Chairmans Report 2025 

Can I please start with a few words about the sad loss in 2025 of Peter Smith, one of our vice presidents, known to us all as “Buster”. A keen and competitive sportsman, he came to us with a small number of other players when Marlpit Hill CC folded. He played many years of competitive rugby and cricket locally and has been an “ever present” at the club for what must have been around 50 years. He became the captain of the Sunday Second XI soon after I joined at aged 14. I can remember well the trips we made into south London and the back end of Croydon on a Sunday afternoon along with Colin Trigg, Keith Dawes, John Stowell and David Bonner. Win, lose or draw, it usually ended up being a later night than it might have been, and a bit messy after numerous obligatory pub stops on the way home…. He was a strong character, well liked, and he will be much missed. As a club I can safely say, our thoughts will remain with him, and we thank him for his sterling service and general input over the years both on the field and as part of the committee. 

On another, happier note, I have received news that our Illustrious club President, Mr J. Pike Esq, has been asked to become the President of the Kent County Village League. A very well-deserved accolade for someone who was instrumental in the formation and management of the league in its original format. As well as being a player for very many years, Jon has always taken a keen interest in the league and its development to become the strongest, largest and arguably the best village league in the county. I am sure I speak for the club as whole when I say this level of recognition is entirely appropriate and we are strongly behind this move. Excellent news.  

Moving on. The first thing I feel I must do again this year is heartily thank all the members of committee for the effort that has gone in during 2025. Whilst not so much a glowing season on the pitch, we certainly played some good cricket, but also much enjoyment was had at the various social events and club evenings that were organised and characterised by a largely hot and dry summer.  

As we all know, the club is only as good as the members, the committee and the commitment of those involved to keep things moving forward and to have a vision of what we all wish to achieve at Four Elms. A number of the committee have this season, quite understandably, asked to stand down after years in post. What we now need is others to fill this void and take up the challenge and move the club forward into 2026 and beyond. I hope there will be club members amongst us who have the drive and the passion to do this.           

In a season where the standard of many of the wickets came under scrutiny, we were able to hold our heads high, and I thank Alan and his various helpers for this. Several teams had to have their pitches “assessed” due to a poor playing surface and potentially dangerous conditions. This was primarily due to lack of water and preparation. Many clubs now pay for their wickets to be prepared for them. It is not something that as a committee we have ever wanted to do at Four Elms, but we all know it is hugely time consuming and requires a large degree of experience and effort to produce good quality wickets throughout the season. This does not happen by chance, and we should continue to be grateful for those that contribute to the success of the club in this way. 

One of the “old chestnuts” is of course fund raising and generating income in general for the club. Several other clubs that have senior schools in their catchment areas have the luxury of being able to run junior teams. This serves two purposes; the main hope being to produce senior cricketers in time (although this often does not bear fruit); and second to generate funds for the club.  

Over the years we have seen the same people having to put their hands in their pockets on a regular basis to keep the coffers filled. Over the past few years, we have looked at ways of generating additional income ourselves to make up for the fact that, try as we might, there is no pool of young players locally we can tap into. As such we have looked to use our main asset, our beautiful ground and club house to generate additional monies. This has been done by hosting the County Seniors cricket. We are now widely used and enjoyed by both the Senior XIs of Kent and Surrey. These games of course, require pitch preparation, teas being made and served and the bar being run. However, in a good summer, like this last one, we were able to generate well over £2,000 from this. This does, in some way, offset the need to generate income elsewhere. Help and support at these fixtures is always welcome ……. On that note, it is key to acknowledge the great efforts put in by Jo in her tenure as social secretary and the thanks of all at the club go out to her as she stands down from this role after the AGM. 

As I see it, the main issue the club must face in the next few years will be a conscious decision as to the level at which we wish to play our league cricket.  We have (all baring 2 seasons) been in Division 1 of the Kent County Village League, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain this position with our own dwindling playing resources. Put simply, we do not have enough first XI players to sustain things at the current level. With a few notable exceptions, the club stalwarts that have maintained Four Elms in the topflight are older, more injury prone, and frankly have other priorities that they need to attend to. It leaves us with the difficult task of “arm twisting” to ask players who would expect to enjoy a game in the 2XI’s, to step up and in essence play a minor role in the 1XI. It is far from ideal, and is no more than a short-term fix, as the same situation is very likely going to arise again the next week…. I whole heartedly applaud all those who have volunteered to fill in. Thank you. I also feel certain we will need to rely on additional help again this year.  

With this in mind we also need to look at our reliance on overseas players. We have been phenomenally fortunate to have been able to call on cricketing contacts worldwide to enable us to balance our teams and provide us with some superb players. We have had overseas players from New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and many from India. This was only ever intended to be a transient arrangement and not a solution. It requires a good deal of planning and commitment to make these arrangements work. They have been largely successful to date, but we need to find a longer-term solution. So, do we step back and say, ok, we will look to find our level by accepting a couple of years of likely relegations or do we look to try and ensure that we compete at the highest level that our resources allow? I am aware there is no easy answer to this, but it is something we must consider. There is also the other very important aspect to think about, and that is assimilating overseas players into the club, and the somewhat “unique” club culture that exists at Four Elms. It is fair to say that some have been keener to embrace this than others and again thought needs to be given as to where we go with this to keep both players and non-playing members alike happy with the status quo. It is a subject that we as a committee have spoken about on several occasions and one that will need to address again regularly. All members are entitled to have their voices heard, and I would actively advocate and support any discussion around this. 

So, in summary, and this sounds a little like many of the previous Chairman’s reports, I hope we can find some new blood, both on the pitch and off it. These are needed to move the club forward but also maintain the traditions of what we have all been lucky enough to be a part of for many years. Please ask around, actively recruit and above all please put your hand up to contribute in whatever way you can to the success of your club. Here’s to another dry and enjoyable season in 2026. 

Tim 

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