Congratulations to our Division 1 team on a great win in the NewsMail Cup Two-day Premiership grand final on 20^th December. We defeated ATW outright by 6 wickets with Adam Rayner scoring a scorching century but captain David Boge receiving the Player of the Match award with another big wicket haul over the two innings. Well done to all players on another strong team performance. It was the 10^th time we have won the Cup in its 14-year history and the fifth year in a row, although it has previously always been a one-day competition. Our Division 2 Blue side also contested their grand final but went down fighting to ATW. We also had players involved in teams which won two of the Divisions of the Seven-a-Side Carnival on 23^rd & 24^th January. Rob McGill captained Generations to take out Division 2, playing together with his son Lachlan, John Pfingst and his son Lachlan, and Brad Grogan and his sons Andrew and Steven and father-in-law Les Anderson. Rob McGill’s other son Jordan skippered a young side Skins to a great win in Division 3.

Unfortunately we have had little cricket in the New Year with many washed out weekends, but hopefully the rain clears and we can get in more good cricket over the next four weeks. Senior fixtures finish this weekend with grand finals on Sunday 14^th March with Junior rounds finishing on Saturday 13^th March and grand finals the following Saturday. In Division 1, where points were not carried on after the two-day final, we are marginally behind Country Wests despite having won our 3 matches so far and we have already qualified for the grand final against Country, whom we are also scheduled to play in our remaining fixture matches for the next 2 Saturdays, and the results of which will determine top spot. We are the five-times defending premiers and we will be hoping to add the one-day crown to our two-day title. The minor premiership rounds finish for the other Divisions this weekend. However in Division 2, our Blue and Bolters teams are in second and third positions respectively and the battle for second and third is between those two teams and will depend on the results of their clashes with ATW and Norths respectively. In Division 3, our Bulldogs side are in fourth position and will contest the minor semi-final, although if they can beat Country Black, they could move into third place depending on whether Norths can topple Burnett Heads. Our 3 sides in Division 4 will all contest the finals, with Bashers able to clinch No. 1 position if they can upstage our Pink side who are currently placed third and must win to hold on to that spot because if they don’t, they could be overtaken by our White side, who are coming off a superb win over ATW Blue and will be expected to defeat Country Red. We are also well placed to contest all 5 junior grand finals, with our under-16’s set to take on ATW. In under-14’s, our White side moved to the top of the table after their great last-start win over ATW, but with just 5.1 points separating first and third, the battle will go right down to the wire. We will lock horns with ATW in the showdown for the under-13 crown. We are 19.75 points clear in under-12 and will clash with YMCA in the decider, while it has been confirmed that our two under-11 sides Blue and White will go head-to-head in the season finale. Let’s continue the great work and good luck to all sides. Our In2Cricket program will finish on Friday 5^th March.

Thank you also to everyone involved in our Coaching Clinic in January, especially coaches Chris Powell, Rob McGill and Boyd Williams and Jodi Pfingst, Bernadette Trace and the rest of the team for organising it so well. The BCA Dinner will be held on Friday 19^th March and we must sell at least 4 tickets per team, so your attendance would be appreciated, especially all trophy winners. Our own Dinner will be held at Brothers Sports Club the following night Saturday 20^th March with tickets available at $25 each, and all senior players and their partners are encouraged to attend. All junior members and their families are also very welcome. Our Junior Break-up and Presentation of Trophies will again be held at Bundaberg Swim Academy, Fitzgerald Street, on Sunday afternoon 21^st March, and again it would be great to see everyone there to cap off another very good season.

On another note, I will be running a minimum of 175km in the Brisbane to Bundaberg Run For a Cure Relay in aid of Cancer Council Queensland, with Jack and Mick Dempsey and Keith Anderson sharing the other 225km between them, starting on Sunday 4^th April and arriving in time for the Relay For Life Opening Ceremony at the Showgrounds on Saturday 10^th April, and any tax deductible donations to CCQ would be appreciated. You can donate on line at www.everydayhero.com.au/bris_2_bundy-run or to me directly at any time, or at Jack Dempsey’s office, Ground Floor WIN Tower, Quay/Barolin Streets, or Michael’s Real Estate, Bourbong Street. Also, I am Chairperson of Relay For Life, which starts at 3pm on the Saturday and runs through to 9am on the Sunday. Everyone is very welcome to join in this great community event and help raise funds for the Cancer Council Queensland. You can either form your own team or if there is enough interest, we could have a club team, or individuals could join my team. If you are interested or need any more details, please phone me any time on 4151 5352 (h), 4152 1476 (w) or 0403 316 133.