A cricket administrator is wanted as a matter of urgency to act as secretary to the County Cricket Club, following the decision of Bill Marchant, of Rosemarket, to stand down after 17 years in post.
Remarkably, since the inception of the County Club in 1947 there have only been four county secretaries. Cyril Preece, of Stackpole, was the first to hold office from 1947 to 1959. He was followed by David Lloyd, of Steynton, until he was succeeded by Jim Jones, of Neyland, in 1974, and Bill Marchant took over the reins in 1987.
Unfortunately, no nominations were received at the County AGM for a successor to Bill Marchant.
The County Club cannot function without a secretary. Speaking at the AGM, the retiring secretary, Bill Marchant, said: "Should any of you consider taking on the job of honorary secretary, let me offer you the following which may go some way to help you make up your mind. The handbook is two-thirds on the way to completion. All of the adverts are in place so you can forget any involvement with the County Handbook for a year."
Continuing, he said: "The distribution of cricket balls to the clubs will now be undertaken by Tony Scourfield, of Carew. The organising of the bulk purchase and distribution of loam will now be undertaken by the grounds advisor and his committee at the Pembrokeshire Groundsmanship Association. The cup draws at the end of March will be taken care of, with hopefully the draws completed up to the quarter-final stage in each competition. Additional help will be available for the match programmes for each of the finals.
"What is left you may ask? The answer is mainly administrative - preparing the agenda for each meeting, taking the minutes and answering any correspondence. There will be help available. If someone is prepared to take on the job, then subject to your approval, the affiliated clubs and your executive committee, I shall apply for the one vacancy on the executive committee to give the applicant as much help as possible in their first year. During this time he or she will have a fuller understanding of what is involved and pick up the reins of the job gradually."
Concluding, he said: "Please give this offer serious consideration and should any of you want to have a chat about all it entails, then please give either the chairman or myself a ring and we shall give you all the information you need."
This is a most generous offer by Bill Marchant to give his successor a helping hand. Ideally, an administrator with a cricketing background would fit the bill (no pun intended!), but at this stage it is imperative for anyone with the necessary administrative skills to step into the breach.