OTAGO CRICKETERS' ASSOCIATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2171, 3 October 1895, Page 33

OTAGO CRICKETERS' ASSOCIATION.

The annual meeting of tho Otago Cricketer*' Association was hold at Wain's Hvtsl on September ?.4. Mr J. Smith, jun. (presidenb of tho asttit Ul'on) occupied the ohair, aud there were 20 officers and delogr.fccs prerent. ANNUAL HKPOUT. The report fiubmitled by the retiring com' naittne was as follows : — From* a cricket standpoint the past Eoason'a resultn were of a hijhry a»ti*factory nature, and it is a matter for coDftrAtuliv'.ioi) that your committe« o«n rftiterA'.o the remarks of their prodecc^sors—that the popularity of ibo waicil has Iwcn ntoa<lily n vivod iv our uiidst, (iurint; tho last fow yoHiy, is aUU on tho ii ciojsa Of the ((iiality of rho play it may bo f-aiil that collectively it was above tbu avwani'. Tlmughin rey»e»aiit.U.ive iHtitcV»C3 tbo disiiliiy of baltitiß butfercd somowhat in comparison with that of the pieceding Reason, y&t ia club uuteliK>— both seuior and junior— there w*s a distinct improvement in this branch of the game. Bowlm?, both iv representative and dub cricket, has invariably beea of a superior quality with ih, and in this respect the past pe.>sun pioved no exruptiou to the rale, whilst the fielding wes quiti up '.o ihe usual staadatd. In n-presentjttive matches our players again accioittod thenibelves creditably. Four matches were pUyoJ, two being won, one lost", >.nd one drawn. In tho annual match with Southland our men gained a decisive win by W run*. A visit for the first time of a Wellington team resulted in thrf defeat of the local playerd by <H ui'is, our Ixtsinen fulinjj liwi.e-itably i-v thei'' Second iuuiiig<s when victory scuii-id well within their grasp. Offing to the inclemout weatho', the play in tit-i match with the Fijian team was endued to oue day, and the g-uno was drawn greatly in favour of tliu hume eleven. Cor.sK?eiat),c interest was centred in the couelutiioK lixtur« — that agtinat Canterbury, played at Uuristohurc'.i, and won by Ots^go by four wickt-t=. Tbe fratvwoof thid niafch wa9 t)>e excellent batting perfoi nianco of A. Clarke, who contributed 4laud(JL Mention must fllso ba made of the line bowling of A. Downes ami A. Fißher, who dismissed lh>j (Janterbury Kleven in their fin-t innings for a totil of 4C. Bats were presented for competition in i-L-i'resen-t»tive matches by tbo l-uue<lm Amiteur Ground Co(up.uiy, and were won by J. Hakcr »nd \V. Puiker, the funner with a batting average of 218 for eight completed inuiugs, and tbe latter with a howling aveuuc of 69. Biker was closely followed in battinK by A. Downes and A. Clarke with averages of 22 3 and 2T5 respectively. A. Downoa is also acc< nd in the lint in bowling, and conbiderinf{ that his average of 8(5 for 17 wickota was obt lined in the matches against Canterbury and Wellington it mvisfc be ranked as a firat-c'ass achievement. It id with deep regret that your committee record iio deaths within tho las', few mo:-.th3 of Mea*rH H. Rose and W. Hendley, two prominent representatives of the province in days gone by, ami who each in his own m»nner did hi* utmokt to encourage and foiter the gamo in Dunedin. The late Mr Rose was for some time an oflicebearer of the association, and subsequently his assistance was at various timc3 of material benefit to your committee. . The Cup matches again proved decidedly interesting. Bix teams took part in the coute.st for tie Senior Cliallen^o Cup, which for the cecond year in succession Ml to the lot of tho Caribbroulc A team, their record being nine wins out or lw matches played. The Graug*, Opolio, DuneUin, Albion, and Cariibrook B followed in the ordaS

