POSITIVE things are on the horizon for Abergavenny Cricket Club, especially for the Junior Section, was the forecast at the Annual General Meeting of the club held at their Avenue Road ground.

A well attended gathering which was presided over by the President Brian Shackleton heard reports from all the Captains, the Youth Chairman, as well as the Officers of the Club, which is in its 181st year of existence.

At the outset members stood in sympathy with relatives of deceased members Mrs Barbara Shackleton, Mrs Margaret Griffin, Mr Derek Connolly, Mr Ken Williams, Mr Alan James, Mr Philip Saunders, Mr Ken Hewitt, all of whom had been staunch supporters of the club.

The auditors [Peachey’s] attended and commended the balance sheet to the members having recorded a much better result this year compared to last year.

The treasurer Mr Richard Bradley highlighted the key issues and suggested that there was no time for complacency with expenditure set to rise year on year there is a need to work hard to ensure the income streams remain robust. There will be an inflationary uplift to membership fees which was unanimously agreed.

The President in his address thanked all the hard working Officers & Committee including the Ladies Section which continues to offer tremendous support to the Club. He hoped that the True spirit of cricket would return to the recreational game and that the unsporting behaviour that he witnessed at times during the season is stamped out.

The Chairman Stephen Denning echoed the words of the President and outlined the number of issues he had to deal with throughout the season which were an unfortunate distraction. He believed the future to be bright as the talented youngsters referred to by the Youth Chairman Mr Nick Kinman begin to improve with age and work their way into the Senior Teams. He praised the work in particular of Mr Geraint Leach and the coaching team and looked forward to a good summer in 2016.

The Captains of the four teams picked out highlights from the Season which was like a ‘Curates egg’ sadly the low point was the relegation of the Second X1, but the captain Mr Gareth Powell was certain they would bounce back straightaway.

Election Of Officers for 2016

President- Mr Brian Shackleton, Chairman- Mr Stephen Denning, Secretary-Mr Kevin Schofield, Treasurer- To Be Confirmed, Subs Secretary- Mrs Kelly Evans, Fixture Secretary-Mr Mike Bruton, Cricket Chairman- Mr Warren Butterworth, Youth Chairman- Mr Nick Kinman, Ground Chairman- Mr Dick Brown. First X1 Captain – Mr Geraint Leach, Second X1 Captain – Mr Gareth Powell, Third X1 Captain- Mr Mark Winstanley.