Today the Auckland Cricket Society and Supporters’ Club continues to offer a friendly and convivial place for those who love the game to get together and enjoy like-minded company. The Club has something to offer everyone with an affection for the game, be it playing, watching or just enjoying the friendship and conversation of other cricket enthusiasts.
The Club is involved in a range of different cricketing-related activities which include:
- An Auckland Cricket Society and Supporters’ Club team plays every Saturday in Auckland Cricket’s One Day 3A competition, playing against other club sides throughout the summer
- The Club’s Social team plays a number of matches through the season, usually on Sundays, against both long-standing regular opponents and newer opposition. Matches are played at both home and away venues and the emphasis is on the spirit of the game, with the socialising with opponents off the field as important as the competition on the pitch. Over the years these games have given Society members the opportunity to pay at grounds like New Plymouth’s Pukekura Park, The renowned Valley of Peace in Christchurch and the beautiful Village Green in Cambridge.
- Club members regularly join touring sides travelling overseas to play in various competitions like 2015’s Golden Oldies Festival in South Africa. Other recent tours have seen members on visits to India, the United States, England, Australia and the Caribbean.
- The Club hosts regular social functions for members, centred on cricketing, or other relevant sporting events. The most recent of these was a dinner for members to enjoy while watching the February 2015 World Cup match between New Zealand and England on television. Despite the very early finish to the cricket the assembled members enjoyed a wonderful evening of conversation and many new friendships developed as a result.
- The club has reciprocal arrangements with a number of similar organisations in other parts of the world including:
- The Australian Cricket Society
- Essex Cricket Society
- Kowloon Cricket Club, Hong Kong
- New South Wales Cricketers Club
- Queensland Cricketers Club
- These arrangements give members the opportunity to enjoy the hospitality of these clubs and the company of their members when enjoying cricket around the world
- The Club’s newsletter Straight Drive, ably edited by member Chris Rosie, is published at intervals through the year and keeps members up to date with both the social and paying activities of the Club as well as presenting a range of other cricket-related news and articles together with a regular update from Auckland Cricket covering their activities
- The Society Cup is presented every year by the Club to recognise outstanding contributions to cricket in Auckland. The list of winners is a veritable who’s who of the game in the Auckland region, with the most recent recipient being the former New Zealand Herald cricket writer Don Cameron.
- Club members regularly get together at Auckland’s matches to support the players and enjoy the company of other supporters of the game and of the Auckland team in particular.