HAWERA CRICKET CLUB.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 17 April 1926, Page 3

HAWERA CRICKET CLUB.

ANNUAL SOCIAL. PRESENTATION OF JUNIOR SHIELD. Cricketers from Hawera. together with a number from most other centres of South Taranaki, foregathered last night for their annual social and reunion, which was held ’in the Carlton Rooms. An enjoyable evening was spent, in the course of which the shield was presented to the winners of the junior championship. Members of the Stratford team acknowledged compliments on their winning the senior shield and the services to cricket by Mr. B. McCarthy were fittingly honoured.

His Worship the Mayor (Mr. E. A. Pacey), who' is president of the Hawera Club, was in the chair, and in a few fitting words explained the object of the gathering, to enable cricketers to meet and to honour the good work of successful players. After the toast of Hits Majesty the King, Mr. Monaghan proposed “The Game.” In doing so, he said that cricket had been fitly termed “the game,” because, good as were other games, cricket called lor a combination of qualities demanded by no' other, if a man was to excel—physical fitness; mental alertness and the faculty of standing a moral strain. He stressed the need of team work and said it was his opinion that this } was urgently needed in the play of South Taranaki. He referred to- the fact that Midlands, the team in which he. played, had developed quite a lot of that during the season and that it had got the members to know exactly their own places in the field.

He personally had enjoyed no cricket in his whole career more than lie had that lie had played in Taranaki. He added that there was no need to be a champion to enjoy the game and to get the real soul of cricket, “the game of games.” “The Winers’ ’ was proposed by Mr. L. Little, who said that cricket had shown great improvement during the season. He congratulated the Stratford Cilub on winning the senior, and Hawera. on winning the junior competition. He said that there bad'• been better attendances of the public, and at the filial, when the match was played to a finish, the best attendance of the. season had been present. Mr. McCarthy gave “The Juniors” and referred to the number of very promising players coining on—Mahoney, Owen, Busing and others—and said they would make the seniors play next year.

The Mayor then presented, the shield to Mr. Mahoney, captain of the Hawera juniors, adding that junior cricket must be fostered above all.

Mr.' 1 Mahoney briefly acknowledged the presentation,, and said he would like .to acknowledge the good work done with the bat by Owen and Maloney and with the ball by Busing. The honor shown was also acknowledged’ by Mr. Lambert and Mr. Nichol on behalf of the Stratford Club.

During the evening a very interesting and instructive little address was given on “1.b.w.” by Mr. G. H. Buokeridge, “the most vexed and' difficult subject in the game of cricket.” Mr. Buckeridge clearly made his points with the aid of a diagram on a blackboard.

Songs were given in fine style by Messrs Metcalf (“Simon the Cellarer”), McFadgen (“Tnvictu.s”), Vinnicojnbe “Captain Mac”), Thomas ('“Muleteer of Malaga”), and topical verses very cleverly writtenand effectively sung by Mr. J. Remviek. Tbe accompaniments were well playgd by Mr. H. Taylor. A jolly evening concluded with the singing of the National Anthem.