Cockfosters club flourishes

Press, 9 November 1988, Page 72

Cockfosters club flourishes

The Christchurch-based Cockfosters Cricket Club, which was formed last season, is flourishing to the extent that it has nine matches organised this summer — three times as many as last year — with another two in the pipeline. The man behind the formation of the club, Paul Bennett, said yesterday that matches against the Wellington clubs, Tawa, Karori, Collegians and Johnsonville, were confirmed on Monday evening.

As well as the increased schedule for this season, the Christchurch Cockfosters Club has had burgeoning numbers, Mr Bennett saying that about 60 players were eligible for the games. Chris King, a Canterbury B umpire, had joined the fold and an official scorer, Sue Storey, had become part of the club’s administration. Match managers have been appointed for each game. The Christchurch Cockfosters branch was formed to act as a little

sister club to one of the same name based in North London. Since a Lancaster Park team first visited the English club in 1976 there have been regular exchanges between teams from the two clubs.

Although the home club basically consists of Lancaster Park cricketers, any player who has played on the Cockfosters ground at Chalk Lane or against the club are able to become members of the Christchurch body. The Cockfosters pro-

gramme starts on Sunday with a match against Old Collegians, an opponent last season, and a second rival from last summer, East-Shirley, will be its opposition in December. The four matches in Wellington are on successive days, from January 2 to 5, while a game against High School Old Boys has been arranged in February. The opponents in March are Valley of Peace and a Marist president’s (over 40) XL Matches are usually limited to 50 overs each.