The cricket society

After the long and devoted service given to The Cricket Society by my father, Hubert Preston, who was President from 1947 to 1959, several senior members have criticised the considerable northern bias which ran through the article in the 1979 Wisden entitled The Cricket Society Movement. In all but one paragraph there was no reference whatsoever to The Cricket Society or any other society south of the Trent.

The Society of Cricket Statisticians changed its name formally to the Cricket Society in October 1948. At that time, and indeed for a year afterwards, members resident in the north were formed loosely in the Northern Section and did not break away to become the Northern Cricket Society until 1950. The Cricket society is a truly national (even international) organisation with some 470 members residing in the Greater London area out of a total membership well in excess of 2,000 in the British Isles alone. This society, with its affiliates in Australia and Rhodesia, enjoys a membership much larger than that of all the other 25 societies combined. Moreover, The Cricket Society, whose honorary secretary is E. C. Rice, meets, dines, publishes, plays, tours, awards, sponsors and is generally more active than all the other societies combined. Besides Mr. Rice, other officials are President: E. W. Swanton, OBE; Chairman; C. C. W. Box-Grainger; Vice-Chairman: Miss Netta Rheinberg; Treasurer: P. E. Byrne. - N.P.