EUMCC SEASON 2023
If you aren't yet excited about the cricket season ahead, you haven't been paying attention.
What we have to look forward to:
After a winter full of training we'll have 6 teams bidding for BUCS glory.
On top of this the Bruce Coleman Summer Trophy will be making a return to the fields of Exeter CC. Can the Fever Falcons bounce back or will the Topsham Titans retain their crown?
The whole season will be leading up towards our cricket varsity which will again take place at Exeter CC. This year we take on Oxford once more on the 2nd June.
EUMCC Committee 2022/23
Club Captain - Ollie Tsiquaye
Treasurer - Tom Chesser
Welfare Secretary - Alex Cunningham
Stash Secretary - Will Lucas
Social Secretary - Dan Dixon, Archie Gibb and Albert Grieve
Publicity Secretary - Freddie Hanbury
Fixtures Secretary - Ed Snushall
Sponsorship Secretary - Will Greenall
Tour Secretary - Hugo Lloyd
Year Roundup so far
The EUMCC has had another non-stop year so far. It started off in Freshers Week where we were lucky enough to meet many of the new freshers over a couple of games of cricket and a meet & greet. It was lovely to see our new freshers, under Billy Buckingham & Dom Morgan’s tutelage, compete against the current committee in a close fought affair. The highlight of this was Tom Hutchings, a man who has never played a game of cricket, hitting Dom Morgan (a man with first-class wickets) for 4 to see the committee home! Overall, it was a lovely event, and we were about to show the freshers exactly what the club was about!
Over the following weeks, it was lovely meeting all the new freshers at the trials and being able to see all the new talent the club has been fortunate enough to acquire. As a result of the amount of talent that the club has on offer, the EUMCC have been able to have 8 teams for the first time ever in our history.
Outside of the cricket centre, the club were heavily involved with Movember as always! There were football tournaments, quiz nights, netball tournaments & shaved heads all in the name of charity! Overall, we managed to raise over £13,000 and were the 6th best university sports club in the country for funds raised. This is something we are very proud of in the club, and we want to keep saving even more of our brothers in years to come!
After having a busy first term, second term didn’t slow down for the club. Our 1st team competed in the BUCS indoor finals in Leicestershire, where they bought home BUCS Gold for the second year in a row! Special mentions must go to Will Lucas & Will Chesterman who now have 2 BUCS indoor medals in 2 years, can they make it a hat-trick next year?
Before the cricket season takes all our free time the club got together as a collective one last time to vote for next year’s committee. We are hugely appreciative of all the clubmen who are selfless enough to give up their time to run this club and make our university experiences better because of their work! Huge congratulations must go to Billy Wootten who is next year’s club captain, go well sir!
Finally, I wish all of you representing the university the best of luck for the summer. Let's get that BUCS Gold!
Written by Ollie Tredgett
Coaches Say
We had a quick catch up with Alex Barrow ahead of the 2023 Season.
How has your first full year in charge of the EUMCC been?
It has been great fun, some big challenges, some success, lots of learning but a platform to move cricket at the University of Exeter forward. I didn’t go to university, so I didn’t have any expectations. Only the information that I had picked up through conversations with a few connections. When I started to work with the club on an interim basis, looking at taking the role wasn’t really in my mind. But I came across a environment that was exciting, in a place where I thought I could make a positive impact and provide me with experience in a new environment. The more I was around the more I wanted to be part of The University and thankfully I was given an opportunity to lead the Cricket program. EUMCC has quality and depth of members to be proud of. We have to engage and provide opportunities for everyone. At the top of the programme, we have professional and aspirational cricketers who we want to support in their individual journeys, amongst that we also have players who aren’t looking for a career in cricket but want to maximise their abilities. So the club is very broad, but its a role I have really enjoyed and am really enjoying
What are your hopes for club as a whole this season
The depth of the EUMCC will mean we have the ability to compete in every fixture we play in from the 1st XI to 6th XI. Being able to compete with our opposition will mean we will be able to win games of cricket and therefore win leagues across each of our BUCS teams. This will come down to individual and collective performances at different times through out the season, if we are able to do that, we will have a number of success’ across the club. Its fantastic we have a new 6thteam, that’s testament to the quality of cricketers we have and I am excited for the season to start in a few weeks.
How have the 1s dealt with losing key players such as Wells, Barlow and Doran
In the 1.1 we have lost a number of good players from 2022. The turnover of players is high, with people graduating and having placement years. So it takes time to adjust, that definitely has taken time for the group to adapt to the dynamic of the current squad, but it will be the same in September when we have to select a new group. The squad is bigger this year, selecting a 1st XI will be challenging because of the quality of players, we are always going to have disappointment. Each players in the 1.1 squad has developed and moved their game forward and the group are a great group to coach.
What are you most excited about this summer?
