A Christmas message from Mersey Rose

As we come to the close of another year, we want to take a moment to wish everyone connected to our club a very happy Christmas and a hopeful, healthy New Year.

This time of year invites reflection, and above all, gratitude. We are incredibly thankful for every player, volunteer, coach, supporter, official, ally, and friend who has given their time, energy, and heart to the club over the past year. Your commitment — on and off the field — is what makes this club what it is.

It has been particularly pleasing this year to see some of that commitment being recognised. Firstly, Anna Page won the Halton and St Helens Volunteer of the Year (Sports and Physical Activity) Award and, later in the season, Joe Crossley's contribution to inclusive cricket was acknowledged when he was honoured by being named in the MCC's Community Heroes XI. Those awards were for the significant contributions that two individuals made, but they also reflect the spirit and ethos of our club.

Our club exists because we believe something simple but powerful: cricket should be for everyone. Not just in principle, but in practice. We are proud to be a space where LGBTQ+ people are not merely welcomed, but valued, visible, and vital. We are proud to be a club where disabled players and volunteers are not an afterthought, but an essential part of who we are and how we grow. Our diversity is not something we accommodate — it is something that strengthens us.

Being an inclusive club is not always the easiest path, but it is the right one. We are proud of our pioneering spirit: of challenging assumptions about who cricket is for, of opening doors that have too often been closed, and of proving that the game is richer, kinder, and more exciting when everyone has a place within it. What we are building together matters — not just for our club, but as a small example of the society we want to see beyond it.

As we celebrate this festive season, we also recognise that Christmas can mean different things to different people. Whatever this time of year looks like for you — joyful, quiet, complicated, or all of the above — we hope you feel appreciated, supported, and part of something bigger.

Thank you for being part of our journey, for standing with us, and for continuing to show what cricket can be when it truly belongs to everyone.

Season’s greetings, and here’s to another year of playing boldly, inclusively, and together.

With gratitude and solidarity, The MRRCC committee