Please be advised that as from the start of October 2016 our grounds maintenance provider TLG (Scotland) will be trading under the new name of idverde (Scotland).
All staff emails have now changed to Forename.Surname@idverde.co.uk   all telephone and mobile numbers remain the same, along with the companies’ postal address.
This change will have no impact on the grounds maintenance contract other than the replacement of company logos on uniforms, liveries and communications which will be rolled out over the next few months.
www.idverde.co.uk
Regards
Nigel Spencer
Authorised Officer, Sport Aberdeen, Inspire Building, Beach Boulevard, Aberdeen AB24 5HP, T: 01224 578708, M: 07788178201, E: NSpencer@sportaberdeen.co.uk, W: www.sportaberdeen.co.uk

Clubs are reminded that the Annual Grades Dinner is scheduled for the Holiday Inn (Westhill) on Friday 4th November 2015 at 7:00pm for 7:30pm with guest Speaker Graham Thorpe (England, Surrey).
We now require you to advise your respective Grade Representative on the numbers that will be attending from your club including any vegetarian requirement. Please note that 2 Tickets have already been paid for by your club, additional tickets at £40ead and for Juniors £20/head. Many thanks
YOUR CONTACTS FOR NUMBERS ATTENDING ARE:

I know the season has just passed and it appears that I am pretty keen but I wish to get the wheels in motion to plan out this close season's use of Sheddocksley Indoor Nets. The reason I am posting so early is that some clubs have indicated with me that they would like to start the indoor practices sooner!

The last close season was the first time we used the shared facility and it appeared to have worked out very well for all of the clubs concerned. My club Portcullis saved a lot of money on costs as well as having more sessions to practice prior to the season starting. The feedback I got from other clubs participating in this shared venture was that this was a success and they too got greater value through this as well. The nets were very well spaced out (to my own surprise if I am honest!).

The clubs that took part last season were:
Aberdeen Super Kings
Academy
Crescent
Dunecht
Grampian (x2)
Knightriders (x2)
Portcullis
On top of that the odd player joined in from other clubs to get a practice, sharing the costs further with other clubs. 
Could the clubs on this list please confirm if they wish to attend again, when they would like to start, how many lanes would they require and how often they would wish to attend.
Of course new clubs are welcome to join us as well. The sessions last year were held between 10am and 12pm every Sunday and most clubs attended around once a fortnight. By sharing the costs each lane costed £30 for a 2 hour session. Had each club booked the hall separately it would have cost £120 per two hour session!

Time is running out the clubs below have still not responded. Your urgent response to this will be very much appreciated
Clubs are reminded that your player stats are due in addition nominations for the club “Fair Play” Trophy are required, please submit your nominations listing your first, second and third choice. Many thanks to those clubs who have already submitted the above. Below clubs already submitted and those to submit stats

The ACA are conducting research on the views of members and have sent out a Survey Monkey questionnaire to many contacts. If you have not received the questionnaire, and would like to participate, then please send your email address and Club name to paulgray1964@googlemail.com

Unfortunately, the restrictions of using a Survey Monkey mean we are limited as to how many further views we can take.

Please find attached development pathway and below the schedule for 2016/17 Aberdeen City-Shire Area satellite sessions which will take place at Sheddocksley Leisure Centre.
(all Saturday starting 12:30, two sessions to finish by 4pm)
November - 5/12/19/26, December - 3/10/17 2016 and January - 14/21/28, February - 4/11/18/25, March - 4/11/18/25 2017 (i.e. 20 sessions)

City Clubs are encouraged to respond and to copy David Jones (ACA Secretary) with your response by Sept 26th
NB Country Clubs are encouraged to respond to the attached document and to copy David Jones by date above 

