Image: Senior Awards are at the clubhouse on Friday evening, the 31st January

Winter Junior Sessions - restart on 27th January
Our indoor junior sessions, for girls and boys, start up a week on Monday! Sessions start up (on Mon 27 Jan, Wed 29 Jan) for a block of weekly sessions in the St Josephs College Sports Hall with a week gap for the February half-term.

[NOTE: Now starting 1 week later than originally on Mon 27th, Wed 29th (exams in the hall). Apologies.]

Mondays 5-6pm Stars (5-8 years), Boys and Girls (27 January - 3 March. 5 sessions)
Wednesdays 5-6pm Blasters/Chargers (9-11/12-15 years) Boys and Girls (29 January - 5 March. 5 sessions)

New starters very welcome. Come along or contact us. And you can bring a friend too. The fun starts indoors!

Blasters who are unable to make Wednesdays contact the club for a possible additional session on Mondays. [Contact email: dumfriescricketclub@gmail.com]

Women's and Girls Sessions - restart on 27th January
Weekly Women's & Girls soft ball indoor sessions re-start on Mondays 27th January at St Josephs Sports Hall.

Mondays 5-6pm W&G (27 Jan - 3 May. 5 sessions)

These are introductory soft ball sessions and are suitable for secondary school ages and also for those starting out and want to have a go. Contact womenscricket@dumfriescricketclub.com with any questions otherwise just turn up for a free try.

January Social and Senior Awards Night - Fri 31st Jan
Kicking off 2025 we are holding a Seniors Award night on Friday, 31st January (6 for 6:30pm) as our first cricket social of the year.

Senior Awards Night at the Clubhouse
Friday 31st January. 6:30-8pm
Followed by the first game of the Rugby Six Nations (France v Wales at 8:15pm on TV).

The intention is for food as well but the numbers attending are needed so you can mark if you are coming HERE through the website.

Scotland at the U19 Women's World Cup
The Scotland squad, captained by Niamh, are in Malaysia for the 2025 ICC Women’s U19 World Cup.

Their first game is 2:30am on Saturday 18 January when Scotland play Australia. That is followed by group games against Nepal and Bangladesh. Three progress from a challenging four team group. Tournament details and also how to watch live on Sky are HERE.

Running the Club
The January Cricket Club committee meeting is on Thursday 23rd January (at the clubhouse at 7pm).

Want to ask the cricket committee something? Then email dumfriescricketclub@gmail.com .

Dumfries Sports Club AGM - Mon 27 Jan
The Dumfries Sports Club AGM for 2024 is on Monday 27th January at the club at 18:30 (rescheduled from 20th).

All Members are invited to attend. (Voting restricted to full members). Any items for the Agenda and Proposals, in writing, to the Dumfries Sports Club Secretary by Sunday 19 January.

The end of year report from the Chair of the Sports Club Management Committee, Jock, is attached to this article with news of some proposed membership fee increases, and decreases, all of which will be determined at the meeting.

And a big thank you from the cricket section for Jock' s thirty years of committee contribution to our club and 25 years as Sports Club Chair as he is standing down from his role.

WDCU (Western District Cricket Union)
There is a new year message from the WDCU (responsible for our Saturday leagues) about the new season.

And the WDCU League season, for our 1s and 2s, will will run from Saturday 3rd May to Saturday 30th August inclusive.

For the 2025 summer our 1s move up to play in Western Premiership One and after discussions between the new 2nd XI Captain and our Director of Teams it was concluded that a request would be submitted to WDCU to keep Dumfries CC 2nd XI (Nunholm) in Championship 2 to support the development of players moving from the Sunday Development Team into Saturday league cricket.

It was felt that this was the best decision for the club and player development to ensure competitive cricket with the focus on ensuring game time and match involvement for all players.

That WDCU message is detailed below.

Season Dates
The 2025 WDCU League season will run for all Divisions, apart from Premiership 3, from Saturday 3rd May to Saturday 30th August inclusive. Premiership 3 will run from Saturday 26th April to Saturday 6th September inclusive.

Divisional Placings for Season 2025
The WDCU will continue, for season 2025, with the existing tier structure. For season 2025 WDCU has seen the inclusion of 4 new teams, sadly there has also been the loss of 3 teams from 2024.

In creating the composition of the divisions the WDCU CMC has considered the League Administration Rules and also a number of requests of extenuating circumstances from some clubs. The WDCU CMC consider the finalised structure to be the best fit for the forthcoming season. The playing conditions for the new Championship 4 will be the same as those for Championship 3.

The 2025 Divisional placings are as below.
2025 Competition Divisional Placings

Competitions Structure Sub Committee
As indicated at both the WDCU Club Forum and WDCU AGM, WDCU are initiating a sub-committee tasked with reviewing all competitions currently run by the WDCU to establish if they are fit for purpose in their current format. This sub-committee will be expected to produce recommendations to the WDCU CMC for them to consider how best to agree with clubs the adoption of any such recommendations. The WDCU CMC note that any recommendations towards League structure will be for season 2026 at the earliest.

Overseas Amateurs
At the 2024 WDCU AGM clubs voted to remove the age restriction currently applied to Overseas Amateurs. This brings the WDCU in line with the EPL. The 2025 League Administration rules will be amended to reflect this change. It is STILL the responsibility of the club to ensure any Overseas Amateur engaged fully meets the criteria set out in the Home Office Immigration rules for cricket.

Coloured Clothing
As indicated in the 2024 Pre-season notes (issued April 2024), coloured clothing will be mandatory in ALL WDCU Leagues and Cup competitions for season 2025.

WDCU Subscriptions
At the AGM the WDCU recommended and was agreed by clubs that the annual subscriptions rates increase as follows: (Invoices will be issued in the coming weeks.)

Full Member Class 1 – £240
Full Member Class 2 – £70
Affiliate Member Class 3 – £35

Fair Play System
At the AGM the WDCU recommended and agreed by clubs that a Fair Play system will be introduced in season 2025 as a trial. More details will follow in due course.