named. Tho j .nior competition, for which 12 te.iTns entered, v»as diservedlv won by th« Dunedin t:iubs No 1 Klrven, which expenenco-i but one rei-cra« in 10 matvhes. The Oc-ana w-re i.ext with '.wo K.sta in v like number < f m;\trh*p, tho otLor ici.ms ci.-sfc« n'ng dtfe»t on four ocetoions ana over. Me;sis I'iiL-r-cn an 1 Hair prce-itcd tn nine? for the b»>t bnttin-jai-d i owlingftveinges in S*T;ior Cup malch.s. Th«- battia. trj.phy was aw->rfi«'d to A. C!ais.c with an uv.-!ti;e of 58 8 A diffou-noe of opinion exist*! as to winch player wa ; 6i>titletl tn the trophy for liowlinK, and r.s the astoci^tion has not auy rule governing fiiwh compeliti t.h it was deddtd to refer thfi quo-tion to the cricket clitor of the Auatrala-ian— a rcc^nißfHl nutbo ity — find abide by bu vuling. "Unfoitunately, a reply has not been received yet. •As tbero is a probat'ility of an unusually lan?e ji\nj>ber of junior tuams being placed in the field this Reason, your comniittoo would suggest that xianh club hbould only bo allowed to enter ono fceain in thn Junior Cup competition, and that a thir.- dass champion' hip, for rchich the icmaining learns mai? compete, l>e rccoj?riise<i. Siixx* the lat-t annual uiecting a New Z-. aland Cricket Council has been formtd for the purpose of controlling and arranging interprovincial taatcliea, visits of intercolonial teams, Ac., and to this body the association has been affilmtod. Mes-rs C. W. Hattray »nd A M' Donald have acted us deleßatea in the past, and have alrt-ady Jbeeu roappointed for the eusuing year, ao tbat they might arrange to attend tho council's annual meeting on the 27th insr. 'I'he counoQ has inwitoA the New Houth Wnlfis Association t-o 6end a team to New Zealand this b< aeon, a«d wo have agreed to guarantee that the c -xmcil hball receive 50 t-er ctnt. of the m ii.ts (i c , gross takr rb loss ground chaiß«s) of any mvtch played here. From Satwst aivices it U evident that the New South liVnles tnam will tour in January or February 18.6. Five senior and five junior club 3 were affiliated to the association la t yaar, one of which, the JA.mlerfon'B Ray, is now dafußct. (Joraniitleo mcetingn, though frequent, were Jatiafaot >rily attended. That finanrially tho a;pocial?on ha 3 not made >ny headway i 9 grently to be deplore!. The receipt?, including a bain nee nf £14 lls 4d from previou.i yi ar, amounted to £171 10a 7d, and the expfiidituie leached £IG3 Bs, leaving a Bum of j£3 2i 7d in hand. Ihc balance sheet bTiows that the as-cts (consisting of cash in hand, pavilion, Challenge Cup. material, &c ) ore valued at £71 139 7d, and that the liabilities (made up of balar.ee of £42 due t> Mr Harper and uup.iid accounts) amount to j£'s 11b. l'hftre ia tliu-t a balance on the credit hide of £16 2j 7d, aa aeahiflt £\(i lSk Id for tbo year 1893-94. It wai rea-onably expected that wi h tlie a^i&tance of levies uiider Cup rules and Riven fair gates at rcpiespntatjve matches the indebtedness of tho aßsoci.Uion •woulii hay« lieen eubstantially reduced during th« year. Indifferent weather, hiiw-'ver, affected the attendances at the Southland and Wellington mat'hes, and instead of deriving a benefit, a loss eveiituaUd From cxtcrienoe your committ.ee deem it useUj-s to hiiticip^te that the liabilities ivsl) \>c wip^tl ou' iv tlie <->r<lixia.ry C3urs« \vitliia a considerable time. It theiefore behoves, not only Ibe nffice-bcarere, but cricketers tlieniat-lve*, to tan<j together aud make a strenuous endeavour outfide of any already re r orted to to ielicv« tho fSßSociation of thi3 burden which hivs hampered the efforts of successive committees. • The Chairman, -in moving the adoption of the report, referred to the lo«s whroh cricket throughout Otago hsd sustained through tbe ideath of Mw-srs Rose and Hendley. Mr Rose had done more financially than any o'her man to help cricket forward in Otago, md