G’day Wommies,
STEPPING DOWN
I should probably begin this update with the news that I will be stepping down as president as of the 2019 season. There are several reasons why I made this decision. I have a 16-month old daughter who, like most toddlers, is a lot of work. Time that I would usually direct towards the Wombats and cricket, I really ought to direct towards my wife and daughter. I will continue to play cricket for the Wombats and help out with the running of the club – just to a lesser degree. Richard Bracefield, who has been with the club since 2016, will be stepping into the club president role. Richie is an excellent cricketer and all-round impressive individual. With Richie, the club will be in very safe hands.
2018 SEASON
In our second 40-over match of the season, we beat our cross-city foes, the Chiba Sharks, in a nail-biter. The match came down to: six balls remaining, one wicket in hand, two runs needed for the win. On the fourth of the six balls remaining, the Wombat on strike, AJ, pushed one through the covers to seal the win for the club. The match was an absolute classic and one that will be spoken about years from now.
We then had a couple of losses followed by a couple of wins and found ourselves at about the halfway mark of the season. With four matches remaining in the 40-over season, we needed to win at least half of those to guarantee ourselves a place in the finals. But it wasn’t to be and we lost two of the four matches and another was rained out. You can find all of our 2018 JCL match reports on our 2018 fixtures page.
Our Japan Cup (T20) campaign got off to a good start by beating the British Embassy on May 6, 2018. It was an up-down season overall however and we finished 2 and 3 (two wins and three losses). With a more experienced and larger squad of players, we are hoping to go further in the tournament in 2019. You can find all of our 2018 Japan Cup match reports on our 2018 fixtures page.
2018 SOCIAL EVENTS
Our annual Quiz Night, held on Saturday, October 20 at the craft beer pub Brew La La, was an enormous success again. The event attracted more than 40 contestants divided into 11 teams. The quiz itself was comprised of six categories, including music, sport and Japan, and was put together and run by our former treasurer, Evan Hitchman. The top three teams went home with some excellent prizes, including bottles of wine and whiskey, and gift vouchers. Each Quiz Night we also draw the winning tickets of our annual raffle. This time around the winners received bottles of wine and meat trays. Thank you to those sponsors who donated prizes.
Presentation Night, the Wombats’ other major annual event, took place on Saturday, December 8 at Brew La La, Shimbashi. Presentation Night is an opportunity for the club to reflect on and celebrate the recently completed season and includes the handing out of a number of awards, including Catch of the Year and Quote of the Year. The two most coveted awards, the Golden Wombat and Golden Thong (as in sandal), are handed out at the end of the night to the best player and stupidest ‘act’ of the season. Alex Patmore, our captain, and Ken (our former social secretary) were the recipients of the awards, respectively.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Growing our reach on Facebook and Instagram (which we recently joined) is a win for both the club and sponsors. It’s a win for the club as it might lead talented cricketers discovering, and subsequently joining, the club. And it’s a win for sponsors as it gives them exposure to a wider audience. I should throw in here that we recently published a Facebook post that reached 3444 different users. Growing our reach on social media will continue to be a focus for the club.
Facebook: @TokyoWombatsCricketClub
Instagram: @TokyoWombats
MATCH DAY POSTER
Starting this season, during the morning of each match day, we’re going to publish a match day poster to our Facebook and Instagram pages. The poster will list the selected team and communicate who we are about to play and where. The lower third of the poster will be a space reserved for sponsor logos. Each time the poster is published, it is our hope the poster will generate a buzz amongst both the selected Wombats team and supporters and, at the same time, give our sponsors exposure to the reach we have on Facebook and Instagram.
Cheers you beautiful bunch of bloody legends.
Jamie ‘Bernie’ Payne