St Albans Cricket Club ANNUAL REPORT SStt AAlbanslbans CricketCricket ClubClub 2008-2009 Winners • Premier Men - Two Day Title • 3A Men • Premier Men - One Day Title • 3C Men • 2A Men - Two Day Title • 1st Grade Women • 2C Men - Two Day Title • 2nd Grade Women • Petersen Shield and Financial Statement for 2008 - 2009 St Albans Cricket Club Notice is hereby given that the 105th Annual General Meeting of the St Albans Cricket Club Inc. will be held at SoHo Restaurant and Bar, 1 Riccarton Road (on the Deans Ave roundabout) on Monday, 3 August 2009 at 7:30pm Business: 1. To receive the Minutes of the 2008 Annual General Meeting; 2. To consider and adopt the 2008/09 Annual Report and Accounts; 3. Election of Officers and Management Committee for the 2009/10 season; 4. Notice of Motion That the club levy the following levels of subscriptions (GST inclusive) for the 2009/10 season, namely: a) Adult Men and Women: $240 to be paid by 30 November 2009; b) Full-time University, Polytechnic, Training College Students, Men and Women Under 18: $180 to be paid by 30 November 2009; 3 c) Secondary School Pupils: $120 to be paid by 30 November 2009; d) Primary/Intermediate School Pupils: $60 for first member of family, and $30 for any subsequent members of the same family, to be paid by 30 November 2009; e) MILO Module: $40 for first member of family, and $20 for any subsequent members of the same family, to be paid by 30 November 2009; f) Social: $60 per year. Please note: there have been no increases in adult subscription levels from last season. 5. General Business: Members are reminded to resign (in writing) before the date of the AGM, to ensure that no subscription payment is due for the 2009/10 season, in the event of any member deciding not to play or transferring to another club, or moving out of the city. Scott Mason Honorary Secretary PO Box 1919 CHRISTCHURCH Pavilion: Hagley Oval, South Hagley Park, Riccarton Ave, Christchurch, New Zealand. Phone: (03) 366 4905. Secretary: PO Box 1919, Christchurch 1, New Zealand. E-mail: [email protected] Web: http://www.stalbanscricket.co.nz 4 2008/09 Officers Patron: Mr J Z Harris Life Members: Messrs C F Collins, R R A McLauchlan, I D Dempsey, R D J Mather, A G Jamieson, S J D Cox, L N Serra, G J Curgenven, Mrs A J Mitchell and Mrs E W Horne Honorary Auditor: Grant Thornton, Chartered Accountants President: Chairman: Mr A G Jamieson Mr A G Jamieson Men’s Club Captain: Women’s Club Captain: Mr D E Pettet Mrs N Wilson Honorary Secretary: Honorary Treasurer: Mr S A Mason Mr L N Serra Bar Manager: Mr M J Sutherland Management Committee: Messrs D F Bermingham, R L Carrigan, G J Curgenven, A F Johnstone, J J Price, E P West, Mrs K L Cunis and Miss A C Turner 5 Obituary Joseph Arthur Harrison It was with sadness that members of the wider St Albans fraternity learned of Joe’s death on January 4, 2009, in his 72nd year, after a short illness. Born on the West Coast in 1937, Joe moved to Christchurch with his parents while in his teens. He attended Christchurch Teachers’ College and it was while teaching at Elmwood Normal School in 1956 that he joined the St Albans Cricket Club. He had previously played a few games for the College team that was, at the time, affiliated with the club. In the first instance Joe played mainly in the club’s 2A and 2C sides, but a dearth of spinners in the club and some useful form saw Joe rise quickly into the ranks of the senior men’s team. When he retired from the top side, he had played 123 games in a span of 17 seasons (1963/64-1979/80). In this time Joe scored 1379 runs at a very handy lower-order average of nearly 14 and had snared 303 wickets at 19 with his very dry and tight off-breaks. His type of precision length bowling would be perfect for the 50 and 20-over versions of the game that we have now, but were not in the CCA’s competition formats in those days. Joe also took some very smart catches (36) at his favourite mid-on and mid-off positions. When Joe retired from “Seniors” he continued to play in the lower grades, chalking up 50 games for the fourth grade side and another 17 in the Cavaliers team which won the competition in the 1993/94 season. Joe stopped played completely in December 1996, when no amount of coercing or encouragement could get him to continue, even at the spritely age of 59. He was still surely good enough. Joe was a thinking man’s cricketer, with