be was &ure that cricketers would Wll miss him very much. With so many slobs competing last year for the Junior Cup Uiere had been a difficulty in getting one or two rounds c^mpltted, and it had been thought bettfj t^afc this je-ir the second elevens of senior clubs and the fust elevens of junior clubs should compete for the Juuior Cup, and that another competition for other elevens should be instituted. The Ntw Zealand Cricket Kkmucil, which hsd been formed since the lasb ianiiual meeting of the aßHuciatiou, had nlready brought about good results, for a visit was promised this season from a New South Wales team which would be accredited by the New jSouth Wales Associati< n, and would nob bo like the last— a roving titun accredited to nobody. He regretted that the fl'innc* s of tbe associaItiou had nob beeu improved duriug the year, bat he hoped (hit with good weather there would bs a largo attendance at the paatch this year with Canterbury, acd that the ssaoHation would make some money over it. There was a little fediog in Ohristchurch last year over the interiirovincial Ki«tcb, but he believed tbat the C*otorbur> Association had since had the ball with which the Otago team dismissed Canterbury for 46 in the first inning's mounted and had presented Mr Zlattray with ir. Mr C. W. Rattray, in secluding the motion, laid on the table the ball presented to him by the Canterbury Association. The fact tbat he had received thst token showed a kindly appreciation of thu Otago victory, and showed a n'ce feeling on tbe part of the Con tet bury men. .That BVowed8 V owed also that the feeling which took place aftir the match did not come from those who had charge of crickot in Canterbury. Mr G. L BuTLiNtaid he had been instructed to prcpose that tbe teamn competing for the Jui.ior Cup should bocbs.ifkd into two classes and tha*) the winners theuld play off for the Cup. The motion was carried unanimously. new cr/uiis. The Taieri, Mon.i. gton, and University Clubs Were affiliated to the association. KLECTION OF OFFICE 11KAREUS. The election of office-bearers for the ensuing year resulted as follows: — President, Mr J. Smith, jup. (re-eli eted unanimously) ; vicepresidtntp, Messrs C. W. lUttray and A. M 'Donald (both re-elected) ; hou. secretary and treasurer, Mr J. Smyth (re-elec'ed) ; committee — Messrs J. Baker, F. D. Clajtjo, L. C. Gooch, W. Maclean, B. Ri.^ger, and T. Ritchie. THE JUNIOR COP CONTEST. Mr Botlin moved — "Tbat it be an instruction to the committee to, if popsible, classify the junior teams in sections A and B, the winners of eacb competition to play off for the Cuo." After some discussion, in which a prcfereuce «ra» (xprefcwd for tho suggestion shadowed Borth in the report of tbe retiring committee, Jfap motion was withdrawn. Mr Rattkay then moved — " That the recommendation of the committee with regard to instituting a third series of competitions be adopted, and that the committee may at their option allow any cl'.b to enter more than ono team for the third-class championship." Mr A. M'Donald seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously. SELECTION OF REPBESENTATIVE TEAMS. Mr A. M'Lean moved — " That it be an instruction to the General Committee that a match committee of three be appointed for the ensuing year." Mr M'Donald seconded the motion, which was supported by Meiers W. Elder, L. O. Gooch, and B. A E\a, and opr>o«rd by Me jßraj Bra Rattray, W. H. Skitch, J. Smyth, aud W. Maclean. The motion was carried by 10 votes to 8. MISCELLANi-OUS. On the motion of Mr Rattuay, it was remitted to the General Ci mmittee to consider the advisability of promoting a carnival for the joint benefit of the association and of the clubs. \ A vote of thanks to tJie chairman and retiring office-bearers concluded the business.