5th February 2007

The Senior side competed in the annual 20/20 tournament over the weekend with the following results:

Captain's Newsletter - January 2007

Welcome to '07'

Hopefully everyone has enjoyed the break from cricket over the Christmas/New Year holiday and, with the wet start to the season, I hope you manged to find some sunshine somewhere.

Despite the weather curtailing a number of Saturdays it was pleasing to see the Club support the use of the clubrooms with the quiz night being very successful and the Chrsitmas Party also providing plenty of entertainment (thanks for playing Santa Jono!).  The Mongolians have established themselves as the roudiest bunch off the park so the challange goes out to all other teams to match these guys for post-match attendance and debauchery.

Despite some fantastic individual efforts only the Lions are topping their grade which is a fantastic achievement for a side who didnt post a win last season.  The Senior Team did however make the one-day final which is being held at the Basin Reserve on Saturday 6 January so we wish them the best of luck.  The 2C team is coming second in their grade while the 2A Stallions remain in striking distance of Karori in their grade.

With a bit of luck we will enjoy a relatively uninterrupted end to the season and hopefully many sunny evenings supping cold beer up at the clubrooms!

Feedback

While every effort is made to cater to the interests of members we don't always get things right.  We always welcome feedback from members to ensure the Club is run in the best interests of members so do not be afraid to approach myself, Colin Owens or one of the committee members if you have any issues or suggestions. 

We are especially keen to hear suggestions on how we can better operate the clubrooms.  As this is the first time they have been used in a while it is taking a little bit of time to get systems in place so bare with us and sing out if you have any ideas on how we can make the clubrooms a better place for members.

Team incentives

As you know we have been awarding bar tabs to teams in recognitions of team and individual performances.  These are given out only when we have the aftermatch at the clubrooms.  Team captains must get their results up on the board promptly so that tabs can be calculated and written up.  It is then the team captain's (or their representative) responsibility to come and collect the tab from the bar.  Tabs are only valid on the night, are limited to $100 and are only given out if 7+ members are present (or 5 in the case of the super 8 team).

Subs

Thank you to the majority of you who paid your subs on time.  VUWCC remains one of the best clubs in Wellington for subs collection which is fantastic.  We have membership cards and Occidental key-rings for people to collect and these can be collected from the bar at Kelburn Park following play on 13 January. As of the following week (Jan 20th) members will need to present their membership card at the bar to receive member prices on drinks (i.e. the prices that have been charged up until now).  Non-members (or those who do not have their cards present) will pay normal prices.  As it is impossible to remember everyone who has paid subs, and in order to be fair to those who have, members MUST have their card on them otherwise we cannot guarantee member prices on drinks.

Non-playing membership

The Club will shortly be launching a non-playing membership which is aimed at past members of the Club and supporters who wish to maintain a formal affiliation with the Club.  The form of membership is still being developed but essentially entitles the non-playing member to all the benefits of a playing member (other than playing rights) and entitles the non-playing member to receive regular non-playing membership newsletters which will keep members informed with what is happening at the Club in addition to including other bits and pieces of interest.  Watch this space.

All the best for the second half of the season!

Andrew Morris

Club Captain

18th January 2007

The latest Wellington cricket newsletter features a fantastic article about the Entertainer's upcoming trip to Australia:

Wellington Cricket Newsletter featuring the Entertainer's article

Good Luck boys!

6 January - VUWCC Seniors win Hazlett one-day final at Basin Reserve

The VUWCC Senior side have won the Hazlett one-day final against Eastern Suburbs at the Basin Reserve today.

After going through unbeaten in the one-day round robin the Senior Side was justifiably confident heading into the final on a flat Basin Reserve track.  Easts batted first and after being 80/2 were rolled for 126 as, once again, our seam attack reminded all that it is one of the best in Wellington Club Cricket.  Chief destroyers were Matt Sanders taking 3-30, returning Firebird Michael Burns continuing his good form with 2-33 and Asif Mohammed taking 2-14.  After a shaky start Liam McGarvey steadied the ship with a solid knock of 54 and combined with Colin Owens (33*) to see VUWCC to within 6 runs of victory before Gravey's fine innings came to an end.

This win is an outstanding achievement for the Senor Side and we hope the confidence gained from this win will assist their hunt for valuable two-day points after Christmas.  With one piece of silver already in the cabinet it is now the side's goal to add a second and send the side back up into the Pearce Cup where it has forged such a proud record in the past.

Well done guys.

Photo gallery from the final

June 10 2006

The committee are currently meeting regularly to formulate a plan for the 2006/07 season.  Have your say by contacting us using the form below or better yet, by joining the committee yourself. 

The social sub-committee will be having regular 'spin the wheel' meetings at Arizona on Wednesday evenings (after work).  Come down and get in some pre-season training.

