KENT County Cricket Club members witnessed a changing of the guard at Monday night’s annual meeting of the club in Ashford where a new chairman and president were installed.

After nine years in office county chairman and former Tunbridge Wells captain Carl Openshaw stood down as chairman, while Canterbury-based solicitor Peter Morgan was named as the club’s president for 2008.

Mr Openshaw, who has also retired from the club committee, was presented with a silver salver engraved with the autographs of all nine club presidents to have served the county during his term in office.

Having also been made an honorary life member of the club, Mr Openshaw said: “Can I thank the committee for the great honour of making me an honorary life member and for this salver, which is totally unexpected.

“It has been a great honour to be chairman of a marvellous club with great traditions and supporters, and I’d like to thank all the management team, the committee members I have worked with and the club supporters, who have great enthusiasm for the club and truly care about Kent cricket.

“I’d also like to thank my wife Barbara, who has put up with me being chairman for these nine years. Indeed, just the other day it was said over our breakfast table that I’d devoted the best years of my wife to cricket!”

Due to the stormy weather only 90-odd members attended the low key annual meeting that lasted barely 90 minutes.

With five candidates up for election for four general committee places, Graham Johnson (644 votes), George Kennedy (513) and Jo Rice (544) were all re-elected for three years while John Clark from New Romney was re-elected for one year.

The only candidate to miss out was Mr Ben Moorhead, a London-based solicitor from Bodsham near Ashford, the most outspoken opponent of Kent’s St Lawrence redevelopment plans who attracted 409 votes.

Members heard the reasons behind a slight pre-tax loss of £7,000 for last year, an address from chairman of cricket Graham Johnson on the playing strengths for 2008 and news from chief executive Paul Millman that building work at their Canterbury headquarters will start at the end of April.

Construction will be carried out in two distinct phases and overseen by a club steering group and Aylesford-based project management specialists Profile Construction Specialists, who have previous experience with Tesco, The Royal Opera House and Bovis Homes.

Work on new club offices and entrance square should begin next month, together with footings for a 130-bedroom hotel that will rule out use of the green bucket seats near the Old Dover Road throughout the forthcoming season.

The replacement lime tree and war memorials will be moved and re-located at a later date, while building work on new homes on the old practice area and Bat and Ball Field will run in parallel.

Work on the club’s new conference centre and phase two of the project is scheduled for September, with all work planned for completion by the start of the 2010 season.

Mr Millman confirmed a minimum 250 car parking spaces would be available for members on a ‘first come, first serve basis’ while the work goes on, but park and ride services and extended overflow parking at Simon Langton School will also help ease any pressures.

In confirming that there will be no building work on match days, he said: “There will be disruption and things will be different, so I give you my apologies in advance, but what I would also do is ask for your patience and understanding.

“If you do have issues please approach us in a measured way and we will try and address any problems you may have in a positive manner over what will be a challenging couple of years for us all.”

Afterwards, at the club’s general committee meeting, retired businessman and 2007 club president, George Kennedy from Chilham, was elected unanimously as the new club chairman.