MANLY WARRINGAH CRICKET ASSOCIATION SINCE 1920 2010/2011 NINETY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT SEASON 2010-11 MANLY WARRINGAH CRICKET ASSOCIATION ESTABLISHED 1920, INCORPORATED 1992 91 st ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING A cordial invitation is extended to all people interested in local cricket to attend the 91 st Annual General Meeting on the Manly Warringah Cricket Association to be held at Belrose Bowling Club on Thursday, 6 July, 2011. BUSINESS (a) To confirm the minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting. (b) To receive and consider the 91 st Annual Report and Financial Statement. (c) To elect Officers for Season 2011/12. (d) To transact business in accordance with the notice of motion given. 1 (e) To transact any other business that may be brought forward in accor- dance with the rules. 1 Under Para 5.11.3 of the MWCA By-Laws any motion to amend the Code of Conduct, By-laws and Playing Conditions must be received by the MWCA Secretary in writing no later than three (3) weeks prior to the AGM and advised to all Clubs no later than two (2) weeks prior to the AGM. A motion to amend the Constitution probably constitutes a special resolution requiring 21 days notice. MANLY WARRINGAH CRICKET ASSOCIATION ANNUAL REPORT - SEASON 2010-11 Patrons: Mr. Lyle J. Pearce, Mr Brian J. Ferguson OFFICE BEARERS President: Mr. David P. Sheedy Vice President: Mr. Brenden W. Ball Hon. Secretary: Mr. Stephen B. Shepherd Hon. Treasurer: Mr. William B. Clark Hon. Assistant Secretary: Ms. Elizabeth A. Donnelly Webmaster: Mr. Mathew I. Meers Committee: Mr. David P. Lang Committee: Mr. Carl D. Pymble Committee: Mr. Alistair J. Fry Committee: Mr. Brett R. Holliday Umpires' Co-ordinator: Mr. Errol J. Cranney DELEGATES Manly-Warringah-Pittwater Sporting Union: David Sheedy & Mathew Meers NSW District Cricket Association: David Sheedy & Stephen Shepherd Council : David Sheedy & Mathew Meers SUB COMMITTEES Martin Shield: B.Clark, B.Ball, D.Lang T/20: S.Shepherd, M.Meers, B.Holliday, D.Sheedy, AJ.Fry Judiciary : L.Donnelly, B.Ferguson Grounds : C.Pymble, D.Sheedy Main Draw : M.Meers, B Ball Presentation Night : L.Donnelly, C.Pymble, D.Lang, S.Shepherd, M.Meers LIFE MEMBERS A. (Alex) Anderson George W. Lowe MBE J. W. Ryan Mrs Joyce Anderson W. (Bill) Mancell D.S. (Des) Sainsbury JP Ron Boroughs Peter G. Moses J. Smith Allyn J. Coggan John Mountain Bruce S. Strudwick Errol J. Cranney Jill Pearce Brother Ray Walker John D. Durham Lyle J. Pearce Colin J. Walker Brian J. Ferguson* A.B. (Tony) Rainey Harry C. Wallach R. J. (Alley) Freeman James Randall Charles S. Watson Thomas G. Gosper Leonard M. Ray Frank A. Gray Edgar F.C. Routh JP Life Members Lyle and Jill Pearce with MWCA President David Sheedy at the MWCA Presentation Night on June 4, 2011. PRESIDENT’S REPORT Dear Members It gives me great pleasure to present for your consideration and adoption the 91 st Annual Report of your Association for the financial year 2010/11 This is my first season as President and I was privileged to work with this year’s Committee, the energy and commitment provided by all contributed to the successful management of our Association. The first six months for this newly formed Committee was momentous, some of the issue presented and goals achieved including: • Re-incorporation. • Reviewing, fine tuning and amending the MWCA By Laws and Playing Conditions. • Successfully applying for an extension to the Warringah Shire Council Sporting Grant approved in 2009. • Negotiating new quotations then issuing new contracts for four new pitches totaling $48,000 in turnover. • Working with council and contractors to relocate two of the four pitches. • Re-establishing close dialogue between the MWCA and MWJCA, including having a MWCA committee member attend all of the MWJCA monthly meetings. (Mat Meers and myself) • Entering into direct negotiations with Peninsular, Warringah and Manly councils, after Peninsular and Warringah decided to deal directly with sporting associations rather than through the Sporting Union. This year we decided to introduce sub committees and it was an outstanding success. Utilising the abilities of all Committee Members is an important step forward and the results I believe speak for themselves. • Martin Shield: Brenden Ball, David Lang and Bill Clark selected players from six different clubs after a series of trials. After winning their first game outright they went on to win the minor premiership undefeated and were very unlucky that weather played against them in both the Grand Final and Grand Final replay. • Main Draw : Brenden Ball and Mat Meers, never an easy job, further challenges coming when a team withdrew before a ball had been bowled, and then two others at various stages in the season. • T/20 : Steve Shepherd, Mat Meers, Brett Holiday, AJ Fry and myself organised