20th August 2006

Senior Men's & Senior Women's Pre-Season Training

All other grades

6th Sept 2006 - Kilbirnie Sports Discount

Kilbirnie Sports now has a brand new website www.kilbirniesports.co.nz

Their latest catalogue is online in case you are looking for new gear to purchase. The paper version of the catalogue will be available next week.

Please note that all club members of the University Cricket Club receive a 10% discount on gear purchased at Kilbirnie Sports prior to 23 October 2006 as a pre season special.  Just mention that you play for the club.

7th August 2006 - Appointment of Patron

The club is very pleased to announce the appointment of John R Martin as the club's patron.  A brief description of John's association with the club follows:

     'Very ordinary medium pace bowler' (BAG Murray) Initially a 'promising
     leg spinner' but savaged in senior cricket and switched around 1954.

    1950>    4th grade (while at Rongotai College)
    1952/53 senior side that won the championship (token appearance only)
    1953/54 to 1960/61 second grade/senior: member senior championship
                 winning side 1960/61
    1961>    overseas
    1980s     1A side

   Represented: NZU 1956-61; Wellington XI 1960

    Hon. Secretary, committee member, club captain,
    captained tournament and Christmas touring sides

    Club president: 1984-86

John was also the editor of and 'chief motivator' behind 'Three Straight Sticks - A History of VUWCC 1906-2006', published earlier this year to commemorate the club's centenary. 

Annual VUWCC Quiz Night

8.30pm, Saturday the 2nd of December

Kelburn Park Clubrooms

To enter your team ($20, up to 5 people) please contact Geoff Willmott

All VUWCC club members and supporters welcome

Official Invite

VUWCC Club Newsletter September 2006

As usual the next cricket season has rolled around quicker than the last and it is time to open up last season’s cricket bag to find out what has been growing over the past few months. 

The 2005/6 season was a collection of mixed results for the Clubs.  Two sides won their grades, the 2B Spartans and the 1B Entertainers.  There were also a number of notable individual performances with Tighe Nutsford’s 247* for the 2D Demons earning him the prize for the best lower grade batting performance at the Cricket Wellington Awards.

The highlight of the 2005/6 season was the successful centenary celebrations held in March.  Those who attended were rewarded with an excellent time and the Club has an excellent opportunity to use the publicity created by the Centenary to take the Club forward.  Copies of the club history: ‘Three Straight Sticks’ and the centenary ties are still available for purchase through the website [www.vicunicricket.com].

The Club itself ran well with player numbers at an all time high and sub collection being one of the best of the Wellington Clubs.  At the recent CricketWellington Club Chairman’s meeting a trend was highlighted which showed the growing dependence of clubs on Trust funding due to a decline in sub collection rates.  While VUWCC is dependant on continued funding from Trusts, it will continue to improve its financial situation if current sub collection rates are maintained.

As it is, the Club has positioned itself well for the 2006/7 season with a number of initiatives being driven over the off-season by the 2006/7 committee .

AGM

The VUWCC held its AGM in July and the following elections were made:

Club Patron – John Martin

Vice President – Colin Owens

Club Chairman – Colin Owens

Club Treasurer – Colin Owens

Club Secretary – Janet Stribling

Club Captain – Andrew Morris

Vice Club Captain – Simon Thomas

Committee:  David Jensen, David Jones, Celia Voysey, Geoff Willmott, Elizabeth Murray, Mark Hayward, Jonathan Addis, Graham Murray.

Initiatives for 2006/7

As part of the planning for the 2006/7 season the following initiatives are underway;

• The club has developed a strategic plan for 2006-10.  A copy of this will be posted on the website.
• The Kelburn Park Clubrooms have been renovated and the bar is now licensed for use.  Discussions have been held with the Occidental to allow the Clubrooms to be used alternately with the Occidental.
• The Club has increased the number of grant applications made to Trusts.
• The senior men’s and woman’s teams will be attending the Brendon Bracewell Academy in Masterton for a pre-season training trip.
• The Club is working on various corporate sponsorship possibilities as part of the Strategic Plan.   
• The Senior and Senior 3 teams are to be structured as a ‘Senior Squad’ with Senior Squad members being provided with Player Bibles which set out the expectations of players and provides a training tool for identifying strengths/weaknesses and how these can be addressed;
• An incentive scheme for all teams is being implemented whereby bar tabs are awarded for individual and team performances.  For example, if a player scores 100, the team gets a bar tab.  Further details will follow in due course.

