Accrington Chairman to stand down

Friday December 19th 2003

Accrington Cricket Club Chairman Peter Barratt is to stand down due to ill health.

Mr Barratt, who has been Chairman since 1992, has been involved with the club since 1980 when his son Paul first played as a junior. Paul, who went on to play in the first team, made a comeback this season after several seasons away from the club, but he is to emigrate to New Zealand at the end of the year.

Mr Barratt said: "I have informed the committees that due to my health I shall be standing down and I have asked them to replace me with a fit, strong and healthy person. There is no way that I am going to walk away from the club, I'll still be there to help wherever I can. But having said that I have got to the stage where I have done over ten years and I do feel that it is time for someone new to come in. Russ Cuddihy came in for two years and then Rod Kenyon took over as Chairman of Selection which meant I didn't have to come down as much. I feel that the club needs a fresh outlook now. It has been a bit of an awkward year because Club President Geoff Hayhurst resigned in July and the Cricket Treasurer has also stepped down recently.

"The general strength of the committee is not good and we run more teams now at a more professional level since the Lancashire League took on the running of the junior competitions. We need another four or five people to take on various roles to lesson the workload of the Chairman.

"I think we need to approach people that we know could do a good job within the club. The club belongs to the members and it's up to them to stand up and be counted."

Mr Barratt joined the committee in the early 1980s and began helping groundsman Harry Cunliffe on the ground. When Alan Taylor stood down in 1992, Mr Barratt was vice Chairman and he took over the running of the club.

"The first professional that I signed was Shane Warne. We had Shaun Young lined up but he pulled out in March. Alan Taylor was on holiday and we hadn't much time before the season started. I signed Shane and asked our MP, Ken Hargreaves to get us work permit in double quick time which he did. I remember meeting Shane on the car park off the M6 at Nantwich. I saw this guy with the blonde hair and chubby face and I thought that's him and it was. Even then I thought he had superstar written all over him. We have signed up quite a few notable names since then.

"It has been a great honour to be Chairman of the club and also to be responsible for signing professionals such as Nathan Astle and Shane Warne but my proudest moment was when Paul got his first Lancashire League hundred at Rawtenstall."