Auckland Cricket chairman Don Hattaway is not seeking re-election at Thursday's annual meeting.

The popular Hattaway has been chairman for the last five and a half years and a member of the board for seven years.

"I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as a board member serving the interests of Auckland cricket.

"I have always believed that the game of cricket is for playing and that administrators should never overlook that fact. To this end, the move to strengthen grass roots cricket and the positive development of the State Aces and State Hearts has been particularly worthwhile," he said.

Acknowledging the success of the Auckland Hearts in winning the State Insurance Cup for the second time, and the number of talented young players in the Aces side, Hattaway said Auckland continued to make a substantial investment in coaching and development.

"It is pleasing to see this investment reflected in the development of elite players and the continuing growth of coaches in Auckland," he said.

The development of a career path for coaches had been helped by the requirement that all premier and first grade cricket club sides in Auckland have a coach attached to them.

This also helped lift the standard of cricket.

"Whilst the standard of cricket varies amongst the teams the standard is improving and the trend is in the right direction," he said.

"During the past year one of the main areas of focus has been to strengthen the grass roots level of the game by encouraging clubs to improve their governance structure.

"A professional management scheme has been developed and it is pleasing to note that this has been embraced wholeheartedly by the major clubs in Auckland," he said.

Hattaway said New Zealand Cricket was committed to supporting grass roots cricket and funds have been allocated to provide the necessary financial resource.

"Although the board of NZC has not yet determined the timing of payment and how much each association will receive, the clubs are preparing their business plans for review by Auckland Cricket.

"By making good use of the time available to properly plan for the implementation of the professional club managers' scheme, it is anticipated that when final approval is given by NZC that we and the clubs will be ready to implement the scheme," he said.

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