Old Carey Grammarians Association

The 2007-2008 season, both on and off the field, was one of the most successful for cricket at Carey for a number of years. With Easter falling early we unfortunately had a very short 1st term and season. Most teams played only 5 or 6 games, though thanks to the sports department and coaches the “A” teams and 2nd XI played a week earlier than schedule (before the start of the normal school year).

On the Playing Field

Our 1st XI finished in the top half of the premiership table (equal 4th), winning half of their matches, despite fielding a very young team (only four Year 12s played) Also the 2nd XI was more competitive than in previous years winning several games. This augurs well for next season with eight regular members of this years team returning.

With the exception of Year 12s, the playing numbers in all year levels were up on last year, growing in total by 16 to 160. We were able to field an extra Year 8 team and had an enthusiastic group of 45 Year 7 cricketers – so enthusiastic were they, that only on two occasions did a player miss a training session.

The continued injection of outside “professional” coaches has proved to be very beneficial for our cricketers. The fact that they again included ex Victorian opener Graeme Vimpani who oversaw the Year 7, ex Sri Lankan international Dulip Liyanage and our 10A coach, David Hall, an employee of Cricket Victoria, was a bonus.

Carey Cricket Club Activities

Some of our ongoing activities included:

• The 1st XI Cap Presentation function - where our new 1st XI co coach Scott Blackman joined Neil ‘Spider’ Williams in the presentation of caps to the players selected to represent the school in the first game of the season. The event also included the players and parents of the Middle School Development Squad.
• Weekly Player awards – continue to be enthusiastically received by the students.
• Newsletter – annual pre season newsletter to all cricketers and their families, reviewing the previous season and setting out the plans for the forthcoming season (thanks to our editor Wayne Lanning who compiled this year’s newsletter).
• Year 7 welcome morning tea for new students and their families – thankfully the weather was co-operative again this year, with in excess of 40 enthusiastic young cricketers spending the morning plying their skills at Carey for the first time.
• CCC Cricket Camp prior to commencement of school year – 35 players from Year 8, 9 and 10 took part in net sessions, matches and individual tuition sessions that were filmed to produce coaching DVD’s. This two day program was developed by two of our committee members’ Geoff Chancellor & Vaughan Roberts who give freely of their time to co-ordinate the running of the event (thanks gentlemen).
• CCC website to keep everyone informed of the cricket program. With the co-operation of our coaches, we were able to publish detailed weekly match results, including individual player performances and match reports (thanks again to Wayne Lanning for arranging this facility).
• Directory of cricketer’s – parental consent was sought to include their family’s contact details in our electronic directory. Compiled by our Club Secretary, Vaughan Roberts, it proved to be an invaluable assistance with the distribution of information to parents (thanks Vaughan).
• End of season Presentation Dinner – nearly 160 people, including representatives of the school, coaches, parents and students, celebrated the end of the cricket season at our annual presentation dinner. With “Smokey” Dawson as MC the evening was highly entertaining, particularly his “off the cuff” interview of our guest for the evening, Lloyd Mash, a member of the Victorian Bushrangers. The compilation of photos taken by parents provided a wonderful insight into the spirit of cricket at Carey (thanks to Vaughan Roberts).

New initiative this year

• Similar to the CCC camp, this year for the first time we set about organizing an all-day coaching clinic for our new Year 7 students for the day prior to their fist full day of school at Carey. Unfortunately adverse weather forced us to cancel the day- despite this set-back it is an initiative we will continue in the future.

Challenges for CCC

• To ensure the long term health of cricket at Carey it is vital that all teams play in 4th term, not just the 1st XI and Development Squad teams. A season of around 6 to 7 games over a 9 week 1st term is far from ideal when we are attempting to develop the skills of our young cricketers. It is very pleasing that in response to a request from CCC at the end of last season, the school’s Sports Department has recently confirmed that additional teams will be entered in the 4th Term competition. At this stage it will be a gradual implementation, with the 2008 program limited to the following teams: 1st XI, 2nd XI, Year 9A team (current Year 8 students) and Year 8A team (current Year 7 students).
• Whilst such a short season is prohibitive to the running of effective fundraising, we need to explore opportunities to raise between $500 to $1000 each year - these funds will enable us to enhance the cricket program on offer at Carey.
• Recruiting new members to the committee is important - each year we lose members as their children leave the school. In two year’s time, three of our current office bearers will have left the school community and the CCC committee, so we need to encourage current Year 7, 8 and 9 parents, particularly mothers, to join the committee.
• Finding a guest speaker(s) in the early stage of preparations for our presentation dinner.

Recognition

• Paul Allsopp, TIC cricket - as TIC Paul provides a vital link between coaches, parents, students and the CCC committee – all concerned appreciate his wonderful contribution to the cricket program.
• 1st XI coaches Neil Williams and Scott Blackman, in his first year at the school - they have a true passion for cricket spending in excess of 12 hours each weekend at the 1st XI games.
• David Morgan and Mick Boyes - the “odd couple”, as they are affectionately known, for leading the 1st XI squad’s mid season tour to Adelaide.
• School’s support of Cricket at Carey – particularly for their continued commitment to cricket by injecting professional coaches from outside the school.
• Carey Cricketers and their families – for their ongoing enthusiasm and passion for the game of cricket.
• Hard working committee of CCC - thank-you for your hard work - it makes the challenge of being President of CCC significantly easier. And to those committee members leaving us, a huge thank-you: Geoff Chancellor, a fantastic supporter of cricket at Carey and hard working member of CCC over many years, and to Rohan Potter who joined us last season.

Finally, cricket is alive and well at Carey – this was clearly illustrated when you looked at the spirit exhibited in the faces of the students, coaches and parents who appeared in the slide-show of the season at the Presentation Dinner.

David Smith
President, Carey Cricket Club (2007/2008)