Social/ Clubrooms

As mentioned, the Clubrooms have been renovated and licensed and will be a key feature of our social activities this year.  We have discussed the use of the Clubrooms with the Occidental and it was agreed that the club would hold a number of events at the Occidental in return for increasing its use of the Clubroom facilities.  The Occidental is also offering members discounts on food and beverage bills during the week in addition to the current drink discounts already enjoyed by members.  The following events are planned for the 2006/7 season:

4 November  - Opening Night (Occidental)

2 December – Quiz Night (Kelburn Park)

16 December – Xmas Party (Occidental)

10 February – Quiz Night (Occidental)

(TBC) – Prize Giving (Kelburn Park)

Preseason

Pre-season training has commenced and there has been good player turn outs so far with a number of new players emerging.  The following dates are of importance:

10 September (September) – lower grades commence training at the Basin Reserve from 12pm to 5pm (team times below).

22-24 September (Senior men’s and woman’s teams attending the Brendon Bracewell Academy)

The Senior Squad and the Senior Woman’s team train form 8.30 – 10.15 on Monday nights at the Westpac Stadium

New Players

The Club always welcomes new players so if you have friends who want to play then let us know and we can find them a team.  We are looking at entering a new team in the 2B grade this season in expectation of increased player numbers this year.

Subscriptions

This year we have a on-line credit card facility for payment of subscriptions and this will be available via the website [www.vicunicricket.com].

Any changes to last year’s subs rates will be notified shortly. 

Subs will be due by 3 December and as with last year we will be offering various incentives for early payment of subs.

Non-playing membership

We are creating a non-playing membership for the 2006/7 season.  This membership will cost $50 a year and will entitle non-playing members to enjoy the discounts provided by the Occidental, after match BBQs and to receive regular newsletters during the season.  This is a great opportunity for past members to stay involved with the Club and it is hoped that many of those who attended the centenary celebrations will take up this offer.  We are also working to obtain further discounts and benefits, which will be available to playing and non-playing members.  Further details will be provided on the website in due course.

Kilbirnie Sports Discount

Members of the Club are entitled to a 10% discount on all purchases made at Kilbirnie Sports up until 23 October 2006 as a pre season special..  Kilbirnie Sports has just released its 2006/7 catalogue which is available on their website [www.kilbirniesports.co.nz] or you can visit their store in Kilbirnie.

Corporate Sponsorship

The Club wishes to attract corporate sponsorship and is working on a proposal to develop this.  The Committee would like to hear from any members who might be able to assist the Club in obtaining sponsorship.  This might be through putting the Club in contact with key people; or obtaining non-monetary assistance for the Club, e.g. drink bottles, bags , merchandise, sports drinks etc.  If any member can assist in this regard please get in touch with me (andrew.morris@kensingtonswan.com ph: 498 0924/021 267 6184).

Website

The website has been cleaned up over the off season and we are keen to increase its use this season.  Each team has been set up with a web page and we would like teams to make use of these.  Team captains can be shown how to use the website by contacting Celia Voysey  celia.voysey@paradise.net.nz  Anything from a team profile, weekly match report or individual player profiles would be great.  Feedback from people outside the club is that our website is one of the best in Wellington and we get a high number of hits per month so it would be good to see all the teams make use of the website.

Conclusion

If any of you have ideas or initiatives you would like to see implemented please don’t hesitate to get in touch with one of the committee members (contact details are on the website).

Things are looking very good for the season ahead so we look forward to seeing you all at pre-season training.

Finally, a big welcome to the 2006/7 season!

Regards,

Andrew Morris

Club Captain

DDI: 64-4-498 0824

Mobile: 64-21-267-6184

Email: andrew.morris@kensingtonswan.com   

VUWCC Xmas party!!  

Saturday 16th December from 7pm onwards. 

The theme is 'best/worst shirt' and there will be prizes for the best efforts (or the worst as the case may be...).  Hope to see you all there and hopefully we get some cricket in this week!

Santa Claus will also be attending so we hope you have all been good!

Matt Sadd makes Wellington U19s

Congratulations to Senior 3 Lions leg-spinner Matt Sadd who has been selected to play for the Wellington Under 19 side at the upcoming national age group tournament in Christchurch.

Matt has come to Wellington from Tauranga and was selected last year in the NZ Gillette Cup Team, another exceptional achievement.

Matt is on a Victoria University Scholarship and has just completed his first year at Victoria University. 

Matt has made a significant contribution to the success of the Lions this season and we hope to see him continue to develop as the season progresses.

To cap off a good week for Matt he was asked to bowl against the Black Caps at a training session on Thursday where he managed to get Matthew Sinclair around his legs!

Well done Matt.

21st Dec 2006 - Michael Burns makes Firebirds

Senior fast bowler Michael Burns has been selected in the Wellington Firebirds to join their State Shield and State Championship campaigns.  Michael has performed consistently at a high level for the Senior Side over the past 3 seasons and is currently the second highest wicket-taker in the Hazlett grade with 21 wickets at 9.38 heading into the New Year. 

Michael has previously represented Otago at U17 and U19 levels before making the move to Wellington.

The VUWCC congratulates Michael on a fantastic achievement and wishes him plenty of success as a Firebird.