President Neita back for 12th term unopposed at Melbourne CC
Published:Saturday | June 29, 2024 | 12:10 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
VETERAN cricket administrator Mark Neita says he’s humbled and pleased to return as president of Melbourne Cricket Club following Thursday’s annual general meeting. Neita who was returned unopposed shared that the previous 11 years have been good and he’s eyeing greater accomplishments for the club.
“I’m really excited that the members of my club saw it fit to re-elect me as president. I’ve been president for the last 11 years and we’re looking to continue to move the club in the right direction,” he stated.
Neita shared that since his time at the helm he, along with the management staff, has come up with different ideas to enhance the funding of the club which in reality has also improved the standard of cricket at the club.
“Cricket in Jamaica, at the moment, is very difficult. When I took over as president there was a significant lull. Since then we’ve made big efforts to revitalise as we’ve had some out of the box events such as the Melbourne 5K which was a big success and was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Melbourne remains vibrant because we continue to think outside the box,” he added.
The former national cricketer revealed that the club is currently in the process of garnering the sum of $35 million which will be geared towards the construction of a well.
“We have leased the premises in an effort to ensure that if cricket isn’t being played, we have adequate cash flow to ensure that the cricket programme continues to be funded. We recently got approval for a well and we hope we’ll be able to put together the $35 million needed to successfully complete that project,” Neita shared.
Among the current initiatives, Neita said that he hopes to improve the standard of the Melbourne cricket field as night cricket will be high on the agenda.
“We want to ensure that we not only have a cricket field of the highest standard but also start to play night cricket. We want to ensure that people can come in and enjoy the property and be part of the direction in which cricket is going. We want to be at the forefront of this revolution in cricket and I’m really excited. We have a great combination of youth and experience and we look towards the next couple of years with great anticipation,” Neita revealed.