THE withdrawal of Wrecclesham Cricket Club from the I’Anson was avoidable, according to Henry Bate, their captain last season.

He writes to the Herald: “As the 1st XI captain (now former) and committee (now former) member of the club, I give you my take on the acrimonious end to the club.

The folding of Wrecclesham Cricket Club is a tragedy. More so because it did not need to happen.

In the 2016 season, the club suffered from player retention and morale. The pitch was barely acceptable or playable, which also disillusioned some players and members. Added to this, the inherited finances were depleted, having been mismanaged in prior seasons.

The new committee worked tirelessly on the pitch and financial improvement. We also improved our hospitality towards visiting teams. The player issue remained chronic, however, and in the end we had to reluctantly close down the 2nd XI. Even with one team, we stumbled towards the end of the season, often with ten players or having to concede games. Therefore, the committee agreed we had only three choices: a merger; carry on, hoping we could muddle through; or folding the club.

The committee agreed that a merger on appropriate terms would ensure cricket at Wrecclesham and provide an opportunity for our committed players. As a consequence, the chairman and I had extensive discussions with a small number of clubs. We drew up a vision and an outline of how it would work. Our preferred partner in this venture was receptive and contributed hugely to drawing up terms acceptable to both clubs. They agreed to recommend the merger to members at an EGM in late November. Our committee members expressed excitement at this prospect.

The chairman convened a meeting to discuss our preparation for a Wrecclesham EGM. At that meeting, two committee members shockingly decided to reverse their decision and held a proxy for a third member. This gave them a majority position for folding the club.

The chairman and I resigned. Their reasoning is inexplicable and naïve to me. It is really up to them to explain their reasoning and their decision not to put a closure motion to members. Personally, I am deeply upset. I had put huge effort into the club, we had a plan, and I looked forward to playing next season in a revitalised club with the ability and ambition to promote cricket in South-West Farnham. The initial feedback and sense of shock received from other playing members would indicate I am not alone.”

*The finest moment of Wrecclesham’s history came in 1956 when they won their only I’Anson Cup championship, having led throughout the season. It was during a three-year period when Bill Poulter, the renowned Bourne batsman, played for the club. Wrecclesham had finished runners-up the season before.

Wrecclesham CC joined the competition as a Miller Cup side in 1951 and won the cup the following season, earning the right to play in the I’Anson.

They were Division Two runners-up in 1991 and after the expansion of the league, they won Division Three in 2001.

*Graham Thorpe played for Wrecclesham’s youth, Miller and I’Anson teams before graduating to Farnham, Surrey and finally to England.