Teas and catering: Teas for a match would now cost £120, with payment by cash or card. Dietary requirements should be notified to Jackie by mid-week. Jackie also included 20 over interval drinks and was happy to help with supper or BBQ options for some evenings. Nidhi and Jackie were exploring options for coffees/breakfast for junior cricket. The use of paper plates helped keep prices down.
13. The opening of the Bar: The old artificial surfaces had been re-laid in the beer garden area, and new benches would be secured and taken to each of the four pitches. The picket fence would be painted and installed around Easter time, and the bar would receive a spring clean. New bar staff were being recruited to meet demand, and suggestions for improvement were welcome. Ploughmans CC had bought 150 recyclable cups, and John and Jackie welcomed ideas to improve the use of recyclable “glasses” for outdoor drinking.
14. Date of next meeting: No further business was discussed, and JS suggested establishing a WhatsApp forum rather than scheduling another meeting. The possibility of a review at the end of the season was also mentioned.

Overall, the meeting covered a range of topics including fundraising, recruitment, and the upcoming cricket season.

 ​What a great effort yesterday! Thank you to you all for help and support at the task force day. Can you send out this note and photographs to your team of helpers.
 
It was a great piece of team work by the home clubs – Dulwich CC, South Bank CC and Ploughmans CC sent in plenty of volunteers. A very worthwhile day. Particular thanks to John Howard who supplied the tools and materials.  Yesterday’s work created a new shed ready to be made into a scorebox, all the cricket covers had tarpaulin replaced & cleaned, new hoses & gullies cleaned, a scoreboard painted in the Hollies and a the Ploughmans CC home dressing room painted in blue & gold.
 
It was a brilliant effort and we would like to keep up the momentum by asking teams to come an hour earlier before their games for the next two weekends – Saturday 16th and 23rd April as we have a couple of tasks left. Could skippers contact John to agree how they can help.
 
We would like to paint the front of the new score-box black, re-slat & move the sightscreens, set out boundary ropes and sweep all the astro-surfaces.
 
John Howard, the winter users and Sportsturf will be working this week on clearing away the winter sports equipment, taking down the rugby posts and clearing away and storing safely all our machinery.
 
At the same time, John Howard is planning a major offensive against litter and debris about the place. All pitches will have litter bins. Please encourage your fellow players to use them.

I ​am sure that we are all hoping for a long summer of cricket. At the Trust, we look forward to seeing you and your members soon. The SCST is delighted to announce that we have renovated our outdoor cricket nets under John Howard’s direction. I hope that users can treat them with respect, for instance spiked shoes cannot be used.  
 
I hope that we can ease our way into outdoor cricket practice.
 
We are starting with one to one coaching for our selected individual coaches. As members, they can book single lanes of nets and use them for 1:1 coaching. I confirm all bookings for cricket nets on our ground management system Open Play. The system is shared with the ground staff, bar and Trust managers.  A key principle is to avoid double bookings. We expect to be busy and to tightly schedule use, therefore we ask for prompt starts and finishes.
 
According to the ECB road map (please see documents below), we can now plan to open the outdoor nets at the ground for club bookings for outdoor cricket net practice from Wednesday 29th March.  
 
We are very aware that ECB and Governement regulations may change over the coming weeks in the lead up to the cricket season. We ask that all your members stay aware of any changes in regulations and restrictions.  I have attached below the COVID-19 briefing supplied by the ECB.

Please make all your members and parents are familiar with the content and requirements.
 
There are some key areas that affect our local provision -

• We do not wish to encourage mingling outside of the nets sessions. We ask that parents drop off their children and collect them away from the cricket net facility please.
• Players attending cricket nets or the ground should be aware of the rule "group of six" and therefore do not mingling in large groups,
• We ask all people using our facilities to continue to be aware of the Governement and ECB social distancing guidelines.
• We will expect your members to observe all the hygiene requirements and recommendations suggested by the ECB including the sharing of equipment.
• Players feeling unwell and displaying any of the Covid-19 symptoms should not attend the ground and any person displaying these symptoms will be asked to leave.

 
We ask that all clubs nominate a session manager so that they can collect the key for the nets and the Pavilion. The session manager must also maintain a complete list of all attendees for track and trace purposes. John Howard has installed a key safe with a security number. Clubs should talk with John about access arrangements.
 
The toilets in the changing rooms are available for access. All cricket net gates, lanes and the Pavilion must be locked after use and the keys put back securely into the key safe. After the evening sessions, the Turney Road gates must be locked by the last group or person leaving. If in doubt, please ask John Howard.
 
As you will be aware, the recent weather means that the outfield is soft. We ask that your members do not cycle over the fields or drag their bags along the surfaces. On arrival at the nets, players should change into sports shoes. We do not want to get mud on to the new surfaces. Please ask players to clean the mud from their shoes.  John Howard and the ground staff can guide you on the drier routes to the nets.
 
We are hoping that the your cricket nets and practice will be enjoyable.


The bar is scheduled to open in the week commencing Monday 12th April. We plan to open on Wednesday and Thursday evenings and at the weekend.  Drinks and meals can be consumed outside at tables of no more than six. Jackie Howard can take advance orders for food. The guidelines state that table orders and table service are required in the next phase.
 
I hope that this short guide enables you to use our facilities and enjoy the start-up of cricket. We hope that the ECB road map enables us to move through the stages safely.
 
Please do hesitate to ask me or John Howard about any aspect of start up to sports play at the Trust.
 
With many thanks John Smith
PLEASE SEE ECB DOCUMENTS BELOW

Please see the initial guidance below from the FA back in June which can be similarly applied to certain situations since the 11th of September no more than 6 people rule when off the pitch.

Please read adaptations for all outdoor cricket activity, applicable to players, spectators, volunteers, clubs, coaches & officials in Step 4 of the ECB Return to Cricket Roadmap.
​
Click on file below to read

"Please respect your fellow sports people, our dedicated staff and volunteers. Please do not enter SCST ground if you are displaying symptoms of Covid-19 and please follow all current government recommendations whilst at this ground​"

PLEASE NOTE
THERE IS STRICTLY NO ACCESS TO THE BAR AREA FOR ANYONE UNDER THE AGE OF 18 YEARS OLD