Another wonderful season for Surrey County Cricket Club reached its conclusion on Friday as our men’s team won the County Championship.
This is the men’s competition which means more to us than any other, and to win back-to-back championships is an outstanding achievement.
As in 2022, this is not down to one or two individuals but contributions from across the squad: senior players, younger players, players stepping up when others have been selected for England (of which there were nine this year). Our overseas players have been terrific, both in their match contributions and in their guidance to our developing home-grown players.
This talented squad has been brilliantly led by our captain Rory Burns and our outstanding management and coaching team led by Alec Stewart and Gareth Batty.
We should also recognise the performance of Lee Fortis and his team who produced excellent cricket pitches throughout the season.
Encouragingly for the future of Surrey cricket, we continue to see a flow of talented young men and women players emerge through our pathway.
I now step down as Interim Chair. It has been an extraordinary privilege for me to have been your Chair for 13 months. As well as a privilege it has been hugely enjoyable, thanks to the skill and dedication of our executive team and staff, superbly led by our CEO Steve Elworthy, and the support of our Board, our General Committee and of course our Members. Your passion and your loyalty sustain this Club.
I will now resume my role as Honorary Treasurer, and I would like to thank Warwick Jones, who stepped into the role of Interim Treasurer. His experience and wisdom have been invaluable to me and to the Club over this very busy period which will see very strong financial results for the year.
Oli Slipper now takes over as your Chair. He has been involved with the Club from a young age, as a cricketer and then as a Board director and General Committee member and is a leading figure in sports marketing and media rights.
There are changes ahead in our game, some challenges but also some great opportunities for our Club. I know Oli will do a brilliant job, and I know our Members will support him in that.
Enjoy the moment as part of this great Club, County Champions for the second year running, and winter well.
Martin Eadon.
