UNITED CANTERBURY CRICKET CLUB.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 2034, 14 September 1874, Page 4

UNITED CANTERBURY CRICKET CLUB.

» The annual general meeting of members was held at Warner's Hotel on Saturday night. There was a good attendance, and on the motion of Mr G. A. Reade, Mr C. C. Corfe was voted to the chair. The minutes of tho last annual meeting were read and confirmed. Mr A. M. Ollivier, hon. sec, read the report of the committee for the past year as follows : — ...... "The expense of keeping the ground in order during the past season has been the same as that for the previous year, namely, sixty pounds (£6O). The work has been done by Mr A. Stewart;, who has for some : years had the management of this department. The committee regret that they were unable to make arrangements for the employmtnt of a bowler as in previous seasons, as they feel sure that the extra cost would have been nearly, if not quite, recovered by the immense saving to the property of the club. . The committee, however, have every reason to believe fchafc an arrangement; can be made for fche ensuing season with a man who will keep the; ground and bowl to members of the club every evening throughout fche season; and they are. of opinion that if such a course is pursued, the club will be amply repaid for the expense incurred. The committee, regret ; that ; there has been less cricket than .usual during, the past season, and attribute ifc in a great measure to the want of a bowler and fche inability of members generally to attend practice; . With reference fco the new. ground, the committee observe that the Park and Domain Board have planted the two-chain reserve, which, had been cancelled upon application; from the committee before forming fche ground, thus making it too small for cricketing purposes. A sub-committee has been appointed to arrange the matter: with the Government. By means of Ladies' Subscription Cards a sum of £17 was collected, on account of the new ground, and the committee., have reason to hope that. a further sum/will be received. An .'amateur theatrical per-, formahce was given at ( . the theatre, and the nett proceeds, £20, were; handed to the club, : to assist in defraying fche expense of forming the new ground. The club has sustained -a great loss in the departure of Mr A. J; Cotterill, who for several yeara, held the oflice of secretary, ancl was a very aotive member of the club." Z Zyi ; V> -VI y.y Mr' Condell, hon treasurer, subnutfcedL a statement of accounts for the past year, from which ifc appeared fchafc fche receipts,! including dramatic performance £20,, : Bale! , of grass £22 2s 6d, and subscriptions: £60 9s,;,had been £157 2s ld ; r and that the expenditure, including £133 for work done on' the old > nd new grounds had been £151 12s 6d, leaving a credit balance of £5 9a 7d> He also read a statement of the assets and liabilities of the club, in which the former were given at £29 18s 7d, and the latter at£793s. y.y y Mr G. A. Reade moved.;—" That ,the' report *= and statement of accounts be . received- and'adopted." V J Mr Parkerson seconded fche motion. Mr Stevens ' asked , on what premises; the committee based thafc portion of Vhe report which said the extra cosfc of a bowler would, have been nearly> if- not quite recovered j by.j the immense saving of the property .to ithe Club, f . . r i - , - -.Jj - Mr Ollivier said that during the past seasoni lockers had frequently ; been broken open "and cricketing materials extracted, therefrom. .<;■ He himself had suffered in , this respect, and he should think the total; loss for the season* must have been quite £20. . Then, again, j .works were left undone, whioh, in ; the interests fof the club, ought to and. would have been^done; if they had a bowler. '".. ■> v Mr Stevens said he, observed an item; for: poundage fees on the pccounfc, and would like to know what ifc referred to. : ; ,; . ,;. Mr Ollivier explained that.the horse belong-" ing to the club got astray] andVwas taken! to the pound, where it was sold before the committee heard of the matter afc all. Mr Stevens Baid this should have been; recorded in the report, as also the fact that ithe hose, reported afc the. last; annual meeting to have been stolen, had been ; returned; to the club. He then referred io the ; planting' men- ' tioned in the report, and said he thought a little prompt action by the committee before fche planting was commenced would have prevented it being carried out. > ;. : ; ' .;■.! i x , i,\ The Chairman asked how the committee were to know that after the club had been at the expense of forming the ground the : Government would plant a portion of ifc. Mr Stevens said ifc, waß to be regretted that the committee did not hear of the matter, for he believed a representation from them tothe Government would have stopped it. However,' now thafc the work was done, ifc would be advisable to ask the Government to fence off the trees, in compensation for; having; taken away a portion of- the ground; , ' : The; fehcirig would coafc a greafc. deal,; and unless,. it i.was • done the club could nofc place Bheep on the ; ground. He also/pointed out that; something should be done to repair the ■: damage done to the turf by grubs. . :■.-.' After some general; conversation, it was re-V solved, on the motion of Mr Stevenß, that-the following addition should be made to the ' report: — "The hose reported at the last annual meeting to have been stolen haa been returned, and the horse having been impounded was sold to pay the expenses of poundage." The motion for the adoption of the report and statement of accounts was then put and agreed to. The election of officers for the ensuing year was proceeded; with, and resulted as follows : — President, his Honor the Superintendent ; vice-president, 0. C. Corfe ; secretary, E. C. J. Stevens ; treasurer, E. Parkerson ; committee, A. M. Ollivier, T. D. Condell, T. It. Moore, J. Wood, A. C. Wilson, J. Fuller, and H. Dickenson. Mr Stevens said he wished to call attention to the practice of playing second eleven matches. In his opinion these matches were very injurious, and he would like to Bee fchem discontinued. They had been tried for several years and were not a success. They appeared to him to give great discouragement by reason of the failure fco get up anything like satisfactory competitions. They should accordingly be discontinued, and he was inclined to an adoption of the plan pursued in England. (Hear, hear, from Mr Corfe.) This was to select an eleven according to the strength of their antagonists, and so give rising players a chance of playing in good company. Mr Webb said the principle adopted in Otago last year was to make changes in the eleven for every match, and this had been found to answer very well. Mr Ollivier said he considered the matter worthy of .serious consideration by the club. They had been almost unable to get members to play in second eleven matches hecause they did not like the idea of it, and ha might say

