MANLY WARRINGAH CRICKET ASSOCIATION SINCE 1920 2013-14 NINETY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT MANLY WARRINGAH CRICKET ASSOCIATION ANNUAL REPORT - SEASON 2012-13 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. Pymble (nee Donnelly) Webmaster: Mr. Mathew I. Meers Committee: Mr. David P. Lang Committee: Mr. Carl D. Pymble Committee: Mr. Brett R. Holliday Committee: Mr. Dominic AT Wheeler Committee: Mr. Chris J Dolman Committee: Mr. Matthew Brennan Committee: Mr. Simon J Hutchinson (resigned 5/1/13) Umpires' Co-ordinator: Mr. Errol J. Cranney DELEGATES Council: D.Sheedy, M.Meers, C.Pymble, B.Holliday NSW District Cricket Association: D.Lang, M.Meers, B. Ball Manly-Warringah-Pittwater Sporting Union: M.Meers, S.Shepherd SUB COMMITTEES Martin & Telegraph Shield: Paul Killalea, B.Ball, D.Lang, D.Sheedy, M.Meers, D.Wheeler, C.Pymble Main Draw: B.Ball, M.Meers, B.Holliday, D.Lang Pathway Program: S.Shepherd, D.Sheedy, B.Ball Grounds: D.Sheedy, C.Pymble, B.Holliday, M.Meers, S,Shepherd Judiciary: S.Shepherd, B.Clark, C.Dolman, L.Pymble , B.Holliday T/20: S.Shepherd, M.Meers, B.Holliday, D.Wheeler Presentation Night: C.Pymble, D.Lang, S.Shepherd, M.Meers, L.Pymble 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 Stuart Wragg Frank A. Gray Edgar F.C. Routh JP Former Test Captain Brian Booth presents MWCA Life Member Brian Ferguson with a 15 year service medal for his service to the NSWCUSA t PRESIDENT’S REPORT Well that's our 93rd season over and what a season. The First Grade competition was the most open for a number of years with all six clubs heading into the final rounds with a chance to win the Clifton D Leake Shield. Harbord Diggers were looking strong, Collaroy Plateau and Mona Vale sitting in the top three while Long Reef and Wakehurst Redbacks, who started slowly, were flying after Xmas. In the end the Harbord Bowling Club side again showed how tough they are in finals cricket, winning from 4th place after the season proper. It was also great to see St. Peters back in the winners’ circle along with St Augustines who won their first MWCA trophy in over 30 years. Harbord Bowling’s Dad’s Army picked up their fourth consecutive premiership despite being promoted to Second Grade, while Dee Why RSL, Harbord Diggers and a young Collaroy side picked up the other Saturday Grades. After several years of seeing less juniors move into seniors, this season we had a better intake in our 5th and 6th grade competitions. This season we introduced more one dayers into Fifth and Sixth Grade, as Cricket Australia has urged. We then surveyed both competitions and found overwhelming support for the structure as well as suggestions on how to improve it further. With the MWDCA Pathway Program growing we also saw a flow of players back to the park and the coming season should be better again. Meanwhile, Mick Pawley reintroduced his junior development side to the park with a group of dads and 12 and 13 year olds making the Grand Final in Sixth Grade playing for the Harbord Diggers. The T20 competition was again a success, the Mick Pawley Cup and T20 Plate Finals played in front of a great crowd and graciously covered live on Radio Northern Beaches. This year we saw a Combined Manly Grade and Warringah Shires side make the Final in the Cup only to be outclassed by Collaroy, who collected the trophy for the second year running. In the Plate we saw a side made up of dads from St Augustines and a little help from a Former Sheffield Sheild and KFC Big Bash player in Adam Crosthwaite, the class of Crosthwaite eventually proving too much for Manly Leagues. The game of cricket is still going through a transition period. Test cricket is as influential as its ever been, this year we see back to back Ashes series, the first test just completed saw a nail biting finish and a win to England. Australia is rebuilding after years of dominance with a new captain, new coach and a number of newly capped players but they have shown plenty of fight. The Champions Trophy 50 over competition was recently held with India victors over England, T20 continues to grow with competitions like the IPL, KFC Big Bash and the Caribbean Premier League. My point is that nations embracing the shorter version of the game seem to be developing greater player numbers. Our own T20 competition