MINEHEAD Cricket Club will be a Bowditch Family Affair’ in 2026 after Dan was re-elected as first team skipper for the season and his grandad Richard was appointed president at the recent annual meeting.

Working alongside Dan as his vice captain again will be Chris James, while Greg Howard is second team captain. Former Somerset bowler Mark Davis will again be coaching the side and indoor nets will start in early March.

To mark the 40th anniversary of winning the Somerset Cricket League title in 1986, MCC are planning a Players Reunion in June to coincide with a home fixture, further details will be announced.

Minehead frst team start their season in Somerset Cricket League Premier Division on Saturday, 2nd May, with a match at North Petherton, while the Second XI who are in SCL Division Three also travel to play Wiveliscombe on the same day .

Incoming president Richard Bowditch said: “I feel very privileged and honoured to have been made president of Minehead Cricket Club where I have been involved for 62 years.

“It makes me feel very proud to be president at the same time as our grandson Dan is first team captain. Minehead Cricket Club has been a part of my life for a very long time and like me my wife Heather, who died nine years ago, was also a life member and she organised the teas and did the scorebook when I was playing, so it’s always been very much a family affair.

“We played at the Rec for 13 weeks of the year and then we had to move out and played our last couple of games out at Alcombe - everything has changed now so much. When I was captaining the A XI our ground was where the hospital is now and the first team played at the top of the field up against the squad club.

“We had 39 years there and then our lease ran out, but luckily we had Dick Strong as our president and he helped to get the money together and we built the new pavilion and we have never looked back since.”

Richard went on: “It’s just fantastic through the summer and we get so many supporters it’s unbelievable. We ran three teams and were really helped by our new Indian players, who have come and really got involved. They organised a fund raising weekend which was a great success.

“The most important thing is that we have got a good youth set up now at the club and most of the players have grown up through the club, and all credit to the people who give their time to make it happen. The parents are involved and they turn up to support and everyone is made welcome and made to feel part of the club.”

“When you think about the facilities we have now got they are unbelievable. I don’t think people realise how far we have come in the time that I have been involved at the club. Of course it takes a lot of funding but we are very lucky that we have got such good workers on the committee who make it all happen.”

The incoming president added: “The future is looking pretty good at Minehead Cricket Club from my point of view and I’m looking forward to another successful season in 2026.”