HIGH LEVEL OF MEMBERSHIP

Southland Times, Issue 24235, 19 September 1940, Page 10

HIGH LEVEL OF MEMBERSHIP

Invercargill Cricket Club REVIEW OF SEASON’S ACTIVITIES “The activities and membership of the club during this season reached their highest point for very many years, and as a result, teams were entered in the senior, junior A and junior B grades of the Southland Cricket Association’s competitions,” says the annual report of the Invercargill Cricket Club which was presented at the annual meeting last night. “The senior team secured first place in the competition, level with Appleby and Old Boys,” continued the report, “and its performance has enabled the club to have its name engraved on the Woolbrokers Shield for the first time in many years. During the season S, Mac Gibbon compiled a century, being the first for many seasons in the first eleven.

“The junior A team was not so successful, but a good performance was put up by the junior B eleven which finished in second place in its grade. “Practice attendances were excellently maintained. “The congratulations of the club are extended to the winners of the other grade championships and to all members of the club, who gained representative honours during the season. “The membership of the club has been seriously depleted through enlistments in the forces and this opportunity is.taken of recording our appreciation of their action and of wishing them the best of luck and a safe return.

“During the season the club celebrated its 75th year. Jubilee celebrations took the form of a match ‘present players’ versus ‘old members’ and a banquet in the evening. Both these functions were particularly successful, being attended by 70 to 80 old members and supporters from Dunedin and throughout Southland,” the report continued.

An expression of the executive’s appreciation of the interest and enthusiasm taken in the proceedings by the members and past players of the club and the generous assistance both financially and socially, so freely offered, was included in the report. It was pleasing to record that the functions were also a success financially. “During the season,” continued the report, “the executive decided to conduct an art union and the substantial profit secured placed the finances of the club on a sound basis. FINANCIAL POSITION

“The financial position of the club shows an increased credit.

“Prospects for the incoming season are indefinite and it is expected that the incoming committee will be faced with some difficulty in maintaining the membership of the club. “Thanks are also extended to the officers and supporters, to the Cricket Association for its good work, and to the umpires,” concluded the report. It was decided that the annual subscription would be: Senior, £l/12/6. with a rebate,of 7/6 for members under 21 years; junior, £l, with a rebate of 10/- for members under 18 years of age. It was decided that the arrangements for the opening day be left in the hands of the General Committee. Mr A. Sharp was chairman.

The following officers were elected: Patron, Sir Robert Anderson; president, Mr G. F. Watson; vice-presidents, Messrs J. D. Campbell, H. F. Drewe, R. M. Strang, J. L. McG. Watson, P. J. Brass, D. J. Wesney, George Broughton, W. A. H. Oliver, H. P. Fougere, James Manson and Drs Stanley Brown and R. Burns Watson; secretary, T. H. McKenzie; club captain, Mr H. Alabaster; committee, Messrs A. Sharp, S. Mac Gibbon, C. Blomfield, H. Walker, R. Pollok; delegates to Southland Cricket Association, Messrs H. Alabaster, T. H. McKenzie, A. Knapp; delegates to Junior Advisory Board, Mr C. Johnson; auditor, Mr D. M. Malloch.

APPLEBY CRICKET CLUB SEASON REVIEWED “The club had a fairly successful season and tied with Invercargill and Old Boys in the senior championship, the

Junior A team being runner-up in its grade,” says the annual report of the Appleby Cricket Club which was presented at the annual meeting on Tuesday night. “The junior B and third grade teams, although not gaining honours, put up consistently good performances and the Tasman DaWson Shield for the team of the junior A grade with the highest average runs a wicket was won by Appleby. “Representative honours were gained by C. McKenzie and W. Spence in the senior team and J. Watson and D. Calvert represented Southland at Dunedin in an under 19 team. The outbreak of war and the consequent enlistments have caused some depletion in our ranks. The opening of the new season will find a number of prominent playing members on active service and to all of these we extend our best wishes and hopes of a safe and speedy return.” This year the committee tried to obtain a credit balance and although consideration was given to members because of the short playing season very few helped those responsible to obtain their objective. Outstanding subscriptions and accounts are approximately equal, being £7/10/- and £6/2/2 respectively, so the credit balance was definitely in sight. “We extend our sympathy to our coach and staunch supporter, Mr T. Groves in his recent ill-health and hope he will soon be at his best once more. In the coming season, during the absence of certain members a great deal of work will have to be done by those playing and the co-operation of all taking jpart, financially and on the grounds, will greatly assist the smooth running of the club’s affairs. “The committee takes this opportunity to record its appreciation of the support given the club by our patron, president and vice-presidents, financially and otherwise, and trusts that the same valued assistance will be given in the future. Thanks are also due to the Southland Cricket Association and the umpires for the manner in which the competitions and games have been controlled. We extend our appreciation for the work of the City Corporation for assisting in ground matters? 1 The report and the balance-sheet were adopted and the election of officers was held over. Mr George Agnew was in the chair.

WAIKIWI CLUB A decision to hold the opening day on October 5 was made at the annual meeting of the Waikiwi Cricket Club last night. During the evening the presentation of cups and trophies was made by the chairman, Mr F. Kingsland, as follows:—Trophy to the most improved player, A. Kingsland; cup for the best batting average, L. Jordan; cup for the best bowling average, K. Patterson. Mr F. Kingsland donated a trophy for the best all-round player in the coming season. It was decided to enter one junior B team and one third grade team in the competitions. The report stated that the club in the early part of last season did extremely well, but because of a few of the players leaving the district and S. Farmer joining the Air Force the team was weakened. Mr Farmer was congratulated on his enlistment and the club wished him and others of the players who were awaiting word to go into camp a safe and.speedy return. The yearly subscription was fixed at 15/-. The officers for the coming year were elected as follows:—Patron, Sir Robert Anderson; president, Mr G. Smith; vice-presidents, Father McGettigan, Messrs C. Maltby, J. O’Kane, V. Price, F. L. Price, M. White, D. M. Greig, W. Alderson, H. A. Wilkes and A. Waters; secretary, Mr L. Jordan; club captain, Mr F. Kingsland; general committee, Messrs L. Jordan, F. Kingsland, L. Kingsland, A. McArthur and A. Kingsland; delegate to the Southland Cricket Association, Mr F. Kingsland. GEORGETOWN CLUB

The fact that the season was opened with a credit balance of £l/2/11 and closed with a credit balance of £6/10/was revealed in the annual report of the Georgetown Cricket Club which was presented at the annual meeting last night. Junior B and third grade teams were, entered in the competitions and acquitted themselves with credit to the club. The club congratulated L. Warburton and A. Shuttleworth on enlisting with the military forces and congratulations were also extended to R. Ferguson and G. Hillstead on being selected to play in the Country Day team, the latter having also been selected in the Southland junior team which played at Dunedin.

The following officers were elected: — Patron, Mr W. M. C. Denham, M.P.; president, Mr C. Warburton; vice-pre-sidents, Messrs A. Jones, O. Cockroft, C. Preston, L. Boyes, -McFarlane, A. Graham and Rev. E. N. Goring; secretary and treasure, Mr W. J. Warburton; club captain, Mr G. Lloyd; deputy club captain, Mr T. Campbell; committee, Messrs W. J. Warburton, G. Lloyd, J. Faircloth, R. Ferguson, T. Campbell, S. Caddie and A. Warburton; auditor, Mr D. Ritchie; advisory board delegate, Mr J. Faircloth. The subscriptions for the year were arranged as follows: —Primary school boys, 2/6; secondary school boys, 5/-; members underj2l years, 7/6; over 21 years, 15/-.