Let me start my report on the last season on a very positive note by congratulating our New Zealand representatives, Peter Fulton, Tom Latham and Andrew Ellis. All have made the most of their opportunities: no-one more so than Peter Fulton, with his fantastic double in Auckland. Also, congratulations to his new opening partner, Hamish Rutherford, who represented Otago Boys’ at The Willows some seasons ago.
In reviewing the season, the highlight was undoubtedly the Governor-General’s game on the last Sunday in March. The evening before, Christine Leighton, principal of St Andrew’s College, hosted a wonderful dinner for the Governor-General and Lady Janine, the two teams and a number of Willows members. While we would like to open this function to a greater number of members, space restrictions keep it strictly limited. In the course of the evening the guests at the dinner were entertained by superb selections presented by pupils of the music department. It was a pleasure to welcome the Governor-General, the Right Hon. Sir Jerry Mateparae and his wife, Lady Janine, to the dinner and to the match the next day. We are privileged that the Governor-General has continued this tradition that means so much to the boys representing him and to the Club. For a change, The Willows team of ex-New Zealand players was successful.
You will see the photograph elsewhere in this report, but it was wonderful to see some new faces such as Matthew Bell, Richard Petrie and Shayne O’Connor. We had positive feedback from the new players, and this fixture will continue to go from strength to strength. Of particular importance to the Club was the fact afterwards the ex-New Zealand players were so willing to spend time talking to the boys about the game and their cricket.
The results show that we had a highly successful season, which continues to be made possible only by the great support we receive from schools, colleges, their principals and cricket coaches. At our mid-year dinner the esteemed, and long-serving, New Zealand radio commentator, Bryan Waddle, regaled the gathering with his views on the game and tales from his many years’ experience on the road commentating on New Zealand sides.
As I speak, our team to Sri Lanka and Singapore is about to depart on another tour. This follows last year’s successful tour to Sri Lanka and Malaysia in April 2012. On behalf of the Club, and personally, I extend my sincere appreciation to Mr Merrill Fernando, Sir Ron Brierley and Placemakers Ltd. Without their generous support, such important tours could not take place.
Evan Gray brought his Wellington Wanderers Youth XI to Christchurch to play the Club, but sadly rain intervened and only 20 overs were played. However, Evan commented to me of the useful time spent in the pavilion while the rain fell outside, with many senior cricketers talking with the boys over their past experiences and learning. The future looks bright, and already the 2014 fixture list is full.
As always, there are many people to thank in the running of the Club. The town and country umpires (organised by Eddie Brownlee and Graeme Evans respectively) who stand Sunday after Sunday; the scorers, Tony Campbell, David Brooke and Rod Abbott, who as always perform sterling service; our caterers, Lionel and Liz Ford, who continue to sustain players and club guests at lunchtime in the same pleasant manner as our after-match hosts, Kaye and Wayne Miller, together with their daughter-in-law, Tash. Indeed, my last visit to the ground for the season found Tash working extremely hard cleaning the pavilion. Jim Stringleman as our match manager has done an outstanding job, and has assisted Peter Devlin with ground maintenance. As most members know, our new square was laid under the supervision of Peter Devlin, and while it has taken some time to bed in, by the end of the summer it was looking better and better and will doubtless provide countless runs in the future.
Our secretary, Andrew McRae, and our treasurer, Alistair Sheard, are to be thanked by the committee and members for their sterling support throughout the last 12 months. Our continued thanks go to Richard Cowles, who has edited our annual report since 1994. While members enjoy this publication, I doubt that many realise the hard work that is put into its preparation and printing, all supervised by Richard. I wish also to note the number of positive messages I received from overseas members in Australia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Germany, Great Britain and other countries, all commenting on the quality of the report and the fact that it is by far and away the best Club report they read.
Isabel McRae, with her husband John in support, take on a considerable burden as membership secretaries. This hidden work behind the scenes contributes greatly to the success of the Club.
Finally, thanks to Rex Hayward from Oxford who, Sunday after Sunday, attends the ground, often taking the field in insane positions, to take photographs of the action. At the end of the day’s play these photographs are placed on a flash drive and given to the respective school’s coach, who can use them to assist in improving young cricketers’ play. Such photographs appear throughout our annual report, and are on our website (www.thewillows.org.nz).
The Club continues to be youth-focused, and our vision is much broader than simply the games played in Loburn. We wish to progress the Club financially to a stage where we can hire two professional coaches under the Club’s administration. We would use these coaches to assist all schools and colleges, at whatever level of the game, to improve their standards and quality of play. The focus would be on training and improving the skills of the coaches. This will be similar, but more extensive, to the work done by Mike Shrimpton a few years back, generously supported by Vero. If the resource was sufficient, we would certainly look to expand this to assist coaching of primary school children as well. I am very conscious that that is a lofty ambition, but in my view it is critical to provide such grassroots initiatives if our beloved game is to grow and flourish. While a lot of work is done in these areas, there are still significant gaps and a club like The Willows is in a strategic position to assist.
Finally, a plea on behalf of those responsible for selecting teams to play each Sunday. It is a difficult and unenviable task to meet everyone’s wishes and accommodate their commitments. It is made more difficult by many members who pull out at the last minute, often late on Saturday night (I wonder where from!), or even on a Sunday morning. There will be occasions when this occurs, but I personally believe that if any members finds themselves in that position, it is their task to find the replacement player. We need members of The Willows, many of whom played regularly in the past, to commit themselves to two or three games a season and to ensure that they attend those games, or alternatively arrange a replacement.
I, and the committee, look forward to welcoming you all again at Loburn at the start of the 2013/14 season.
With very best wishes to all our membership.