PAEROA CRICKET CLUB

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4471, 25 September 1922, Page 2

PAEROA CRICKET CLUB

ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting pf the Paeroa Cricket Club was held in the Soldiers’ Club on Saturday evening, and was well attended, Mr A. E. Fielder presided.

REPORT AND BALANCE-SHEET. The following is the text of the annual report and balance-sheet submitted :

Membership.—During the past season the membership of the club numbered 29. Though this shows a big increase on the previous year, yet your committee feels that it is not nearly large enough, and, providing it is possible to run two pr.more Ipc-al teams in the coming season, the membership of the club should double that of last season.

Ground..—The thanks of th® Club are due to the Domain Board for the use of the ground at a rental of £2 10s. Though the out-field was exceedingly rough, and not conducive to good fielding, and the .wicket required careful preparation before being played on, yet it is felt that it might have been a great deal worse. In this connection it might be stated that the Eleven had varied experiences where the composition of the several wickets played on were concerned. At Paeroa the wicket was matting over sand and clay, at Waihi on. concrete, at Thames on matting over turf, and at To Arpha on ordinary tiirf. Season’s Play.—ln winning five out of the seven representative matches played and, losing but two the Club enjoyed quite a brilliant season, and got on far better than even the most sanguine of their supporters could have expected. Having regard for the fact that on practically all occasions the selectors had only about 14 men from which to select a team, they did wonders in obtaining such a record. If it had. been possible to put a full strength team into the field tne success of the club would have been less surprising, but as it so happened, on most occasions some prominent member was absent from one cause or another. Of the five victories the most notable were two each against Thames and Te Arpha, the double victory over Thames being the high-water mark. Waihi was also defeated at Paeroa. Paeroa defeated Te Aroha by 47 runs at Paeroa, Furley scoring 54 pot put and Bowden securing six wickets for 22, and at Te Aroha they won by the narrow margin of 5 runs, after -being dismissed on a slpw>-. treacherous wicket for 29. Carroll bowled finely in this match, and it is no exaggeration to say that he fairly wop the game for his side. He secured seven wickets for 10 runs, a flpe feat for a fast bowler undbr such conditiops. At Thames, Paeroa wop by 33 runs, after a good game, thanks to Furley, who carried his bat for 1 90, the .highest score played for the dub so far* Tubberty took six wickets. In the return match at Paeroa Thames were thoroughly out-played and beaten by an innings and 34 runs. Thames had a very strong team for this match, but Paeroa on going into bat hit freely, a total of 212 resulting, Furley (59) Carroll (48), Halliday (31), and Bowden (24‘) being top scorers. Thames found Carroll in form when they went in to bat, and were dismissed for 74 and 104, Carroll claiming thirteen wickets for 66. Te Aroha defeated Paeroa at Te Aroha in the first match by nine wickets-, and Waihi beat Paeroa at Waihi by one wicket. In addition to the seven matches mentioned Paeroa lost against Thames Wanderers by one wicket, and a scratch team was beaten by Thames at Thames on New Years Day by 70 runs. Paerpa’s batting last summer depended too much on a few men, the real run-getting power of the side not extending very far. Furley, the captain, was in great form and finished up with an average of 40. He three times exceeded the half-century, and on one occasion he nearly succeeded in securing a century. Relying mostly on straight driving and offside play, ‘he made most of his runs in this fashion. His one fault is that he is top impetuous, and is apt to take too many risks before he has played himself in. If he had been steadier his figures would have been better still. Halliday was clearly the next best bat in the team, and though he had a few failures, he often played well, storing freely .all round the wicket. Halliday is particularly strong on the leg side, the glide being his best stroke, but he scored well on the leg side all round, and very few balls got past him. He has also a lofty drive -that he can call in, if ■necessary. Shand, who played more innings than any other member of the side, had a mixed season. He failed completely several times, but on the other hand on quite a number of occasions bis steady and stubborn batting at a critical time saved hi 3 side. In the second match against Te Aroha, for instance, he helped Furley to put up 70 for the second wicket out of a full total of 97. Pivott started the season well, but then seemed to lose his form, and never seemed to get set afterwards. Of the others Dare and Bowden both showed good form at times, but Martin had a disappointing season.

