Belmont District Cricket Club President's Report and 1st Grade Report 1989/90
Belmont District Cricket Club | January 22, 2025
PRESIDENT'S REPORT.
It Is once again my pleasure to report the actlvitles of the Belmont District Cricket Club for the past season. Whilst many may sit In Judgement on the relatively poor performances of the club In not winning any Senlor grade premierships, I still feel the club has been successful.
We have continued to develop a strong and valuable Junlor club that continues to grow and is providing a very important nursery for years to come. The emphasis of this committee Is to promote opportunity for our juniors to progress to senlor levels and to provide ever improving training and coaching skills to the younger players. In this area we have been very successful and with plans in place for this year, our juniors are set to reap further benefits.
Plans have been put In place over the winter months to bolster the higher grades in some areas. If these plans come to fruition then It is more than possible that Belmont will again be riding high on the competitlon tables. One thing I have said in previous reports but which is truer now than ever is that nobody gets anything without paying for It first. If cricket strength is our desire, then every player in the club has to pay by working harder at practice and co-operating with the club's aims.
We at Belmont start each year with a big advantage over our rivals In that we have the backing of a strong licenced club and its board of management. I sometimes feel that club members do not fully appreciate what that really means. We also have the finest facilities in Newcastle for training and playing. Once again this is a real advantage. I cannot emphasise strongly enough our gratitude to the Sportsman's Club, Its members and board and the ground staff headed by Russell Neal.
In closing, I wish a successful completion of the season to our kindred bodles, Lakes United and Belmont Baseball Club and a successful forthcoming season to my fellow cricketers.
ROBERT MAYO.
FIRST GRADE REPORT.
The season of 89/90 was less than fruitful for the 1ST grade side. A number of hiccups during the winter and pre-season did not help the season off to a good start. These included the unfortunate failure of Richard Blakey to arrive at Belmont due to his selection in the England A squad to tour Zimbabwe. Steve Clarkson also decided to stay on in England instead of returning to Australla. This left us a trifle short on experienced top order batsmen, a problem that plagued us throughout the season.
It was this problem of the batting that was a major reason for the poor showing of the first grade side. A team that scores 200+ in only 3 games of 100 over cricket is always going to struggle to come out on to. The two most consitent batsmen were Craig Hamilton and Greg Charlton whilst the evergreen Russell Neal weighed in with a useful contribution now and then. Whilst taking nothing away from Cralg, the fact that he won the batting award from number 7 highlights how disappointing the contribution from the top order was.
The bowling attack was quite adequate and did a reasonable job throughout the season. The bowlers, Kevin Bray, Craig Hamilton, Nigel Barrett, Brett Petersen (when available and fit) David Wrixon and Russell Neal all did well at some stage of the season. Craig gained personal representative honours with both Newcastle and NSW Country. The younger bowlers Nigel Barrett and David Wrixon both gained vital experience in their initial year of consistent 1st-grade cricket and will no doubt reap the benefits in the years to come. Another youngster to do well in his first year in the top grade was David Ireland who, although not scoring heavily, still showed he has a strong future if he continues to work hard at his game.
The fielding was good for most of the year. Some of the chances that went down were very difficult but, the number of outstanding catches taken far outweighed the number that were dropped. Mention must be made of Peter Schacht and Kevin Bray who were successful in winning the NDCA Wicketkeeping and fielding awards respectively.
On the positive side of the ledger, the 1st grade side together with a number of second graders including Chris Williams, Eric Tyrrell, Steve Rippon, Steve Jackson and Kyle Doyle were successful in winning the annual Wallsend 15 over knockout. Belmont was also successful in the C & S Day/Night 30 over knockout competition. Well done to everyone who participated in these competitions.
Our heartiest thanks from all players to Sid Mayo who continues to persevere and score for the first grade side every Saturday afternoon. It was not the best year for Sid and his blood pressure rose on numerous occasions (with every justification) but, we can guarantee Sid that this year will be an improvement.
Thanks are also due to Anne Charlton for her dedication in providing the fine afternoon teas which I'm sure the players enjoyed thoroughly each Saturday. To Dave Bolewski and the Cut Price Dell at Belmont, our thanks also for your continued support during the season.
To Russell Neal and Shane Marks, who both work very hard to provide the top class practice and game facilities that the whole club enjoys during the entire summer, a hearty vote of thanks. Finally to John Hook and the directors of the Sportsman's Club, we wish to acknowledge the great support you give to sport in the Belmont area, especially cricket and look forward to your continuing support in the years to come.
ALLAN SHARP.
