Strathmore and Perthshire Cricket Union Handbook 2010

4 honour, I cannot help but be concerned that we are finding it a constant struggle to attract people to join the Management Committee or to serve as Office-bearers. One of the great strengths of the Union has been its policy of restricting the post of President to a single two-year term. By doing so, we have avoided the pitfall of many other organisations who have become moribund due to a lack of fresh blood and new ideas emanating from the top. While it is tempting to allow a few willing workers to soldier on year after year, rotating the chain of office around the table, it is not healthy for an organisation such as ours. At the last AGM, we were left without sufficient nominations to fill all the vacancies on the Management Committee and we have been obliged to co-opt Allan Baxter and William Ferguson to fill two current vacancies. What we really need is for some current players, particularly from the Premier Division Clubs, to put their names forward before the next AGM. Without an infusion of new, younger people, your Committee runs the risk of becoming out of touch with the needs of the current and future generation of players. The work of the Management Committee is not onerous but it can be rewarding in terms of the knowledge that you are making a contribution to the future of cricket in this area. Being on the Committee does not force you to become President in due course even though it sometimes looks that way. There is a place for people who just want to give the Union the benefit of their ideas and experiences. With 28 clubs in membership, there should be plenty of people who could make a difference. Please, think about giving up a few evenings a year to help us keep driving the Union forward. I would like to thank our sponsors and advertisers for all the support they have given us over the years. In particular I would like to express our gratitude to Monitor as the sponsors of the Cup competitions and to Dukes for their eighteen seasons of sponsorship of the League. Without their contributions, the Union would be a very different and poorer organisation. I also pay tribute to David Bridges for all his work as Secretary and to the Committee members for their efforts. Finally, this booklet would not appear without the efforts of Ian Chisholm who for the last 35 years has been compiling the Union’s statistics. The volume and the quality of his work is amazing and we are very lucky indeed to enjoy his services. Richard Miller