that he had felt; a delicacy in asking members to play in them. He thought the plan suggested by Mr Stevens might be adopted with advantage. The Chairman said he would like to hear the opinion of some of the second eleven players on this subject. Mr E. Parkerson said he had frequently played in second eleven matches, and, in his opinion, the whole thing had been a failure. The Chairman said he was certainly of opinion thafc second eleven matches should be abolished. Mr Stevens moved — " That the practice of playing" second eleven matches be discontinued." Mx Moore seconded the motion, which was unanimously agreed to. Mr Parkerson said something should be done to protect the club materials, and prevent llockerS/heing broken open. During the past 'season he placed a new ball in his locker, and in three days' it was gone. He had also losfc a pair of shoes and a bat. Wifch a view fco putting a stop to these losses he would 'move— "That this meeting pledges itself to expose any one ; found to. have used the materials of others without leave, or to have damaged lockers, and thafc a copy of this resolution be Bent to other clubs inviting their assistance in carrying it out." After some discussion, during which several losses were particularised, Mr Ollivier seconded the. motion, and itj was unanimously agreed to. Mr Stevens astfed if the committee had any one in view for engagement as bowler. Mr "OUlvier said Mr Souter had offered fco keep: the ground in order from now till the 1 1st of . September, 1875 j prepare match Wickets ; and put up nets for practice ; see to the. safe custody of the material; and bowl for members every evening during the season, from! four o'clock to seven o'clock, for the Sum] of ; £80. Formerly, £60 a year was paid to Mr Stuart for keeping the ground in order, and £13 to Mr Pearce for bowling to members twice a week, and fche latter also received some priyate subscriptions, whioh would amount to a; few pounds during the season, i -After some further conversation of a general character, a vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the proceedings.