The cloud cover cleared away at Buckie to give the sides some glorious September sunshine for the first Grades Select match between the Associations for many years. Overnight rain gave the pitch a sporting look. The NoSCA side won the toss and had no hesitation in putting Grades Select in to bat. Win and Grover played out 2 opening maidens from Hough and Hussein as some tennis ball type bounce made batting difficult. A 3 from Win signalled the start of a flurry of runs, but it was no surprise when Grover edged behind for 4. The next over was eventful as Win fell after a classy 26 to the 2nd ball, immediately followed by Ahmed hitting a 4 first ball and then snicking behind the next ball to leave the Grades Select side 40 for 3. The sudden clatter of wickets had no effect on Perera as he cracked the final 2 balls of the over to the boundary. Perera put on 46 with Doley before he was out for a rapid 28. The introduction of Newlands put the brakes on the scoring and once he had Doley caught behind for 21 any chance of posting a big score looked unlikely. Pant top scored on 31 but wickets fell regularly as the Grades Select side were bowled out for 148 off 37.4 overs.
A peach of a ball from Malik had the NoSCA captain Wolton caught at slip by Reddy for a duck. Dugdale and Lednor steadied things for the NoSCA side, with Dugdale being particularly severe on anything short, but an inspired pick up and direct hit from Perera at mid-wicket saw Lednor well short of his ground, bringing the partnership to an unnecessary conclusion. Vijapur removed Duncan for 2, and when Dugdale smashed a return catch to Malik, out for 32 with the score on 44 for 4, the Grades Select side were well on top. A miserly spell of 9 overs, 4 maidens, 1 for 7, from Perera, effectively settled the result, although a patient 26 from Thomas did prolong the NoSCA innings in to the 44th over before the NoSCA side were all out for 122. Malik finished with 3 for 22, well supported by Vijapur with 3 for 24.
Match Report submitted by Paul Gray
Grades Select 148 (P Pant 31, C Perera 28; B Neewlands 3-9, J Hough 3-37) beat NOSCA Select 122 (D Dugdale 32, S Thomas 26; T Malik 3-22, V Vijapur 3-24) by 26 runs 

The curtain descended on Grades cricket for another season in traditional form, as Grade 1 champions Bon Accord made it cup success at the third attempt when they comfortably beat league runners-up and Small Clubs Cup winners AGSFPs at the Duthie Park.

For the second time in a week a club who had hoped to complete their league season with a hundred per cent record fell at the final hurdle as champions Bon Accord went down by five wickets to runners-up AGSFPs in their final game at the Links. Ellon meantime warmed up for their cup final against Bon Accord on Sunday, with Jon Barrett taking four wickets as they comfortably disposed of Academy, while Mannofield celebrated retention of their Grade 1 status as they beat Crescent at Kings College, and Knight Riders beat relegated Gordonians at Groats Road, Rowan Vaduganathan top-scoring with an undefeated 70.

Following a recent meeting of the Competitions Sub-Committee two adjudications have been issued.  Neither has been further appealed.

1) Rule 15 Protest – Arrowdawn Gordonians v Cults-Artisans-St Ronald [Grade 1, June 4, 2016]

Before you put away your scorebooks, club secretaries are requested to submit their player statistics. Forms can be downloaded from the “Downloads” section under "Contents" found on the left hand side of this web page

With Grades 2 to 4 now complete principal interest at the weekend will focus on whether Bon Accord can not only retain the Grade 1 title, but do so with a 100 percent record; and also complete a league-cup double in Sunday’s re-scheduled final of the Aberdeenshire Cup.

As last weekend in Grade 3 the final round of games pitches first against second as Bon Accord take on AGSFPs at the Links in what will be the first league meeting between the clubs this season, the reverse fixture – as that between Ellon and Academy – having been void.  The league leaders will therefore be particularly anxious not to slip at the final hurdle, which saw Reid Cup winners Grampian, previously unbeaten, lose out for the Grade 3 league title in their final match against 2^nd Knight Riders at Sheddocksley on Sunday by less than a percentage point, although in this case the destination of the league title seems assured irrespective on the outcome.

Although ground conditions meant that Sunday’s scheduled Aberdeenshire Cup Final was unable to proceed, and the Bon Accord Cup needed to be re-located from Methlick to Inverurie, Saturday’s rain relented just long enough for Saturday’s three finals to be completed, with Inverurie and Grampian both completing league-cup doubles.

Please Note Due to a waterlogged pitch at the Lairds Ground (Methlick) the Bon Accord Cup final venue is now at Kellands Park (Inverurie). Our thanks to Methlick CC for making every effort to make play possible and to Inverurie CC for not only allowing use of their ground but preparing their ground as a contingency. 

Inverurie confirmed their promotion to Grade 1 in emphatic form as Chris Watson with an undefeated 143 and George Hadden combined to score 220 for an unbroken second wicket stand against third-placed Queens Cross-Stoneywood-Dyce at the Duthie Park, while in second place Kintore-Kemnay also confirmed their promotion with a win over Fraserburgh, whose points were nevertheless enough to see them along with Banchory, stabilise their positions in Grade 2 for a further year, and relegate 2^nd AGSFPs, whose game was the latest at Methlick to fall void.

The men’s national team have 2 very important games coming up against Hong Kong at The Grange, Edinburgh on the 8th and 10th of September.  In a new move we are looking to have a female mascot on each of the days to accompany Preston Mommsen (Captain) at the toss out in the middle as well as meeting women’s captain Abbi Aitken.  It will be a great experience for one lucky girl and I’m looking for girls U16 to declare their interest in being a mascot at one of the games.  On the day the mascot will get 4 tickets for family as well as getting to meet the players and a Cricket Scotland goodie bag. 

