BUDE and North Cornwall Cricket Club held their annual general meeting on Monday, January 20 at the Budehaven Hotel, as they prepare for their 150th year.

The Crooklets-based club will once again field two senior sides in the Bond Timber Cornwall Cricket League this summer with the firsts in Division Two East and the seconds back in Division Four East after narrowly failing to avoid relegation.

On the pitch the first team will once again by wicketkeeper-batsman Mark McManus who will hope that a couple of returnees, especially in the bowling department, will see them push towards the top of the table.

Six members of the batting line-up managed over 400 runs with Matt Williams’ 627 the highest. Despite playing just 14 games, Warren Rumble notched up 551 at an average of over 42. However a lack of bowlers besides the spin twins of Williams and Andrew De Rosa, who took 33 and 29 wickets respectively, meant they finished fourth-bottom.

With opening batsman Gordon Wint stepping down, left-handed batsman Matt Whitefield has agreed to captain the seconds.

Whitefield scored 503 runs last season and should go even better in the division below.

Besides Wint, who notched up 720, and Whitefield, only Derek Piper managed to pass 300. However with several youngsters returning last summer, they should continue to improve. On the bowling front, veterans Mark Whitefield and Mike Taylor did well, as did Wint with 26 wickets.

Chairman Tony Greaves said: “Mark McManus is staying on as first team captain. He’s quite happy to do it, while Matt Whitefield has taken over the seconds. He’s a decent player, his game has improved a lot of the last few years.”

Greaves was re-elected for an 11th straight season, and believes the future’s bright at the most northerly club in the county.

He said: “This will be my 11th straight season and it might be my last. Mark McManus, who is the vice-chairman, will hopefully take over. We’ve got a couple of younger people on the committee which is really good. We were for a while dependent on older people, but we’ve put a strategy in place so there’s a succession plan.”

While every club up and down the land strive to be as good as they can be, Greaves believes what happens off the pitch is just as important.

He said: “Yeah you want both teams to be in as high a league as possible, but it’s not the be all and end all. It’s also about people enjoying their cricket in pleasant surroundings. It’s not uncommon for 30/40 people to be up at the club on Saturday nights in the summer until ten or 11 o’clock.”

The club are also finalising plans for their 150th anniversary year. The club played friendlies and hosted touring matches until the 1970s when they joined the Cornwall League.

Greaves said: “We’ve set up a little sub-committee. There’ll be a series of games around that during a week in June time when there’s better and longer days. We’ll invite ex players from both close to home and who don’t live in the area.

“We might have 100-ball based competition with four teams and start in the morning. We’ve got some ideas.

“We’ll also make the annual dinner a bit more special and there’ll be a few extra social events.”

Pre-season nets are underway at Budehaven Sports Hall on Friday nights from 7pm to 9pm.

They are held fortnightly in February (7 and 21) and from March weekly.

For further information, call Tony on 01288 350703, 07397 184352 or email [email protected].