Annual Report 2011/12 - Melbourne Cricket Club

President’s Report
PAUL SHEAHAN, PRESIDENT
It’s my very great pleasure to present my second report as president of the club we love.
In 2011 we enjoyed another extraordinarily
successful season in the life of the club
and, as a national and international venue
for elite sport, there are few in the world that
can match us. That will not lead to a sense
of complacency of how good we are and how
well we do things. Rather, it is recognition
that we must continue to work hard to
provide the benchmark by which others
judge themselves.
None of this happens without effort, of
course, and the efforts of those who work at
the club and at the ’G on a day-to-day basis
astound me. Even though comparisons are
odious, we can marvel at the architecture
of the place and be immensely proud that
we can match it with anything that may be
thrown at us. In the end, though, it is my
belief that it is the quality of the management
and the interactions of people that are our
greatest strengths.
In that regard, I pay tribute to everyone
who puts their mind to assessing their
performance and continually trying to
improve it. I pay tribute to the staff for the
positive comments that come my way from
members and visitors who are served with
great care and attention to detail by those
who work at the ground.
At the risk of overlooking some, I pay
special tribute to the ground staff under the
direction of Cameron Hodgkins, who
present the ground in impeccable condition
day after day.
After all, if we cannot produce a playing
surface that players admire we are nothing.
We can boast the latest in technology off the
ground but it amounts to little if players
grizzle about sub-standard playing conditions.
In mastering the horticultural technology
that allows cricket pitches to be lifted in and
out of the surface and still produce some of
the best wickets in the country, plus ensuring
that the ground drains quickly and efficiently
when it rains, the ground staff deserve our
unalloyed praise… and I thank them sincerely
for what they have achieved.
Michael Happell ascended to the
treasurership of the club somewhat earlier
than he (or we!) might have expected with the
rather sudden departure of his predecessor,
Michael Andrew, to Hong Kong as global
managing partner of KPMG.
A measure of Michael’s intelligence and
mastery of his “portfolio”, though, has
been the way in which he has come to
understand the club’s finances, seemingly with
consummate ease. Charles Sitch and Mark
Smith, two recent additions to the committee,
have already shown that they are worthy of
their positions, having made wise and astute
observations and suggestions already.
We shall need the expertise and intelligence
of all three, in addition to the remainder of
the committee, in making some important
decisions about what lies ahead for the club.
We are in the throes of trying to establish a
base outside the ’G that members can say
truly belongs to them and, while there are
some options, it will require great skill and
wise judgment to make the right decisions.
On a different subject, the matter of grand
final seating looms large for members. When
we survey our membership, responses span
the gamut from those who have suffered
the vagaries of what the probability
mathematicians call “random selection” and
have missed out many times in a row, to those
who might equally have missed out but say
that the system is as fair as it can be.
In the end, one needs the wisdom of
Solomon to choose an answer that satisfies
everyone. In fact it is not possible to satisfy
everyone. Our aim is to make the system as
fair and as accessible as possible. After much
discussion, once again we have decided to
Above: The MCG was again centre stage for
the finale to the AFL season. A crowd of 99,537
witnessed Geelong Cats defeat Collingwood
in the 2011 grand final, registering its third
premiership in five years.
stick with the current system for 2012,
but rest assured that the procedure is under
review each year.
One other matter should be raised.
Recently there has been an unusually large
number of instances of members lending
cards. Without wishing to sound as though
I’m issuing idle threats, I emphasise that I and
your committee take a very dim view of this
practice. I remind members of the
responsibilities that attach to membership
and that the Discipline Sub-committee will
deal harshly with offenders.
The football fixture is more than half
completed and we have had a wonderful
season. It has been a season of
unpredictability and more than a handful of
teams could take away the cup this year. Let’s
hope what lies ahead is equally exciting!
Paul Sheahan
MCC Annual Report 2011/12
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