Strathmore and Perthshire Cricket Union Handbook 2011

2 WELCOME The 2010 season was one of contrasts. Decent weather produced a lot of quality cricket and the title races in most divisions went right down to the wire. Kinross, Gordonians and Almond Valley each won their respective division for the first time and Kinloch achieved promotion to the top division of the Union after 40 years of competition. For Kinross, the rise from Third Division to Premier has come in just five seasons and is a testament to the efforts of the club to develop through a very strong youth structure. Other clubs in the Union could take a look at the Kinross setup and use it as a model for their own Total Club Development. The promotion of Gordonians pleased me personally. To see a club with a proud Union history suffer and then return to success is especially inspirational. The decision of the Countesswells club to enter a second team in the Union for 2011 shows the level of their commitment. We are also being joined for the first time by St Andrews University Staff, a team I know from many years of battling for the Ferrier Trophy. I am sure they will enjoy their first season in the Union. These were very much the positives for the year. There were downsides, however. For the first time, the Union has been obliged to adopt a disciplinary process, with penalties enforced. Despite repeated calls for captains to ensure that players adhere to the Laws of Cricket, some people still felt that verbally abusing players, particularly youngsters, could be dismissed as ‘light banter’. Patently, the players being abused, and their team-mates, did not agree and the Committee was forced to act. The result is our adoption of the Cricket Scotland Disciplinary Code and Procedures for the coming season. It is my earnest hope that we do not have to have recourse to these processes but no-one should be in any doubt that the Committee will take strong action against any player who transgresses. It has often been said that there is nothing new under the sun and a read through the Union’s early minute books which resurfaced this year has confirmed that. Early in its existence, a proposal for membership by some of the then County Second Elevens was discussed and rejected. The main grounds for excluding these teams was that they would be bound to strengthen their side with County players when available and this would distort the league. Eighty years on, we still have the same complaints, this time involving SNCL players. I suspect