Welcome to the twelfth of our newsletters. I hope they help keep all stakeholders in the Otago Country network up to date with the happenings within our organisation.
We held our AGM last Thursday and the officers elected to run the association over the next 12 months are as follows, Patron, Stewart McKnight President, Geoff Blakely Immediate Past President, Alex McHutchon Vice President, Malcolm Jones Board, Malcolm Jones (Chairman), Lindsay Breen, Shayne O’Connor, Graeme Buttar, Fraser Wilson, Jon Lovelock, Rhiane Smith, Donald Jackson (Treasurer and Minute Secretary), Geoff Blakely. At the AGM two new Life Members were announced with Geoff Blakely and Dave Cummings who have given outstanding service to both the Central Otago and Otago Country associations added to the list. Both men have contributed for over 40 years and continue to do so. They both received a Life Members badge and a small plaque acknowledging their achievements. Existing Life Members Stewart McKnight, Barney McSkimming, Malcolm Jones, Alex McHutchon were on hand to welcome the new members and receive their plaques. Murray Hughes the Chairman of Otago Cricket and a supporter and friend of Otago Country was on hand to make the presentations. Richard Golden was unable to be there but has since had his plaque presented to him. Prior to the AGM our Board met with Simon Hill from NZC to discuss/question us around the One Cricket review that is being carried out by NZC throughout all cricket associations. Some very open and honest comments were given. The Otago Volts were in Alexandra for a training camp last week over four days. They stayed at the Dunstan High School Hostel and walked over to Molyneux Park each day to train on the No 2 block. They were absolutely stoked with what they were presented with by way of the two strips and outfield Andrew Douglas the groundsman had conjured up so early in the season. They also made good use of the Alexandra pool and the Pulse Fitness gym. Simon Forde, head of Performance and Talent at Otago Cricket was full of praise and said, “On behalf of the Otago Volts support staff and players I would like to say a big thanks to Otago Country Cricket for the work they put in preparing what were excellent training facilities for last weeks preseason camp in Alexandra. Molyneux Park is a fantastic facility and it was at it's best last week with great pitch and weather conditions as you would expect from Central Otago. A special mention must go to Andrew Douglas, the Molyneux Park groundsman. It was a big ask to prepare quality surfaces in September but he did a stunning job. Some great trainings sessions were banked by the players which will at some point in the season reap rewards. Thanks to Lindsay Breen, Shayne O'Connor for all their work in putting this together as well as the team at the Dunstan High School Hostel who looked after us very well after hours. See you at Christmas for two great games of T20 at Molyneux. Cheers Simon” We wish the Otago Volts all the best for their season, which starts with a Plunket Shield game against Central Districts on the 22-25 October in Nelson and as Simon mentioned we look forward to hosting them again on the 26th and 28th December. A wee bit of bad news re the relaying of the No 1 block at Molyneux Park. Due to some bad timing and unfortunate circumstances the Kakanui clay that was sourced from North Otago was unable to be used, as it was too wet so the job has been postponed. Good news is that it is in Alexandra and will be in great nick and ready as soon as Andrew is good to go next year. The Crosby Morris kicks of this Saturday at Molyneux Park No’s 3 & 4. The games start at 11am and are 50 over per side. The draw for the tournament is as follows; October 8th, Maniototo v Vincent @ MP No 3. Umpires Ian Henderson and Mike Potter. Lakes v South Otago @ MP No 4. Umpires Russell Anderson and TBA. October 15th, Lakes v Vincent @ MP No 3. Peter Pasco and James Blunt. South Otago v Maniototo @ MP No 4. Ian Henderson and Mike Potter. October 30th, South Otago v Vincent @ MP No 3. Kannan SJ and Ian Henderson. Lakes v Maniototo @ MP No 4. James Blunt and Tanyaradzwa Mungure (TA) Good luck to each competing team and for those of you with aspirations to play Hawke Cup cricket take the opportunities that present themselves. KiwiSport through Sport Otago have given us a grant of $10000 to assist us in running our ‘Skills’ package in schools. Willie Miller and Emma Campbell will be full on in the next two terms as they deliver this program. We are very grateful to KiwiSport for this assistance. As mentioned in the previous newsletter we are looking for a few volunteers to assist with some preparation and helping out at times with covers up at Molyneux Park during the season. If you are able to help out in any way at all please contact me ASAP. The old saying ‘many hands make light work’ is particularly relevant at cricket grounds. Good luck to the three teams from Otago Country that are heading down to the McCullum Cup in Dunedin this Thursday and Friday. Wakatipu High, a combined Dunstan High side and a team from South Otago High. Good luck to them all. Our two Cricket Development Officers, Willie Miller and Emma Campbell are as busy as. Emma started her school visits at the tail end of term three and they will both be flat out next week as the new term starts. Willie is back based in Alexandra and is working out of the Trail Journeys office at the Clyde turn-off and he can be contacted on 0212790979 or email Willie @ otagocricket.co.nz. Emma is still based out of Queenstown and can be reached on 0211242266 or email emma@coachingsolutions.co.nz If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact either of them, or myself. We are approaching 500 ‘likes’ on our Facebook page so get on and support it. There is plenty of interesting stuff going up. Also have a look at our website otagocountrycricket.co.nz for all your info around Rep programs, registration info, holiday programs etc etc. Cheers, Malcolm Jones, Chairman
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