SENIOR RANKS CLOSED

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 57, 5 September 1934, Page 14

SENIOR RANKS CLOSED

PRESENT SYSTEM ATTACKED

Certain that the present system of club cricket in Wellington needs a thorough overhaul if tho game is to flourish, the Karori Cricket Club in its annual report strongly criticises the existing state of affairs by which the senior ranks are closed to junior clubs seeking advancement. "We in the ranks of the junior clubs can see only too clearly how the present restrictions are holding the game back, and losing good players to other sports," the r*eport states. "The lack of interest and enthusiasm among the junior players must be overcome.

"The Wellington Cricket Association has decided that our scheme for district cricket is ahead of its time. They say district cricket will come about as a natural tendency and should not be forced. With this we can agree, but when the association here has definitely closed its senior and second grade ranks, how can the many district clubs now in being ever take advantage of tho cricket strength of their district? No! Whilst this state of affairs continues the district clubs will still educate the cricketer through the early stages until ho is of value to a senior club. His own club can offer him no promotion, so off he goes, and often in so leaving his first club he soon leaves cricket for good. A trial in some senior team — among comparative strangers—a failure perhaps—then dropped to a lower grade, often lower than that in which ho previously played with his district club. Loss of interest soon follows in such cases, and another promising cricketer is lost to the game. Our policy today is to overcome the cause of this sort of thing."

Of the Karori Club's own endeavours the report states: —"Efforts have been made and will continue to be made to enable our club to grow still stronger. As you know, we have at present no opportunity of entering a team in tho senior grade, and this makes it impossible to recruit to our ranks many players in this district. Ways and means of overcoming this difficulty are ever beforo us, and everything possible is being done to obtain this promotion, which we feel is now overdue and which we are sure, if obtained, could be fully justified."