played on Sundays has also expanded, including sides from outside the Saturday competition, taking on a fresh franchise style appearance. The MWCA needs to cater to all three formats of the game, whether T/20, one dayers or two dayers, and will continue to do its best to find the right balance. A few more points: Sponsorship - I would like to pass on our thanks to our sponsors: Kookaburra, The Steyne Hotel and Belrose Bowling Club who continue to offer support to the MWCA either financially or through other forms of assistance. Umpires: This season we saw a number of new umpires join the ranks, thanks to the generous support given by Life Member Errol Cranney who organizes umpires for all of our competitions and umpired in the T20 Cup Final. Grounds: Due to increase insurance costs we were only able to make a contribution to the replacement of one pitch at Balgowlah Oval. I would like to thank and congratulate Danny LeMoy and his Committee at the MWJCA, in particular Tony Pecar, who oversaw the replacement of Balgowlah Oval, and two new pitches at Tania Park where the full cost was covered by the Juniors. Your efforts are much appreciated. Grants/Player Survey – Thank you to Committee Member Matt Brennan who took the lead in applying for Government grants this season. Thanks to Matt’s efforts we were successful in receiving a $4990 grant from the NSW Department of Sport and Recreation to be put to promoting cricket participation in the Manly Warringah area. Finally, as a Committee we have been together, generally speaking, for three years. We’ve had a few changes in that time but on the whole have remained as a group. This season we see the retirement of some very valued Committee Members and office bearers - Bill Clark (Treasurer), Liz Pymble(Assistant Secretary), Chris Dolman (Committee) and Stephen Shepherd (Secretary), all of whom have contributed greatly to this Association. I would however like to pass on my personal thanks to Shep - the amount of work that was required when we first came to office was enormous, especially ensuring that the Association was re-incorporated, fell solely on Shep and his effort has continued right throughout his three years in the job. At the time of writing we have not managed to fill the role of Secretary and Shep who has remained on the Committee has agreed to fill the role temporarily until we can find a replacement. On a bright note we have gained the services of Darren Hooker (Treasurer), David Ralphs, Matt Richards and Paul Killalea on the Committee. We have also seen Matt Meers retire from the position of Webmaster but he will continue on the Committee upon his return from Europe and we are lucky to have Dom Wheeler ready to step up to replace Meersy as our new Webmaster. I close by thanking all Committee Members for their outstanding work. They make sure we have a competition and although we don’t always agree we have a very good group that work hard to improve the game of Cricket in Manly Warringah David Sheedy President 5 SECRETARY’S REPORT Dear MWCA, I have served just three years as MWCA Secretary, a fraction of the service given by our longest serving Secretaries R.A Baker (1936-8, 1944-54), Alex Anderson (1954-69), Frank Gray (1973-1989) and Peter Moses (1989-2004). I continue to be amazed by their longevity. The MWCA has been blessed with many long serving office bearers, not just Secretaries. Lyle Pearce was President for 14 years from 1976 to 1989, having already spent 14 seasons as Treasurer (1962-9, 1971-6) and 1970/1 as Assistant Secretary. Clifton Leake served as President for 13 seasons from 1931 to 1943. Alan Rainey served 12 summers from 1989 to 2000 while Des Sainsbury (1955 to 1965) and Brian Ferguson (2000-2011) each spent 11 seasons at the helm. Leonard Ray was Treasurer from 1932 to 1944, the record holder until Allyn Coggan served in the position for a staggering 27 seasons. Grounds Officer also had stable patronage, Alley Freeman (1944-1956), A.Anderson (1956-76) and Jill Pearce (1978-2007). The endurance of our office bearers in the past is a statistic I can’t really explain. Did they have more time? Were they more community focussed? Will we find as many long serving volunteers in this century as we did in the last? On the field, cricket participation is also a sign of the times.