CLUB HISTORY

2004 - 2005
Gary Heilbronn began the club in the early months of 2004. Gary, an Australian, lives in the village of Monclera near Cazals with his French wife Elizabeth. In March 2004 Gary and his friends registered the Club at the Prefecture in Cahors, having created the Club's rules (statutes) and placed an advertisement about the Club's formation in the official Prefecture monthly information magazine. The Club's name was Monclera Cazals Cricketers, or M.C.C. a particularly amusing Cricketing in-joke as these are the same initials as the most famous Cricket club in the world, namely, Marylebone Cricket Club in London with their famous ground, Lords.

Gary became the first President of the club and his wife Elizabeth, the first Secretary. Charles Loftie, the first Treasurer provided a second hand coconut mat he had acquired and permission was obtained for the club to use the football pitch and facilities at Cazals during the summer months. With donations of kit from Gary and various other members the club began to play a number of friendly matches. In the season of 2005 there were 12 registered members and friendly games had been played with teams such as L'isle de Noé from the Gers and L'isle sur Tarn in the Tarn region.

Gary and Elisabeth took an extended trip back to Australia and Marcus Padden and his partner Rosie Greenhalgh became President and Secretary respectively. By this time a friendly cricket match had been established to coincide with the annual Monclera fete. As part of the fete Rosie turned what had previously been a simple picnic into a four course fund-raising meal for over 100 people. This raised significant funds for the club's future development.

2006
By 2006 the club had continued to grow until there were 25 registered members. A season of friendly matches was organised playing clubs such as Eymet in the Dordogne, Damazan in the Lot et Garonne, Toulouse, L'isle de Noé and Armagnac Bigorre both from the Gers.

With the growth it became apparent to members that the football pitch was less than satisfactory for future development. In addition was the problem that an artificial strip could not be installed. Members began to look for alternative pitches, which proved quite difficult in this hilly area! Finally, in a historic Extraordinary General Meeting in October 2006, of the 3 new pitches proposed, Abbe Nouvelle, Monclera and Catus, Catus was voted to be the new pitch for the MCC and what was to prove an equally historic decision was made, to join the Siddall's Cup Competition for the 2007 season. Also at this meeting Simon Coldrick, who had extensive coaching experience in English schools, put himself forward on his own initiative, and was voted to become the new Junior Players Secretary and Coach. All three of these decisions were to have considerable consequences.

2007
It had been the donation of the use of a fine piece of flat land at the Lac Vert sport and leisure park by the Maire of Catus, Monsieur Claude Taillardas, which had enabled the move from Monclera. Monsieur Taillardas was to prove greatly supportive of the club and even came to the following AGM in February 2007. He explained to the meeting that he was fully prepared to support all members of his community of whatever nationality in their cultural and sporting endeavours. He outlined the possibility of a loan to the club to facilitate the purchase and installation of a synthetic cricket strip and practice nets. In addition he stated that, as with all sporting clubs in the commune we would be eligible for an annual grant from the town council. The Town Council later ratified both of these possibilities.

After M. Taillardas had left the meeting it was debated, then proposed and carried, to change the name of the club from Monclera Cazals Cricketers to Catus Cricket Club. This it was felt was both fair and in the Club's future interest in the receiving of financial aid from Catus. Alan Frank and his partner Madeleine Cardani were then voted in as the new President and Secretary respectively and the retiring Marcus Paddon and Rosie Greenhalgh were wholeheartedly thanked for the very great contribution they had made to the club over the last two years. The club joined the Federation and registered for the first time 32 licensed members of the FFBS. Of this total, 12 members were juniors who were part of Simon Coldrick's new squad. He ran a very successful training programme throughout the season for the group, who were mixed in age, gender and ability.

Some of his older juniors played very successfully in some senior friendly matches, fielding as well as many of the "old uns" and in the case of budding bowler Ben Small aged 13, taking wickets! We continued to play a series of friendly matches during the season and took part in the first round of the Siddall's Cup for the first time. In the Spring of 2007 a number of working parties were organised to begin the preparation of the new pitch: adding soil to level areas and seeding, marking the new boundary and the position of the new strip. Dordogne Property Services, tendered for, and were awarded the contract by the town council. Under the direction of DPS's manager, Ken Sutton, further working parties were organised to begin the excavation of the pitch area followed by the lining of the excavation with mole proof netting and the filling, levelling and compacting of crushed limestone to create a solid but drainable base.

Finally the new pitch material the "Tom Graveney" supplied by the UK company Exclusive Leisure was laid and fixed down in position. At the same time the two practice nets supplied by Hucknetts, also UK based, were delivered. With the increase in the number of players came an equal interest and enthusiasm of WAGS (Wives and Girlfriends!). Ginny Bristo began to organise and provide cricket teas at our home matches. These were of a very high standard and much appreciated by both our home team and our opponents! In the September of 2007 the Maire of Catus, Mr. Taillardas and some of his fellow counsellors officially opened the new pitch. The press, La Depeche and Catus.Com, covered this opening. The Maire made a short speech wishing the club well ceremonially laid the stumps and then had a go at wielding a cricket bat for the first time!

To coincide with this inauguration a group of player's wives and supporters organised a friendly match and followed this by providing a barbeque for approximately 100! Their hard work was rewarded when the meal was very well received and raised of funds for the club. The whole day was a great success. At the club's General meeting, held In the October, another historic decision was taken, that of joining the Barclays League, organised by ACCSO for the 2008 season. Also in the autumn, after the season had ended, a working party laid down the concrete bases for the practice nets and cemented in place the framework supports. In December of 2007 a group of members devised and planned an end of season Christmas Party. The club joined the Maison des Associations in Catus and the Salle des Fetes was booked for the event. A sumptuous buffet meal was provided by the sterling efforts of the Christmas party team. Alan Frank, "Frankee", was the DJ for the evening and Alf Tingey appeared as Father Christmas to the delight of the children. Excellent feedback was obtained from many of the 130+ guests saying it was one of the best nights they had had for a long time. Once again a substantial sum was raised towards club funds.

2008
At the club's AGM in January 2008, new Committee members were appointed, including Ginny Bristo as Secretary and Malcolm Grant as Treasurer. John Monsell was reconfirmed as Captain for the fourth year in a row! In February a working party erected the steelwork and netting for the two training nets and regular Saturday training sessions began. The club faces a bright future and already has a full season of League and Friendly matches planned, some against touring UK sides. We are now playing on "one of the best pitches in the South West of France" as Mike Gear, President of ACCSO put it after playing on it as a member of Damazan CC in a friendly match at Catus last September. Says club President Alan Frank The club is going from strength to strength. There is a good spirit both on and off the pitch. We provide the opportunity for people of all ages, abilities and Nationalities to learn, play and enjoy cricket. No one should be afraid of approaching us no matter how long ago it was that they played (if ever!).

I myself played cricket as a boy up to aged 10 but then there was a 47 year gap until I took up cricket here in France! We want to have fun together off the pitch too, so as well as our fixture list we are planning a number of social events during the year. Our first this year is set to be a friendly match and barbecue planned to coincide with the annual Fete de Catus. Our biggest problem at the moment is that with the number of extra matches this year we definitely need a bigger pool of players for selection purposes. With more or less one match a week throughout the season we only need to have a few players off for us to start experiencing difficulty in turning out 12 players each week. We seriously need more players and previous talent and experience, though extremely valuable, is not out first concern at the moment.

The main thing is enthusiasm, commitment to the club and a willingness to participate. With members who have these qualities we can build, with practice, not only a good spirited, congenial, and fun team to be in, but also a winning team.

So if you think you could be interested please get in touch with us straight away?