By STU PIDDINGTON – © The Timaru Herald | Friday, 24 August 2007

The South Canterbury Cricket Association is back in black.

At their annual meeting on Wednesday night chairman Harvey King reported a net surplus of $11,835, a turnaround of over $23,000 from the previous year when a loss of $11,456 was recorded.

King said the association had worked hard to turnaround their fortunes but it was always going to be tough with the size of the association.

Increased usage of the Graeme Blanchard Cricket Centre and the sponsorship of balls by Brittain and Wynyard had helped, along with saving on wages after the resignation of the director of cricket, he said.

King, Graeme Ward and George Harper were elected to the board with Alan Annett co-opted on. There remains one vacancy and King said he would be keen to hear from anyone interested in filling the position.

The season is set to get underway on October 5 with entries to competitions closing on September 14.

Before that however the clubs are due to have a forum on September 5th. Included in the agenda is a proposal from the Star Cricket Club that the senior two-day competition be replaced with a combination of one-day and 20-20 matches. If the two day format remains the Star would like to see restrictions on the number of overs a player can bowl in each innings, with the suggestion limiting them to a maximum of 15.