The Twelfth Man 2018

8 SECRETARY’S REPORT L eaving the crease. This is my final report as Secretary of this splendid Society. As stated in the pages of The Twelfth Man 12 months ago I gave notice to the general committee of my intention to relinquish the post in September 2018, after 15 years as Secretary, and 30 years service as a WCLS official. Thank- fully the Society has been fortunate to uncover and per- suade two very capable members to take on the bulk of my workload in the shape of Andrew Jones and Chris Barron. I hope all members will support their respective nominations to the roles of Assistant Secretary and Hon. Secretary at the 2018 AGM and I wish them both well. Personally it is time to free up more time to watch, research and enjoy the summer game that has enthralled me since my teenage years. As our Chairman said, when he kindly gave a warm tribute to my service at the WCLS coaching awards night in March, I am more than happy to offer my ongoing advice/help in any way I can as ‘the Uncle in the corner’ as he phrased it. I look forward to being a supportive Society member for many more years. My wish is that the WCLS will have a long and fruitful future and continue to promote this beloved summer game through all it does in that cause. My personal reflections across 30 years of being involved with Wombwell Cricket Lovers’ can be found elsewhere in this edition of the magazine. Changing format – positive feedback on afternoon meetings During the 2017 summer gatherings of the Wombwell committee it was felt that an opportunity should be given to ‘trial’ a few afternoon speaker events in the winter of 2017-18. All sides of the argument were considered and debated. Those, like myself, still in gainful employment might miss out on getting to one or two gatherings, whilst some older members of the Society, that have expressed concerns about driving on poor winter nights, might be encouraged to attend daytime meetings with greater confidence of getting home safe and sound and much earlier than 10pm or later at night. Our hard-working Chairman duly obliged with three such gatherings at the Holiday Inn, Barnsley. I was only able to attend one of them, the visit of Mike Gatting in November, which proved a very successful afternoon with almost 70 people in the audience. The Geoff Cope and Lancashire afternoon with Barry Wood in March 2018, despite very poor snowy weather, also went favourably. As you will see from your member speaker card it is the intention to continue to offer a mix of our regular Thursday night guests and also, despite additional venue costs etc, to provide a selection of afternoon gatherings alongside. One hopes that members will try to support as many of our meetings as possible across the 2018-19 winter season. Other Matters The Society’s Coaching coordinator, Darren Crossland, ably supported by his team of coaches and (with admin/paperwork and much else) by the ever-hardworking John and Beryl Ambler, has overseen another successful winter of youth coaching support. There have been some frustrations and issues with the Bawtry Road venue during the 2018 sessions and one hopes that these can be resolved satisfactorily as the coaching of young cricketers, keen to develop and play the game, remains the Society’s key priority. After only one edition in charge of digital design support for the Twelfth Man magazine, John