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It is with sadness that we announce the death of Dave Richie. Dave was Captain for the 2^nd XI Dunecht Cricket Club, and passed away last week, many clubs will know his brother Brian Richie. Dave’s funeral is scheduled for Wednesday 10^th August.
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With the sun finally on their backs Grade 1 leaders Bon Accord, anchored by another century from the prolific Fazal Awan, took another step towards their cherished aim of finishing the Grade 1 season with a hundred per cent record as they defeated relegation-threatened Mannofield at the Links; while Gordonians, bolstered by a century from all-rounder Chamila Perera, recorded just their second victory of the season over a Cults-Artisans-St Ronald side, who being unable to play at their home ground find themselves occupying an unfamiliar lower mid-table position this year.  Lahore Karahi meantime were pushed closer to Grade 2 as, despite a half-century from Kaleem Imran, they lost out to Academy at Sheddocksley, and there were also wins in the top league for AGSFPs and Crescent.

The Grades Select match against an SPCU Select has been cancelled due to the clash with the Turriff Cup quarter-finals. The Grades Select will however, play a NoSCA Select at Buckie on Sunday 4th September. All spectators are welcomed

There were few surprises in another rain-affected programme in the top division of the Grades at the weekend, as Bon Accord comfortably beat Crescent to remain on course for the Grade 1 title, while at the foot Mannofield, despite losing to Academy following a century from the visitors’ Abhinav Kache, gained valuable points ahead of Lahore Karahi & Gordonians; and there was a comfortable win for AGSFPs over homeless Cults-Artisans-St Ronald at the Duthie Park.

Dear All

Thank you to all that have responded so far.

We have plenty of places for the upcoming summer camp from the 9th, 10th and 11th August.

A 39-ball century from AGSFPs’ Karan Anand, backed up by half-centuries from Geoff Morrison and Alex Keith saw the visitors to a crushing win over local rivals Gordonians at Countesswells. 

Please find attached a flyer for the Girls only Kwik Cricket festival being held at the very picturesque Doo’cot Park on Sunday 21st August. The festival will be followed by a National Women’s Regional Series match; so the present and the future of Scottish Women’s cricket at the same venue!

If your club wishes to attend, please contact Kari Carswell direct (karicarswell@cricketscotland.com) no later than 19th August.

Due to the waterlogged pitch this camp has been postponed until further notice

As some of you may know Methlick cc were holding a Kwik Cricket festival at Lairds on Sun the 24th July. Unfortunately due to a number of reasons including the rearranging of grades fixtures and the damage done to the outfield by the recent weather this will not be possible.

The Management Committee of the Association met on Friday July 15^th to review a range of issues relating to outstanding fixtures, and to make provisional arrangements for the Cup Finals due in August.

The Vice-President informed the Committee that, due to personal circumstances, the President had recently had to return to India, and was unlikely to return before the end of the season.  While he would be continuing in office and kept informed of developments, it had therefore been agreed that the Vice-President would need to assume responsibility for overseeing day-to-day affairs of the Association, and Clubs would need to be advised of this.  The Committee agreed to formally place on its record its best wishes to the President and his family at this difficult time.  The Vice-President also reminded the Committee of the need to act collectively, and should not express individual views on representations received from member clubs, rather referring these to the Committee for resolution.

This weekend it seemed to be problems of holiday player non-availability that dominated the programme, rather than pitch or weather issues, as only 2 games were completed in Grade 3 and only 1 in Grade 4.

At the top of Grade 1 meantime Bon Accord’s progress towards the title continued unabated as, with yet another century from Fazal Awan, they comfortably disposed of Gordonians at Countesswells, while Mannofield strengthened their chances of grade 1 survival as they beat Lahore Karahi at the Duthie Park, and Cults-Artisans-StRonald recorded a 32-run victory over Ellon at the Links.

Women’s Cricket Manager required. Please find attached documentation.

The weather gods once again had the final say in the Aberdeenshire Grades, as following a week of confusion in which the Management Committee tried their best to bring cup competitions back onto schedule, the vast majority of games finished up being void or scratched.

The scratchings included the remaining quarter-final of the Aberdeenshire Cup where Lahore Karahi scratched to Gordonians, rendering the changes agreed by the Committee to Saturday’s league programme, including bringing forward the game between Academy & Crescent, abortive; while at Grade 3 level arrangements for the Reid Cup Semi-final between Grampian & Siyapa remain unresolved, with the clubs still seemingly unable to agree a mutually acceptable date to replace the 7-day replay Rule which a majority of the Committee had earlier indicated that, in default of agreement, they would probably be required to enforce.