The most exciting part in the opportunities that will present themselves to the players. Seeing players perform, to see development, that is the exciting part for me as a coach. Winning and team success’ will build off the back of those things
Club Captains Diary - Ollie Tsiquaye
This year as club captain has been a challenging yet rewarding experience for me. Having spent the majority of time in my first two years of university in and around EUMCC it has been a privilege to have my chance to give back to this great club. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time leading the club and the responsibilities that have come with it. It has included a range of different roles including dealings with the AU, organising the squads and training programme, sorting out pre-season and much more general overseeing of the clubs running. All of this has been incredibly rewarding as I have been able to give back to the club that has done so much for me over the past few years.
I have been able to implement many of my plans throughout the year including adding a 6th team to BUCS successfully and I have high hopes that many of the teams can gain promotion. My approach to this year has been to give everyone in the club the best experience possible, both with cricket and socially. I feel as though we have provided a wide range of cricketing opportunities, including a thorough training plan for all, intramural cricket in the winter and summer and a packed pre season schedule ensuring all cricketing abilities in the club have been catered for. It has been great to see the club grow so much over the past couple years and I feel we are in a very strong position to keep growing in the future.
Finally I am looking forward to our summer term ahead. This is a very exciting term as it involves organising the logistics of all our BUCS fixtures and many of our summer events including Old Boys day, Varsity and End of Season Dinner and I look forward to celebrating these with the rest of the club.
BUCS Fixture Lists
Here is a complete run down of the clubs BUCS fixtures this summer.
13/4/23 - 1s vs Loughborough UCCE (a)
18/4/23 - 1s vs Cambridge UCCE (h) - Exeter CC
19/4/23 - 1s vs Leeds UCCE (h) - Exeter CC
24/4/23 - 1s vs Durham UCCE (a)
26/4/23 - 3s vs Plymouth 1s (a), 4s vs Southampton 1s (h) and the 5s vs Southampton 4s (h)
27/4/23 - 1s vs Oxford UCCE (h)
3/5/23 - 1s vs Solent (a), 2s vs Cardiff Met (a), 3s vs Southampton 2s (h), 4s vs Plymouth 1s (h), 5s vs Bournemouth 2s (h), 6s vs Southampton 3s (a)
8/5/23 - 1s vs Cardiff UCCE (a)
10/5/23 - 2s vs Bath (h), 4s vs Southampton 2s (a), 5s vs 6s (h)
17/5/23 - 2s vs Cardiff 2s (a), 3s vs Southampton 1s (a), 4s vs Solent 2s (h), 5s vs Southampton 3s (h),
24/5/23 - 2s vs Swansea 1s (h), 3s vs 4s (h), 5s vs Bournemouth (a), 6s vs Southampton 4s (a),
31/5/23 - 3s vs Solent 2s (a), 6s vs Bournemouth (h)
7/6/23 - 2s vs Bristol 2's (h), 6s vs Bournemouth 2s (h)
Division Overview
The mens 1s go chasing a national title in the Mens Premier National League.
The mens 2s are in the Mens Western Tier 1 looking to bounce back after a difficult season last year.
For the 3s promotion is the goal as they embark on a journey in the Mens Western Tier 2.
Under the big leadership, quite literally, of Dan Dixon and Tom Chesser the 4s go chasing an upset as they seek to beat the 3s in the same league.
The 5s are an experienced team this year hoping to repeat the success of last year in Mens Western Tier 3
Our newest BUCs team the 6s are hoping to make a statement joining the 5s in the Mens Western Tier 3.
Please do try and get down to Exeter CC, Topsham and Winslade to support the boys. This is the strongest these teams have looked for a while and there is a great chance for a record breaking season for the club!
Keep an eye out for match updates and team news across our social media
Instagram - @eumcc
twitter - @eumcc_official
1s Captains Season Preview
Season Aims
As a squad our aim is to qualify for the BUCS semi-finals. We know there are a lot of good teams in the BUCS competition but the talent in our group is strong enough to compete with any side at this level in any conditions. We played very well for periods last year, but were unable to string consistent results together. There were a few occasions where we ended up on the wrong side of close results, and we hope we will be able to capitalise when we face the same situations this year. We want to show that we are able to compete with UCCE schemes and that our program is of same calibre. We have wintered well, with Alex Barrow and Max Waller giving great insights to guide our development. We hope to take the lessons we learnt from last year, and our preparation over the winter, into this season. I think for now doing the basics well and getting some early wins on the bored to boost confidence is the best thing we can do.
Thoughts on the changes in the Squad after the departure of key players last year:
We have a great group of lads, who have gelled well as a unit over the winter. Obviously we lost some crucial players, with significant experience, last year but we are excited with the fresh talent that has been added to the squad. I think it'll be crucial, especially across pre-season and in the first couple rounds of BUCS games for senior players to step up. We've obviously got boys who played the majority of last season as well as a couple returning after a year out so hopefully these lads can show the way for the newer members of the squad.
