Season 2002/03 - Year 2

2002/03 kicked off in July 2002 with the Association holding its very first Annual General Meeting at South Sydney Leagues Club on July 31. Peter Turner, Stephen Blomfield and Gordon Smith were all returned to their respective positions from season 2001/02. A significant event prior to the season was the SCA's decision to promote the Blacktown Shires CC to fill the 20th spot that was left vacant when the Randwick and Petersham Grade clubs merged in the previous season. This meant the number of umpires required for Grade cricket each weekend went back up to 100 (instead of 90). This would have some severe ramifications for our Association with the number of members leaving our Association for varying reasons far exceeding the numbers of new members who joined us. On the field we struggled on some weekends to have enough umpires simply to cover 1st Grade, but we coped, just. Obviously 2nd Grade Shires, which had been getting about 40-50% of its matches with umpire coverage in 2001/02, suffered badly and it was rare to see enough umpires available to give 2nd Grade coverage to anymore than 1 or 2 matches at best. The gap that had been left with the exit of Blacktown CC to Grade Cricket was hastily filled by a new club in the Liverpool area, which was to be known as Southern Districts CC. The finals series again went well and umpires Bruce Parfett and John Moore were appointed to the 1st Grade Grand Final won by Strathfield CC. Bruce Parfett and George Richards won the appointment for the Frank Gray (Under 24's) Grand Final. Bruce Parfett capped off a second, stellar season by winning the Umpire of the Year award for the second season running.