Hi All,

Well the season is up and running and we are now a couple of rounds in already.  Overall a very promising start for the year ahead, with 4 seniors sides and 7 junior sides representing Tanunda with pride each week.  Numbers at training are very promising, and we’ve welcomed a number of new senior players to the club, and have a number of under 18 players representing Tanunda across all senior grades, which is great for the future of the club.

There are a number of things to update you on:

1. After many years of wonderful service as our leader, Darren Graetz has stood down due to his work pressures.  Thanks Darren for your wonderful leadership over the years, big boots to fill.  Thanks for continuing on as a committee member and player at the TCC.   We’re lucky to have a bloke like you in our cricketing family.
2. We have new leadership in our senior sides with Nathan Justin, Kym Farley and Jamie Roehr taking up the captaincy roles in the A1s, A2s and A4s respectively, with Bob Smart continuing on in the role of A5s captain.  Brett Grocke has been appointed vice captain of the A1s. Thank you to Pete Mernagh, Toby Mifflin, Mark Hoklas and Tim Brooks the job you did in leading these teams previously.  All the best to all captains in the year ahead.
3. Scott Gordon has taken on our curators role, and will be mentored by Darin Gladigau as he comes up to the speed with the Tanunda pitches.  As a horticulturist by trade, we’ll be in great hands with Scott’s expertise overseeing our decks.
4. The Tanunda Oval upgrade is nearing completion, with the first game for the season taking place this weekend.  Many thanks to the Barossa Council and LDS for the work on drainage on the outfield to date (step 1 in a longer journey), to Justin Groves from the SACA and Les Burdett for their advice and help on what we need to do to get our pitch area back to the condition where we can have excellent pitches throughout the season.  Thanks also to the dedicated volunteers within our cricketing family for stepping in to help whenever possible.  We have new clay on the area, and excellent grass coverage.  Our new roller is up and running at the oval, we’re all set. Many thanks to Tundarri, Barossa Valley Hire and Valley Power Equipment for all of your support to date.  Thanks to the Barossa Council’s (and Tanunda Oval groundsman) Dwayne Martin for his continued dedication to making the council investment pay off.
5. Junior cricket is being played on the turf at Chateau Tanunda each week.  A wonderful scene on a Saturday morning for anyone who loves the Barossa and Cricket.  Surely one of the best cricketing scenes in the world.  Many thanks to Darin and Scott for your efforts in ensuring we have excellent pitches in place for our up and coming stars, highly recommended place to enjoy your Saturday morning coffee.   Many thanks to John Geber and his management team making our vision a reality.
6. Everyone is now wearing fancy new gear thanks to Jax and our other sponsors (it’s available for purchase if you are looking for shorts, shirts or caps).  Contact the club via our contact details for more information.
7. Our investment in the oval and other initiatives is very high, but we are dedicated to getting the club back to A1s, with great cricket being played on our grand oval each week.  The response to what we are looking to do from our sponsors has been wonderful.  For our existing sponsors who have continued to support the TCC, thank you.  For the numerous new sponsors, we welcome you aboard, thank you for believing in our vision and providing us with the financial support to make it possible.  Check out our sponsors page to see who they all are.
8. We’re keeping everyone up to date on Facebook.  Highly recommend you like Tanunda Cricket Club, and if you’re a player, join the Tanunda Cricket Club Players private group.
9. Hot off the press, we have a senior coach at the TCC.  The Tanunda Cricket Club committee are delighted to announce that one of our new players, Ben Tucker has been appointed coach for the upcoming season. Ben brings a wealth of playing experience and a passion for making a difference.  We welcome you aboard and look forward to working with you over the remainder of the season as we aim for the ultimate success in many grades.

That’s enough for me.  Looking forward to seeing you at training throughout the year, and especially at The Clubhouse and Tanunda Oval at the end of a days play for a well earned beer and bite to eat.  For you past players out there that we haven’t seen for a while, we’d love to see your faces regularly.  Even more, we’d love to see a number of you getting back to watching cricket at Tanunda and to share your stories of years gone by with each other and our current playing group.

Remember, stump to stump is a great simple plan.

Swanny
President TCC