We are blessed with a good balance of skills across the group with a variety of bowling options in both the seam and spin department which I think will be crucial in the white ball competition in particular. The freshers that have come into will slot nicely into our side and no doubt play crucial roles for us this season. Hopefully, once we're outside on the grass it won't take many of them long to get going and hopefully some of the young lads can step up and make a statement early on in their EUMCC careers. We are very happy with the depth we have in all facets of the squad and just can't wait to get going.
PRE-SEASON PREVIEW:
EUMCC vs Sussex CCC - 1st-3rd April 2023
Sussex welcome Exeter University to The Central 1st County Ground in Hove for this warm-up game ahead of the BUCS season. The Exeter young-guns are looking to cause an upset on Saturday, as they travel to Sussex in their annual county friendly fixture. After a long, gruelling winter the squad are very much looking forward to getting out on the pitch for some much needed time at the crease. Coaches Barrow and Waller have been impressed by what they’ve seen in training and are confident that the Uni can even push for an unexpected result. This follows after last year’s superb effort against Gloucester in a rain effected match, leaving only 143 required for victory having lost two hours of play.
Team News
The University have selected a strong squad of 14, looking to share the overs and time at the crease in order to get ready for the crucial BUCS fixture against Loughborough on Thursday 13th April. University newcomers Johnny Connell and Tom Geffen are looking to make an impact at the top of the order, whilst Akshay Bharadwaj and Harry Startin will aim to run riot with ball in hand. Experience has reigned supreme as Billy Buckingham and Dom Morgan come back into the side after a year hiatus, and the likes of Luke Maslen, Dylan Church and James Boyle have all retained their spots. The side also contains county pedigree with the likes of Hampshire fast bowler John Turner, and Gloucester quick Luke Charlesworth, both looking to better the pace attack of the Sharks on Saturday.
Important Information
Play starts at 11.00am on Saturday 1st April in this three-day game. Entry is free, with spectators using the entrance next to the Club Shop and The Sharks Stand.
How Can I keep Up to Date?
You can keep up to date by following the Exeter University Men’s Cricket Club on Instagram and Twitter, where regular updates will follow. A summary will also follow at the close of play each day, containing any key details and anecdotes.
Exeter University Mens Cricket Club 1st XI vs Sussex CCC Squad
1. James Baird
2. Akshay Bharadwaj
3. James Boyle
4. Billy Buckingham
5. Dylan Church (Captain)
6. Johnny Connell
7. Luke Charlesworth
8. Tom Geffen
9. Taylor Ingham-Hill
10. William Lucas
11. Luke Maslen
12. Dominic Morgan
13. Harry Startin
14. John Turner
Our Sponsors
M&H
The EUMCC is proud to be partnered with one of the UK’s biggest cricket brands. Based in Taunton, Milichamp and Hall (M&H) provide top of the range cricket gear, sponsoring a collection of international and county players. Being used by Jack Leach to score his infamous 1* in the 2019 Headingley test, the EUMCC is proud to have M&H as the frontline provider of our club’s cricket kit.
NSPCC
Having established a healthy relationship with the NSPCC over the past few years, we are delighted to be able to continue supporting such an amazing charity. The NSPCC is a charity dedicated to the prevention of child cruelty in the United Kingdom and the Channel Islands. As a club, it is a privilege to be able to give back and represent organisations which serve a greater purpose outside of cricket. We will wear the NSPCC logo with pride.
PlayerLayer
As the supplier of both training and playing kit, Playerlayer are an essential part of what makes up our clubs apparel. Consistently providing comfortable, durable, and reliable sportswear, the EUMCC has relied on Playerlayer over the past few years to deliver on large scale orders to suit our growing club’s needs.
Quickfire Questions:
Name: John Turner
Team: 1s
Year: 2nd
Course: Economics and Finance
Favourite EUMCC Moment: Varsity 2022
Game-day Routine: Porridge with a full English
Dream Dinner Party: Nelson Mandela, James Bond, Margot Robbie
Cricketing Idol: Jacque Kallis
Name: Louis Mase
Team: 3s
Year: 3rd
Course: Economics
Favourite EUMCC Moment: EUMCC Come Dine With Me
Game-day Routine: Ask Dan Dixon for all his cricketing knowledge and experience before going out to bat to get me in the zone.
Dream Dinner Party: Greta Thunberg, Winston Churchill and Winston Smith
Cricketing Idol: Ian Botham
We hope to see lots of you on the side of the pitch in weeks to come
Key Dates:
Exeter University 1st XI vs Sussex CCC - 1st April - County Ground, Hove
EUMCC 1s vs Cambridge UCCE @County Ground - 18th April 2023
EUMCC 5s vs EUMCC 6s - 10th May
EUMCC 3s vs EUMCC 4s - 24th May
Old Boys Day - 1st June 2023
Exeter Cricket Varsity - 2nd June 2023
End of Season Dinner - 7th June 2023
Keep up to date following us on our socials
Instagram @eumcc
Twitter @eumcc_official
TikTok @exeterunimenscricket
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