2019 was always likely to be one of transition for everyone associated with Glenrothes Cricket Club. Following several years of consistent growth, the club reached something of a plateau-point at the start of 2018.

Frustrated by ongoing delays with our new pavilion at the Gilvenbank Community Sports Hub, a decision was made not to hire an overseas professional or seek the services of overseas amateur players for our Premier League campaign.

Following a disappointing 2018 season for the 1st XI, which culminated in relegation from the Premier League; the club still made considerable strides off the field – work continued on our new pavilion which is set to be opened ahead of the 2019 season. Added to that our young Gladiators have gone from strength to strength, with more than 50 juniors regularly attending Graham Dodds’ superbly organised cricket and multi-sport sessions.

As expected, the majority of our 1st XI from 2018 have since moved on to seek out new challenges and they leave with our best wishes and thanks for all they achieved in their time at the Glens.

Following discussions, initially with ESCA and latterly with the SPCU; we are now pleased to confirm that Glenrothes 1XI will take up a place in the SPCU Division 1 for the 2019, with our 2XI in ESCA Division 6, and our Sunday XI in the SPCU R&D league.

After many years, prior to our Premier League adventure; playing in the ESCA structure, moving Glenrothes 1XI to the SPCU was not a decision taken lightly and we canvassed a wide range of opinions before reaching this decision.

Our conclusion was that the SPCU offered an appropriate competitive standard of play plus many games against local clubs (friends/rivals), whilst hopefully reducing some of the travelling requirement.

The 2019 fixtures will be published on our website shortly, and we’d like to place on record our thanks to both ESCA and SPCU for their willingness to discuss the situation and resolve the matter in the best interests of the club and cricket locally.