NZCPA announces Barry Sinclair in New Patron Role

NZCPA announces Barry Sinclair in New Patron Role

16 February 2010

Following its most recent meeting, the New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association (NZCPA) board is extremely pleased to announce the establishment of the position of Patron for the organization.

The position will honour past player members who have given much to both the NZCPA and cricket in New Zealand, both on and off the field.

The NZCPA undertakes many events and activities throughout each year for both its members and the community at large and it is expected that the NZCPA Patron will have an important role to play in representing the NZCPA and all its members, both current and past players, at many of these important events and activities.

The Patron will be appointed for a two year term and will be elected at the annual general meeting in future years.

Accordingly the NZCPA is delighted to announce that former BLACKCAP and long time supporter of the NZCPA, Barry Sinclair, will be the inaugural Patron of the NZCPA and will commence in the role with immediate effect.

Barry is a former Captain of the national side and played a total of 21 Test matches for New Zealand, scoring 3 Test centuries with a highest score of 138 in the 3rd Test against South Africa at Eden Park in 1964. Barry’s First Class career spanned from 1955 to 1971 during which time he represented Wellington and New Zealand.

NZCPA Board Chairman and former Wellington representative Ross Verry stated."As the NZCPA continues to grow we felt it was important to establish the role of Patron to represent our members at some of our many events and activities during the year. We also feel it is important to establish a position that honours our past player members who have given so much on and off the field to their fellow players and to the game itself".

"We are delighted that Barry has accepted this role and he deserves every recognition for the contribution he has made to our game at all levels. Barry is a superb ambassador for cricket and represents all that is good about the game".

Barry Sinclair said "I am delighted and honoured to be named the inaugural Patron of the NZCPA. I have been a member of the association for many years now and am continually impressed by the work the Players’ Association completes not only at the professional end of the game but also within our cricket communities it is an important organisation within our sport".

"Most importantly the association is about players both current and past and providing appropriate support programmes where necessary and the opportunity to be connected back to a game we all love. I am looking forward to the next two years and offering any support I can to the association’s ongoing work".

Current Board member Jacob Oram said "Since the inception of the Players’ Association in 2001, we have always wanted to grow the involvement of past players and we now have over 180 past player members which is fantastic".

"The new Patron role is important for our organization and Barry is an outstanding candidate to hold the inaugural position. Current players always reflect on those who have gone before us and try to perform up to their expectations. We hold people like Barry Sinclair in high regard".