As regards bowling, two men came out with quite remarkable figures, Carroll obtaining 25 wickets at an average of 3.6 runs and Bowden 24 at 5.4. When these two men were bowling no large scores were recorded against Paeroa. Bowden’s best performance was eight wickets for 10 against Te Aroha (first match) and Carroll’s seven wickets for 10 against Te Aroha (third match). Of the other bowlers M,artin had the most to do, and secured pine wickets at a cost of 11-4. Bishop bowled tihree times only, and obtained 10 wickets. Pitts played in the last match of the season, and obtained five wickets. More should be heard of this man during the coming season. Of the others who bowled, Walmsley, Shand, Furley, Halliday, Dare, and Pivott all took a few wickets, but they were mostly expensive, and were quite in a different category to the others mentioned above. R is sincerely to be hoped that in the coming season more bowlers will be discovered to

take the places of Bowden and .Cat” roll, The fielding of the team was, after the first couple of matches, quite good, and Rolton kept wicket aganisc the two fast bowlers pluck lly. Walmsley brought off a splendid catch ih the match versus Thames, at Thames, taking a hard drive with one hand when fielding at mid-on. General;—Your Committee would recommend that the incoming committee seriously consider the increasing of the subscriptions of members to £1 and the juniors under 18 to 10s.’ Cricket gear is as expensive as ever, and we consider the 10s subscription inadequate. It is quite possible to do ten shillings’ .wor.th .pf damage to a bat in one stroke, and all through last, season the finances of the club were, shaky. Your Committee also would; like your opinion as to the formation of one or two more elevens locally and the creation of a Paeroa association. From all accounts the Club will have many new members this year, and if it is possible to run more teams everyone, including the juniors, will be sure of a game. The matter of a. union on the basis of 1 the Goldsfields Rugby Union has also been considered, and to that end' the Te Aroha, Thames, and Waihi chibs have been communicated with. If this matter is pursued immediately by the incoming committee we consider that it wili be quite possible (o form a union, and thus encourage a. far more lively interest in the game at Paeroa than heretofore. Tn conclusion, we consider that the Club, is very fortunate in. its president, Mr Fielder. Always helping, on the field by his splendid umpiring and off the field as one bf the. he has helped the Club immensely by his zeal and enthusiasm. Mr Fielder donated a medal for the best batting average which was won by the captain, Furley, with am average of 40.4. Finance.-—The total receipts for the year are £2o’4s 7d, including sub; •scriptions to the. amount Oi. £l5 17sj and the expenditure was some £l9 3s 4d for the season, of which £l2 17s Id was spent in purchasing'Oricket gear. These 'figures will" show you that the amount expended on gear nearly equalled the amount of subscriptions received, and we strongly recommend to the incoming committee that the subscription for -the 1922-23 season be increased frbm 10s to £l, and thus enable the Club to b.e placed on a sounder financial basis an have some margin to work on for the .purchase of new cricket gear, which is required straight away. The committee will be glad to receive subscriptions as early as possible to enable them to c,arry pn. We wish also to record cur sincere appreciation of the services of Mr Lawrence, the secretary and treasurer. On all occasions he carried out tne always rather thankless duties in a very willing and obliging fashion, nothing being top much trouble fbi' him to do. The Club sincerely regrets that he does not think it possible to continue to act in the capacity if secretary. ; The report and balance-sheet were adopted. CRICKET ASSOCIATION. Some discussion as to the formation of a Paeroa Cricket Association took place, and it yras decided that the management committee act as soon as the season commenced and the formation of other cricket elevens in Paeroa took place. ELECTION OF OFFICERS. The election of officers for the coming season resulted as follows: Patron, P. E. Brenan, Esq.; president, Mr A. E. Fielder; vice-presi-dents. Messrs D. Leach, D. Brown, T. H. Hale. T. P. Vuglar, C. H. Potter, H. E. Butler, C. P. Topliss, W. J. Ellis; secretary and treasurer, M. A. A. Jenkinson.; auditor, Mr W. L. Lawrence; club captain, Mr P. C. Furley ; management committee, Messrs Shand, Pivott, Martin Halliday, W. Douglas. OFICIAL OPENING/ The official opening day was left -lo the management committee to arrange. To prepare the ground a working bee will be held in the Domain on Saturday next. During the evening songs were rendered by Messrs Halliday, Furley, and Edwards, and a recitation by-Mr C. H. Potter, of Netherton.