LANCASTER PARK CLUB.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6282, 13 September 1898, Page 1

LANCASTER PARK CLUB.

. The annual meeting of the Lancaster Park Cricket Club was held last evening at Warner .Hotel. MrW. D. Meares, president, was in the chair, and there was a good attendance of members. Among the apologies received for absence was one from Mr E. S. Harley, who expressed the hope that club would agree to Mr Phillips playing in senior instead of junior cricket, as proposed by some persons. He hoped that the. Lancaster Park Club would secure Mr Phillips's services ior at least; one full afternoon each week. ' The committee stated that for the first tinie since 1882 it was its unpleasant duty to have to report a loss on tlie year's working, while the First Eleven had last season occupied a lower position in the Senior Cup contest than it had done for a considerable time. The Thirteen had won more matches than the Eleven, but this was not altogether .to be deprecated, as it gave great hopes that ih the near future the quality of their juniors would be the .means of once more bringing, the club into the prominent position it should always occupy, The< Junior -and President's Cup Teams had been no more successful than the Seniors, this being accounted for by the heavy demands on the resources of the club to fill the senior team.. The individual performances o'f some of.the club's members had been good, and Mr. A. E. Ridley, was tp be congratulated on heading tlie senior averages in Canterbury with 43.5b, Mr L. T. Cobcrol't coming third with 39.90. • The club had been represented in interprovincial matches "by Messrs Cl Boxshall, E. Bates, H. C: and A. E. Ridley and F. Wilding. The financial position of the club ought to be seriously taken in hand, and the question of reducing the expenditure dealt with. No less a sum than £59 had been spent last year for material and repairs. Reference was made to the serious loss the club had sustained by the death of Mr A. M. Ollivier, who. had taken a prominent part in the formation of the club in 1882, and had been largely responsible for its. early successes. ' The thanks of the club were due to those ladies who had provided afternoon tea, to those gentlemen who had given trophies and to Mr A. E. Ridley for auditing the accounts. The balance. sheet showed that the receipts, including £20 9s 5d balance frdm the previous season, had been £154 19s sd,and the expenditure £153 lis 7d, leaving a credit balance, of £1 7s lOd. The report -. and balance-sheet were adopted. ' ' 7 ' In the course of the discussion, Mr Boxshall drew attention to the bowling of Mr E. Bates,' who had . an average of nine runs per wicket, the next having ah average of sixteen. . Such a performance should, he thought, have been mentioned in the report. The election of officers resulted as follows : President, Mr W. D. Meares ; vice-presi-dents, the Rev Gordon Webster, Messrs E. S. Harley, W. R. Cooke, J. Waller and H. H. Loughnan; honorary secretary, Mr C. J. Atkinson ; honorary treasurer, Mr A. Cant ; committee, Messrs A. E. Ridlev, H. C. Ridley, H. B. Murray, J. Tolan, F. H. Labatt, D. Jack, E. Bates and S. Orchard ; delegates to the Canterbury Cricket Association, Messrs H. C. Ridley and F. Wilding ; delegate to the Sports Protection Association, Mr A. Cant. It was decided to open the season on Saturday, Sept. 24, if the ground was available ; if not, on Oct. 1. On the motion of Mr Pavitt, seconded by Mr Cooke, it was decided to enter an eleven only in the Senior Cup competition. The incoming committee was left to deal with the allocation of the services of Mr Phillips, the coach engaged by the Cricket Association.