Cricket Club Issue 49 | Page 74

Totteridge Millhillians FOLLOW US ONLINE TWITTER.COM/CRICKETCLUBMAG Totteridge Millhillians CRICKET CLUB Totteridge Millhillians CC is a fine example of the important role that the club can play in the local community. Cricket Club Magazine recently caught up with Club Representative Steve Lyall to find out more about the good work the club has been doing lately. Involvement The Role He told us, “I first started playing at what was then Totteridge CC in 1995 - I moved to nearby Finchley in early 1994 and I had a frustrating summer not playing in ’94, so I had to play for someone - Totteridge advertised in the local paper, as you did then, and the rest is history. Before that I played in Northumberland, Teesside, Liverpool and the Potteries. I knew my ‘serious’ cricket days had gone and was looking to play for a couple of years before quitting, yet twenty- four years later I am still here. TCC merged with Old Millhillians CC in 2008 forming a much larger and better run club.” “One of the biggest challenges is that there are not so many volunteers these days, a few people do an awful lot of jobs. It’s a massive bureaucratic job running a cricket club, and as it’s not a glamorous or exciting job, not many people want to get involved and help out. Ensuring ‘players’ become ‘members’ is also a challenge, and as people have many demands on their time, they don’t spend as much time at a club as they once might have done.” 74 Issue 49 Atmosphere “The atmosphere is always optimistic at this time of year; you have to go into a season thinking you can win everything! Our 1st XI were Hertfordshire League winners last year, though sadly we fell at the Grand Final hurdle, and we aim high again in 2019. Fingers crossed a bit on the ground works …” The Off-Season “The off-season was interesting and a bit scary with major ground works that even now may or may not be ready in time – and we lost our second ground at a massively inconvenient time, but hopefully we have a new second ground sorted now (which promises to be better than the old one!) For me personally, I had the perennial ‘shall I retire or carry on’ conversation with myself a hundred