this seasons competition, and again it appeared to be enjoyed by all that played, an increase from 8 to 12 teams this season. • Judiciary : Liz Donnelly and Brian Ferguson, fortunately they were only called upon once this season on a disciplinary case. Lyle Pearce, Brendon Ball and I also presided. I believe all appeals were dealt with appropriately and professionally. • Grounds: Carl Pymble and myself were certainly challenged this season delivering four new pitches. Many hours were spent with the council and contractors. • Presentation Night: Liz Donnelly, Carl Pymble, David Lang, Steve Shepherd and Mat Meers put together a very entertaining night held at the Steyne Hotel. I have received numerous calls congratulating the organisers on hosting the “best Presentation Night for many years”. It was also very special to see six Life Members attending, representing 146 combined years of service to the MWCA in office bearing roles alone. I would also like to thank the Clubs, their Committees, Team Captains and Association Delegates for their continued work. Without your effort we would not have a game. Finally, I am proud to announce that MWCA Life Member and Patron Lyle Pearce was awarded a Gold Service Medal for 50 Continuous years of service by Cricket Australia, recognising his outstanding contribution to cricket. David Sheedy President 6 SECRETARY’S REPORT Dear MWCA, The Manly Warringah Cricket Association (MWCA) has a rich history, reaching back in time, in one form or another, to 1920. I considered it a great honour to be elected the 19 th Secretary of the MWCA at the AGM on August 5 in the heavily lit back room at Belrose Bowling Club. What must it have been like for James Randall (1920-23)? Did he have a type writer? Or a phone? And even if he did, who would he call? There have been some wonderfully enduring MWCA Secretaries: R.A Baker (1936-8, 1944-54), Alex Anderson (1954-69), Frank Gray (1973-1989) and Peter Moses (1989-2004) just to name a few. Having spent just one season in the job, I am in awe of the contribution those men have made, along with the many other long serving office bearers in the MWCA's 91 year history. Reinstatement as an Incorporated Association Due to a self perpetuating oversight (apparently caused by something as simple as a former Secretary changing address), the Association had not been complying with its reporting obligations to the Department of Fair Trading for some years. In our application for reinstatement as an Incorporated Association we were required, among other things, to provide financial statements from the last seven years and minutes from the last three. In essence we had to show that the MWCA, believing itself to be incoporated, had been managing its affairs as an Incorporated Association should. I am thankful to the outgoing Committee, particularly Brian Ferguson, Simon Hutchinson, Mark Kemp and Stuart Wraggs, that we were able to demonstrate our credentials in quick time, and were reinstated as MWCA Inc. by notice in the New South Wales Government Gazette on 17 August 2010. Life Membership The nomination of Brian Ferguson for Life Membership was unanimously endorsed at the AGM on 5 August, 2010. Brian becomes the 28 th Life Member in the 91 year history of your Association. Registrations 46 teams representing 17 Clubs registered to play in the Saturday afternoon competitions. A further 11 teams from 8 clubs, and a MWCA Barbarians team organised by Brenden Ball, registered to play in the MWCA's Sunday T/20 competition, named this season “The Mike Pawley Cup”. Unfortunately, the number of Clubs dropped to 16 when Balgowlah Golf Cricket Club withdrew their only team (4 th Grade) during the early rounds due to a lack of numbers. We also lost the Belrose A1s teams over the Christmas break, reducing to total number of teams going the distance in the main competitions to 44. These are not good numbers. Putting T/20 to one side, 44 teams is the lowest participation we've had in the Saturday afternoon competition since the Tied Test. Better liasion with the Manly Warringah Junior Cricket Association and the District Clubs, as well as the development of more flexible competition formats have been identified as possible solutions. I hope that the next Annual Report will be able to report postive developments in these areas. There is no doubt that cultural developments such as Saturday afternoon shopping, longer working hours, enhanced fatherhood duties and the increased pace of life generally have had an impact on cricket participation since the heady days of the mid 1980s. Having all those golden beaches nearby adds to the challenge. But junior participation is high and I sense a mood that the MWCA, and its delegates, believe cricket faces a healthy and thriving future in this district, especially with increased co-ordination between local cricketing bodies.