OTAGO CRICKET

Evening Star, Issue 23383, 28 September 1939, Page 4

OTAGO CRICKET

, ASSOCIATION'S ANNUAL MEETING MR A. H. ALLEN RE-ELECTED PRESIDENT • Mr A. H. Allen was re-elected president of the Otago Cricket Association at the annual meeting of that body last night. Tho retiring vice-presidents also retained their seats,\but there was a small alteration in the appointment of members of the committee. Tho ‘ president occupied the chair, and there < was a good attendance of delegates, f CHAIRMAN’S ADDRESS. • _ The Chairman, in moving the adopt tion of the annual report and- balance ■ sheet, referred particularly! to one or ; two of the outstanding features. Regarding country week, Mr Allen, said : it was pleasing' to know that this fix- : ture was gaining in popularity and i benefiting the game in the country dis- . tricts. Last year four teams had been . entertained. The speaker went on to ) comment upon the report which a special sub-committee had brought for- ' ward during the recess with a view to . improving the standard of cricket in Otago. ‘ Though this report had been rejected, there was no question about the-admiration which the members felt for,the work which that committee had done and for the courage it had displayed'in expressing its opinions. Time , would tell whether those who* had op- : posed the suggestions contained in tho report were right in so doing. “ I never pOse as an authority on cricket," said Mr Allen, “ but_ I believe that there is a 1 strong opinion among players and followers of the game that some method should be found to reduce the number of teams to six.” Attention would need to bo given to the question of brightening cricket gener-

ally; the public would not attend to watch a batsman “ poking around ” for an hour and a-quarter for, say, SJO runs. Referring to the splendid support given by the ground members, tho chairman said that this section provided the backbone of the finance, and finance was as necessary to the game as were tho players. The time had arrived, however, for further efforts to be made with a view to increasing the number of ground members The President wont on to say that there was good cause for congratulation in the financial position of the association. The past year had shown a profit of £ll7, whereas three years ago tho balance sheet disclosed a loss of £3OO on the year’s operations. The state of the endowment fund, too, was satisfactory, the amount to the credit of that account being £498. “ Just think what a great thing it wnuld be,” said Mr Allen, “if we had three, or four, or five thousand pounds from which to get the interest; how easy it would be to finance things.” j Mr F. Binney seconded the motion. I WAR CONDITIONS. Mr J. Robson, in speaking to tho motion, said that it was clear that clubs were determined to carry on ns well as they could during the war period. So far as the Dunedin Club was concerned it had decided that, should any member become unemployed because of war conditions tho club would sec that lie did not suffer in regard to his membership. It was a question, said Mr Robson, whether tho association should risk getting into tho mire again, financially, by carrying out its obligations in respect of the visit to Auckland. In regard to the reduction in the number of senior teams, lie thought this matter could very well be left in abeyance until the situation again became normal. Mr J. M. Fraser agreed that it would be wise to shepherd their resources and to carry on local cricket. The motion for the adoption of the report and balance sheet was carried.

> OFFICE-BEARERS. The following office-bearers were ' elected;—President, Mr A. H. Allen; ■ vice-presidents, Messrs F. Binney , (senior), W. R.. Brinsley, D. A. Soloi mon. Dr Reid; secretary and treasurer. , Mr E. S. Wilson, committee—Messrs s J, M. Fraser, J. _ Robson, E. H. j Downes, G. G. Austin. H. Harvey, V. • G. Cavanagh, A. 6. Valentine, A. C. . Holden, T. Hughes, and E. Hayes; re- . presentatives of ground members— Messrs J. M'Mullan, H. D. Kerr, W. i S. Armitage, C. IR. Gaylor, R. O. Talbot; Umpires Association representative, Mr W. Rowland; Boys' Association representative, Mr E. Ferguson: hon. auditors, Messrs W. G. Pickard and A. Hayuer. The matter of fixing tho date of the opening of the season was left in tho hands of the committee. ONE-DAY MATCHES SUGGESTED, Mr J. H. Don Miller said that, al- . though he was not in favour of oneday matches as a rule, he thought that it might be wise, in view of the fact that the Territorials would be called up for drill perhaps once or twice a month while the war lasted, if all matches were confined to one day’s play. He suggested that the incoming committee might consider the matter. The Chairman said that the committee would take the suggestion into consideration. POSITION OF LIFE MEMBERS. The President then referred to the existence of a rule which precluded life members of the association from voting at any meeting. He thought this was wrong, for if men upon whom this high office had been conferred were sufficiently interested to attend meetings they should be allowed to vote. Mr A. Galland strongly supported the chairman in this. Men who had given long years to the service of cricket should not be cut out as they had been by tho introduction of such a rule, he said. Mr D. A. Solomon said that he could nob remembpr the pros and eons which had prompted the rule, but if any al teration was to be made he would sug-

gest that an ex-officio position be also created for thq immediate past president. Mr A. Kestioaux and Mr 0. G. Stevens expressed agreement with any alteration that would enable life members to exercise a vote, at any rate, at the annual meeting, and Mr A. G. Valentine moved that the incoming committee be recommended to amend the rules to this end, also to make provision for a place on the committee for the retiring president. Mr J. M. Fraser explained that the reason for the rule objected to had been the feeling that life members might some time be in a position to out-vote the committee on some vital question". Mr F. Binney thought that it might be wise for the committee, before it made any alteration, to ascertain what was done in other centres. The Chairman: Let us give them a lead, not just follow’ them. The motion, which had been seconded by Mr Solomon, was carried unanimously. VOLUNTEER CONGRATULATED. The President extended the congratulations of the association to a retiring committeeman, Mr W. F. Titchener, who had offered his services to his country and been accepted. His follow cricketers would all miss him, said Mr Allen, who added that he felt sure that many others would follow the good example set. He washed Mr Titchcner every success, whether it was his lot

to proceed overseas or to take part in home defence, and assured him that they would look forward to the day when ho would return and take his place amongst them once more. BOUNDARY MARKS. Mr W. Rowland said that the annual meeting of the Umpires’ Association had discussed the matter of the marking of boundaries on the Tonga Park and North Grounds, particularly the former, and had expressed the hope that clubs would make an effort to have these markings carried out and so assist the umpires in their duties.