The February monthly draw for the Glenpark Supporters Prize Draw (GSPD) was carried out on Saturday 25th February 2023 by Dr Fraser Gray. The four lucky winners were John McGachy, Lynne Currie, Linda Robertson and Rona Lochhead.
Congratulations to everyone on their win!
The next draw will take place on Saturday 25th March 2023 for the usual prizes.
We are always looking for new members to join the draw, the receipts from which are used to improve the facilities of the Club for all members. If you wish to join, please contact Brian Papworth using the details to be found at the Contacts link at the top of this page.
Summer must be just around the corner as the league fixtures for the 2023 have just been released by the WDCU.
The First XI start their campaign in the newly-named Premiership One league with the long trip to Dumfries on Saturday 29th April while the Glenpark XI are at home in Championship Three to newcomers Blackhill.
The full fixture list for the 1st XI can be found here and the Glenpark XI's fixtures here. It should be noted that the 1st XI's fixtures in the McCulloch Cup have yet to be confirmed.
The Club is pleased to announce that it has signed Rahul Dalal from India as its professional for the 2023 season. Rahul joins the Club after a successful season for Arunachal Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy, scoring 482 runs, which was the highest aggregate amongst the teams competing in Arunachal's group. In all first-class cricket, Rahul has scored 2407 runs with a top score of 267*.
Rahul is a right-hand bat and also bowls off-breaks and will undoubtedly be a key player for Greenock in their return to the Premier Division this season.
At last, a home tie for Greenock in the Scottish Cup! The team will be at home to Edinburgh side, Stewarts Melville, in the first round on Sunday 7th May. This makes a pleasant change after what seems like years of having to travel to the capital for the Cup.
In other news, Eddie Ahmad has agreed to take over as captain of the Glenpark XI for the 2023 season. And senior training commences on 1st March at St Columba's School in Gourock.
The January monthly draw for the Glenpark Supporters Prize Draw (GSPD) was carried out on Saturday 28th January 2023 by Archie Wohlgemuth. The four lucky winners were Colin Lochhead, Joanne Clark, Simon Leslie-Carter and Haydn McFadden.
Congratulations to everyone on their win!
Following promotion to the Premier Division, the 1st XI will be playing in coloured clothing on Saturdays next season. The Club is currently in the process of ordering new refreshed coloured kit for the 1st XI which also gives the opportunity to offer various items to all senior and junior players as well as supporters to buy if they so wish. Please see this document for details. If you have any queries then please contact Shailesh Prabhu or Chris Hempsey via the details contained in the document.
Somewhat later than intended, the 1st XI averages have now been compiled and can be found via the link on the right-hand side of this page. It would be reasonable to say that they show what a huge impact that the Club's two Aussie amateurs, Ryan Walker and Tom Nicholson, had on the team's performances during the season but equally they show that there is some decent young home talent coming through as well. The historical averages have also been updated covering the years from 1931 to 2022. Perhaps at some point it will be possible to add some more of the earlier years to these figures.
All the reports and previews for the season just passed can be found at the link at the foot of this page.
Members will be saddened to learn of the recent passing of Hilda Kelly. Hilda had been a member for many years and together with her husband, Steve, had been a keen supporter of the Club in many ways. She was especially pleased to see her granddaughter, Emily, become a regular member of the Glenpark XI and in doing so be the first woman to play senior cricket for the Club. Hilda will be sadly missed and our sincere condolences go to Steve and all Hilda's family and friends in these sad times.
The Club held the first of what is planned to be an annual Awards Presentation function on 27th August, after the 1st XI had clinched their return to the WDCU Premier Division. The evening was a great success and enjoyed by all those present. A full list of the awards that were presented, together with some photographs of the evening, can be found at this link.
The Club is very grateful to Sam Sanghera, Peter Janampally, Emma and Emily Norris and Shailesh Prabhu for organising the evening, to Angela Prabhu of Angel Images for the excellent photographs, to Chris Hempsey for hosting the evening, to Colin McDougall for his great speech and to Alex Jasper and John Riggans for their donations.
Members will be saddened to learn of the sudden passing of John Gerrard, a long-standing supporter of the Club. Our sincere condolences go to his widow, Linda, and all his family and friends.
It is with great sadness that members have learnt of the passing on Tuesday 1st February of Sir Robin Duthie, the Club's Honorary President.
A determined left-handed bat, Sir Robin played his first game for the First Eleven in 1949 and when he retired in 1963 had scored 4668 runs at 20.93, nearly all of which were made at the top of the order. He was an important member of the 1952 team that achieved one of the most sweeping wins in the history of the Western Union.
He captained the Club in 1960 and 1961 and in both seasons was the leading run-scorer. In 1961 he scored four successive half-centuries in the Western Union, a feat never bettered in the Club's competitive history and at a time when runs in the Union were hard-earned. His only century came in the same year against Clydesdale when he scored 104* in partnership of 189 with Duncan Drummond who also reached treble figures.
Sir Robin never lost his interest in the Club and was proud to see his sons, David and Peter, follow him in performing with distinction for the Club and in Peter's case also for Scotland. He was elected Honorary President of the Club in December 2018, a position that he accepted with great pleasure.
There will be a private funeral on Saturday 19th February to be followed by a memorial service in Greenock West United Reformed Church in George Square at 12 noon.
Sir Robin's passing brings to an end a long and distinguished innings. Our sincere condolences go to his widow, Noel, and children, Susan, David and Peter and their families.
In 2020, when no cricket was played due to the Covid-19 outbreak, a number of articles relating to the history of the Club were published on the website. These can be read via this link.
The Club records have been updated again, this time to cover the years from 1931 to 1937. Each year that has been added to the archives has a summary of all games played by the 1st XI together with full averages, selected scorecards and a short review of the season. The cumulative records of the Club have also similarly been updated.
This new update covers the years when the Club's professional was Reg Hollingdale, from Sussex, who can reasonably be claimed to be one of the best professionals employed by the Club. During this time, the Club won the Western Union title on two occasions while there were any number of memorable games, not least the time when Jack Hobbs played at Glenpark in June 1935. 1937, though it did not result in title or cup success, was a year when there were some outstanding personal performances, such as John Kerr hitting two centuries in four days at the age of 52.
As with previous updates, there a number of caveats that need to be kept in mind and these are detailed in this brief article.
Work will now start on the next update which is likely to cover the years from 1925 to 1930.