Willowers All,
The enjoyment and camaraderie experienced by so many throughout the season was due to the efforts made by those members who participated in the Club fixtures and at the Inaugural Dinner held last July.· lain Gallaway, our guest speaker, thought he was going to address 30 schoolboys when in actual fact 170 Club members turned up.
It was particularly gratifying to see our more experienced members with first class experience playing in the secondary school games where they were able to share their knowledge with boys who were, and always are eager to learn.
The Club now plays four fixtures against secondary schools, namely St Bede’s, St Andrew’s, Christchurch Boys’ High School and Christ’s College, plus two against emerging players teams selected by the Canterbury Cricket Association and the Canterbury Country Districts Association. As is the policy, the Club endeavours to include at least two secondary school boys in each of “The Willows” fixtures, as by doing so the boys are able to meet, mix and play with a varying number of cricketers throughout the season.
Whilst the win/loss ratio for the 1995-96 season was less than the previous year, the Willowers and their guests played good competitive cricket and above all else, renewed and made new friendships.
To start the season Christ’s College demolished a David Mills XI, followed by the Hawkswood Wanderers who overcame a Willows side led by two experienced cricketers, namely R.C.Bromley, Esq. (left for a College meeting at tea time) and C.L.Bull, Esq., who muffed their roles, and then by the Dunedin Cavaliers of Chingford who mesmerised B.F. Hastings, Esq. to such an extent they scored 14 off the last over.
Close finishes were numerous, but none as close as those experienced against Clarrie Anderson’s XI, where the Willows won “comfortably” by one run, the North Canterbury Secondary Schools XI, who missed sinking Gary Thomson and his troops by only four runs, and by the Woodbank Wanderers who caused Graeme Inglis great stress before the Willows came home by five!
Particular note should be made of the visit from Dunedin by the Dunedin Cavaliers of Chingford (David Sharp), from Motueka by the Motueka Wekas (Michael Henderson), and from Marlborough by the Woodbank Wanderers, who travelled considerable distances all in the name of cricket.
During the season the Club hosted the Australian Emus XI who played the Canterbury Under 23 XI. An excellent day yielded 560 runs, with Brad Doody scoring 124.
The wicket square was relevelled at the conclusion of the 1994-95 season as a result of which, on most occasions, the prepared wicket was hard and true with a little bounce and turn as required. One particular wicket was used for four games from which 1480 runs were scored including only two sixes. Thank you Vince Cusack and Peter Devlin. Vince, for your advice and Peter for the execution and for maintaining the ground week by week in such fine order.
An innovation for the season was providing a catered lunch and this was appreciated by all those who availed themselves of the service. Thank you Elaine and Ian James, who not only provided lunches but also morning and afternoon teas and attended to the sausage sizzle at the end of each game. When Ian was in attendance, the sausages were not burnt!
The Club is indebted to a number of experienced umpires, including Eddie Brownlee, Rodger McHarg, Brian Aldridge, “Nooky” Ebert, Milton Tindall, Hugh Skipper plus Bill Watson and Trevor Barber (represented New Zealand in 1956 against the West Indians) who officiated in College games. Their presence made an impact on the fixtures and was appreciated by both teams. The Club looks forward to a close liaison with the Canterbury Umpires Association in the hope that we are able to cover all College games in the future.
Families and children are a very important ingredient in “The • Willows” philosophy and how pleasing it was to see so many come and picnic on Sundays. To Julie and Paul McEwan, our grateful thanks for donating the children’s playground equipment and to Eisa Edgar the “Honorary Gardener” (80 in August) who has planted and is now responsible for the beautifying of the ground.
Our appreciation is extended to the Headmasters and Cricket Coaches at the four secondary schools; to the Canterbury Cricket Association and to the Canterbury Country Cricket Association for their assistance; to our Patron, Waiter Hadlee, who together with lain Gallaway spent time at the ground reminiscing and viewing the proceedings and to all the opposition teams who made the season for “The Willows” Club possible.
To Willie Fairbairn for the well-constructed and much-used drinks trolley and to Barry Ellis of the Red Lion Tavern, Rangiora for his generous donation, we extend our appreciation.
We record the loss to the Club of Trevor Campbell, OBE, the Founder of the London New Zealand Cricket Club in 1951, and John MacDonald, Headmaster of St Andrew’s Junior School. We extend to their families our sincere condolences.
The Club was most fortunate to receive extensive publicity from the Christchurch Press as the result of a feature article written by Simon Cunliffe and from Newstalk ZB Radio for the one hour interview. This media exposure can not only benefit the Club but will provide the impetus to expand into other areas such as coaching of secondary school boys and implementing a scholarship for a selected boy in conjunction with the Canterbury Cricket Association. The Club received an offer from the well known ex-senior New Zealand representative John Wright, who is prepared to undertake a day’s coaching prior to the 1996-97 season and this has been gladly accepted.
Fixtures for next season will include I Zingari from Australia, a South Island selection by Mobil Oil (NZ) Ltd and hopefully a Richard Hutton XI selected from a press contingent or tourists who will be following the England Ashes Tour to Australia. The Mobil Oil fixture will be a substantial winner takes all encounter, the winner being the Rangiora St John Ambulance and the local Boy Scouts Group.
A possibility exists that the Club may plan a tour to Australia in the season 1998-99. This is yet to be discussed and finalised.
A “Willows Foundation Trust” has been formed (trustees Barry Hadlee, Cran Bull and Mike Dormer) with the objective of creating a fund which will enable the Club to be self funding in the years ahead. The ground, including pavilion, scorebox and landscaping is included in the Trust which should hopefully be there in 150 years’ time!
Conclusion
On behalf of the Club and all “Willowers” let me express to Phi! Harris, our Match Co-ordinator and Treasurer our grateful appreciation for his efforts in ensuring each Sunday’s team was selected, and notified, as without Phil’s commitment “The Willows” Club would be far from the recognised position it is in today. Thank you, Phi!.
Finally, next year’s success will again depend on all “Willowers” participating as players, spectators or umpires.
Please make every effort to be at the Informal Winter Gathering, at the Bull Bar, Occidental Hotel on June 13.