St Columb’s Premier League cricket has had a fantastic 10+ years of operation in the large hall at St Columb’s Hawthorn. We thank the members of St Columb’s Parish for their financial generosity in supporting the running of St Columb’s Premier League for so long. Providing the venue for the cricket community to express itself has been a wonderful expression of the Church reaching out to others and one we will always remember fondly.

Earlier this year an inspection revealed that there were many safety issues that needed to be addressed. After receiving advice from both legal and building advisors, the Wardens acted to remove or stop the use of areas that posed the highest safety risks. The safety issues related to the stands, platforms and fire exits which on advice did not comply with current building standards. There are also concerns with electrical wiring and other issues resulting from many years of minimal maintenance to the building.

Therefore after months of consideration, the Parish Council of St Columb’s has made the very difficult decision to close the St Columb’s Premier League (SPL) cricket competition when the current season concludes on 24 July 2022. We know there will be a period of grief and loss for the cricketers and for many at St Columb’s as it concludes.

Our priority now is for the cricket competition to end well and we hope that the SPL management team will make this transition possible. There will be one last extended season of cricket to enable past players and friends to see another game. At the conclusion of the cricket there will be a farewell and presentation night.

The players and friends of SPL cricket are always welcome to call St Columb’s their home even if that takes on different forms in the future. We hope that a suitable venue can be found for cricket to host this highly competitive cricket competition.

Rev. Mark McDonald

Vicar

7th July 2022