a very wide intellect for the 6 game. Loyal and dry in humour, Joe’s deeds for the club were not only demonstrated on the field but off it as well. In the 1972/73 season he held the position of club captain and for many years was a committee man. Joe will be remembered as the club’s junior boys convener of many years and he is given credit for many of the long-serving and prominent players that he encouraged to join the club as primary schoolboys, many of these which he coached. Many of these boys came from Papanui High School. Also Joe was a great driver in keeping the connection between our club and the Teachers’ College. For several years we had teams from this educational institute, for which we were grateful for Joe’s tireless efforts to keep this relationship healthy and ongoing. Since his retirement from all cricket Joe continued to keep a weather eye on the club. He wasn’t one to remind the club about successes of yesteryear, preferring to be inquisitive and encouraging. Joe died too young, as he would have been a perfect candidate for a president’s or patron’s role, which he would have carried out in loyal and professional manner. Joe will be missed by all who knew him, as the terrific turnout to his funeral from mainly former club-mates would testify. Joe is survived by his wife Cathy and son Matt. 7 President’s Report On behalf of the Executive and Committee, I have much pleasure in presenting the Annual Report and Accounts covering the 2008/09 season, the 104th in the club’s history. When one looks back over the last 12 months and tries to summarize the staggering amount that has happened to the club, the mind boggles. Firstly, let me take you back to April 26, 2008, when the club experienced its greatest setback and challenge of modern times. Yes, I refer to the great pavilion fire. It took a very long six months (May to mid-November) to finally get ourselves back into regular club life using our brand new pavilion. The new building obviously acted as a motivational call to “rise from the ashes” and, with it, start a new chapter in the history of the club as our best ever season gradually unfolded. If in early October I had been offered six grade wins as our share of the spoils for the summer, I would have no doubt taken it. But to surpass this with eight grade wins plus the prestigious Petersen Shield was, to be frank, outstanding. Yes, the haul was the best ever in the club’s history, surpassing our previous best of six titles in a season. It was also the greatest haul by any club in the 104-year history of the current format of club cricket in the city. Sport is about winners and losers and the St Albans Cricket Club certainly had a rollicking and stellar 12 months, laced with many, many wins both on and off the field. Wind back to early August 2008, when the club had its Annual General Meeting and a very enthusiastic new committee was elected to steer the club through the next 12 months. Pre-season indoor training for the top 35 men and 24 women had commenced; Steven Knox had been confirmed as the club’s professional player/coach; Michael Davidson had finally been confirmed as the 12th (and last) contracted CCA player; the Canterbury Cricket Association had started to formally negotiate with the club over the possible conversion of our beloved Hagley Oval into a Test and provincial ground and, with it, finally agreeing that we would not be expected to either shift to another ground or relocate to some other part of Hagley Park; and lastly a date was confirmed for the re-opening of the pavilion. Finally, the 104th season was about to get actively underway. The opening day of the club came and went with many new players signing up and whispers suggested that high-quality playing rosters 8 were being assembled. The annual visit by the Hutt District team from Wellington for a pre-season game was played. They proved to be too strong for our team in a Twenty20 match before the rain came, with the “Embers” trophy going back to the capital for the first time in a few years. With the pavilion restoration still in the final stages of completion the club members were “campers” and “squatters” for the first six weeks of the season and we thank other clubs and the SoHo Bar and Restaurant for their hospitality. This didn’t create any drag or setbacks for the teams as they started to perform with great distinction and success.