CRICKET

Southland Times, Issue 19986, 28 September 1926, Page 4

CRICKET

APPLEBY CLUB. ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of the Appleby Cricket Club was held in the YM.C.A. Rooms yesterday evening. The President, Mr. R. A. Edwards, presided over an attendance of fifteen members. ANNUAL REPORT. The annual report was as follows: Although the divided half-holiday prevented the club from fielding the strongest teams, those that were entered upheld the honour of the club in the field. Five teams were entered in the competition, one in each first, second and third grades on Saturday, and a first and second on Wednesday. Both the first grade teams are to be congratulated on winning their competitions, thus winning the shield without th? necessity of a play off. The third grade competition was revived by the S.C.A. and the Appleby team came out on top, thereby becoming holders of the Washer Cup. ’ Both second grade teams were handicapped by a shortage of players, especially the Saturday team as three of their crack men were promoted to the senior eleven. Congratulations to Messrs H. Shirreffs, T. Groves and A. Poole who received their representative caps during the season. Saturday cricket was considerably inconvenienced by a long spell of unseasonable weather, in fact, only nine matches were played. This was very disheartening to enthusiastic cricketers who had to watch their half-holiday go by week after week without the chance of a game. The club is in a sound financial position, the bank balance showing a slight increase over that of last season. The ground account at present shows a larger balance than the previous season, but this will be considerably reduced when the grass-cutting and maintenance account are met. With reference to these the committee would suggest that a special committee be appointed to confer with the Reserves Committee of the Borough Council and find out if they will not undertake the care of the ground altogether. If our expenses are as heavy next season, our account will be wiped out altogether. The club is greatly indebted to Mr McKeever, of the Civic Pictures, who gave us a benefit evening which improved our funds to the extent of £l3 5/6. In spite of the inclement weather practices were well attended by the juniors throughout, the season, but it was very seldom that more than three or four seniors were in attendance. After Christmas of last season, all our senior fixtures were played on our own ground, the wickets being better than those of the Showgrounds, and the credit for this must go to Mr. T. Groves who took the leading part in their preparation. The Grounds Committee early got into touch with the Borough Council concerning the top-dressing of the ground, but it was not until about three months ago that the weather permitted its being carried out. It is very pleasing to note that the local residents are taking an interest in the club and in the ground, and that some of them were in attendance at each match. Our deepest thanks are due to our patron, president and vice-presidents, and to the honorary members who enrolled and afforded us their financial and moral support. The report was adopted. ELECTION OF OFFICERS. The election of office-bearers for the ensuing year was as follows: Patron, R. Erskine; president, R. A. Edwards; vice-presi-dents J. Davies, W. I. Hessell, G. Wilson, A. Derbie, W. Carson, W. F. Bisset, G. H. Winter, M. Macalister, A. Geddes, F Stewart, G. Lilley and R. Thompson, secretary, N. Poole; treasurer, H. Shirreffs; auditor, J. Mehaffey.