Minutes of Letcombe Cricket Club AGM Held in the Clubhouse on 6 Mar 06 at 20.00hrs

 

Present:

 

Jim Pike, Paul Bryan, Paul Hume, Ken Trotter, Laurence Gardiner, Neil Hall, Glyn Oliver, David Bowden, Bobby Jones, Simon Pittard.

 

Apologies:

 

Richard Taylor, Joe Benson, Pat Bryan, Alan Law, Richard Hales.

 

1. Opening remarks.

 

In welcoming everyone to the meeting, the Chairman passed on Richard Taylor’s apologies for being called away unexpectedly.

 

2. Minutes of the last meeting.

 

The minutes of the 2005 AGM held on 7 Feb 05 had been distributed. There had been no corrections or matters arising and the minutes were approved.

 

3. President’s Report.

 

The president wished the club better fortune in the coming season.

 

4. Chairman’s Report.

 

See Annex A.

 

5. Matters Arising from Chairman’s Report.

 

a. Youth Cricket. It is anticipated that some form of youth cricket will be arranged between clubs this season although so far only Uffington and Letcombe have shown interest. The club will continue to encourage youth cricket but no one had yet come forward to take over the coaching/organisation tasks performed by Richard Hales last year. Paul Hume indicated that he and Joe Benson would be interested in taking on the role jointly. Ken, Bomber and Gary would continue to assist at practice sessions and matches. The Chairman thanked Paul and Joe for volunteering and pointed out that instruction from younger club members would be more effective than having the elders pontificating. Holding practice sessions on the same evening as senior practice had not been satisfactory last season and since there were not likely to be as many fixtures this year, it was decided that youth practice sessions would be on Thursdays when no matches were scheduled.

 

b. Teas. Margaret has retired from teas. The options are to construct a rota of wives/partners who are ‘willing’ to do teas or adopt the Sunday approach and players bring food contributions which are integrated into a full tea. Either solution would be financially beneficial. The potential problems attached to a rota were evident to all and it was decided to adopt the jigsaw approach. There remains, however, the problem of putting the tea together and washing up afterwards. The use of paper plates may help ease the clearing up operation.

 

c. Ground. Ken will continue to cut the outfield and prepare strips but will be away at the end of May and the end of August. Jim indicated he should have more time to help this year and would be playing. Jim and Laurence will mark out the square. Ken to roll it before cutting.

 

d. Financial Support. The club’s share of the bar profit had yielded £909 last year and it is important to keep using the bar throughout the year. Dave’s sixth form party had made a significant contribution as had opening the bar during youth matches. Every little helps. Some of the regulars who support the Wine & Quiz evening will not be able to attend this year so it is doubly important for club members to support the event – besides which it’s good fun.

 

6. Treasurer’s Report.

 

Simon apologised for a lack of detail supporting his report this year. The year Mar 05 to Mar 06 shows an increase in the balance of about £840. A number of members had still not paid their subscriptions from last year. Simon’s offer to resign was unanimously rejected.

The meeting voted to adopt the accounts presented.

 

7. Election of Officers.

 

The following officers were proposed, seconded and duly elected.

 

President

Glyn Oliver

Chairman

Ken Trotter

Vice Chairman

Paul Bryan

Secretary

Richard Taylor

Treasurer

Simon Pittard

Fixture Secretary

Laurence Gardiner

Saturday Captain

David Bowden

Saturday Vice Captain

Chris Andrews/Rob Jones

Sunday Captain

Neil Hall

Sunday Vice Captain

Paul Hume

Midweek Captain

Rob Jones

 

A vote of thanks was passed for Laurence’s sterling efforts in continuing to keep a full fixture list.

 

Committee:

 

Geoff Stokell; Gary Stone; Alan Law; Paul Hume; Kevin Rich; Pat Bryan; Chris Andrews

 

8. Match Fees

 

The meeting noted that OCA fees had risen from £70 to £85 and the umpires’ fees from £20 to £25. In view of the decision for players to provide tea contributions, the following match fees were agreed:

 

 

Saturday

Sunday

Mid week

Seniors

£5 + tea

£2 + tea

£2

Juniors

£2 + tea

Tea only

£1

 

9. Subscriptions

 

The meeting considered the current level of subscription could be maintained provided everyone paid. Even a small number of defaulters would lead to a rise in subscriptions. The direct debit scheme painlessly ensures subs are paid and is cheaper than paying a lump sum.

The following subscriptions were agreed:

 

Seniors

£50

Juniors

£25

 

10. Any Other Business

 

a.       Indoor Nets

 

Indoor nets have been arranged as follows:

26 Mar, 2 Apr, 9 Apr 10.00hrs to 11.00hrs. Two lanes on each occasion. Cost to the club is £93 which means £31 must be recovered at each of the 3 sessions.

 

b.       Preparatory Tasks.

 

 

Annex A – Chairman’s Report

 

On the Field

 

The Saturday side suffered some early heavy losses, due largely to difficulties in getting full sides out early in the season. We started punching our weight in mid season and finished well. Thanks to Richard Hales for all his efforts in shepherding the side through to a respectable position. Our thanks also go to David Bowden for picking up the challenge for this season. With our core younger players in further education for the beginning of the season, we are again going to be pushed to get full sides out in the first few weeks. On the positive side, however, the other teams in our division are not as far flung as in past seasons so travel should be less of a problem.

 

The Sunday side performed well under the joint stewardship of Keith and Pat. Once again, Laurence has arranged a full set of fixtures to provide enough cricket for everyone.

 

The first season of youth cricket was in some ways the highlight of the year. The club, in common with many others, needs to encourage youngsters to take up the game and we made significant progress in this respect last season. Of course, not all the players will progress to senior cricket and some of those who do will move to other clubs but it is an important development. I’m still waiting to hear from John Boaler about this season’s arrangements. Some clubs are concerned that they will be losing players out of the 14 year old bracket, but whatever happens, we must continue youth cricket in some form. Richard Hales did an excellent job last year and we need someone to step into his shoes for this season. Gary and Bomber provided invaluable support both in practice sessions and in matches and we need more help of this sort.

 

Off the Field

 

I understand Margaret has finally retired from tea-making so we will need to come up with some self-help arrangements this year. We could adopt the Sunday sides’ solution which is for everyone to bring a designated item and someone to integrate the offerings into a cricket tea, or we can adopt a rota with all of its potential pitfalls – getting enough participants and keeping the rota going when someone can’t meet their commitment.

The club has 4 sources of money:            Subscriptions, Match fees, Wine & Quiz, Bar

To meet our financial commitments we need everyone to play their part in each of the money generating activities. Pay your subs and fees, use the bar and support fund raising events. We have had to buy a replacement mower and there will be other expenses on ground equipment. We have also commissioned an architect to draw up plans for a new pavilion recognising that it will take at least 2 years to get a replacement for the current clubhouse in place. The cost of this phase of the project is expected to be about £3000 which we share with the football club and a grant from the Recreation Ground & Village Hall Management Committee. Some sketch plans are available tonight.

 

Umpiring

 

Despite the sad loss of his wife, Geoff Stokell is willing to continue standing as the representative club umpire this season. We are especially grateful to Geoff but we must be prepared to provide replacements if he cannot stand in a match for any reason.

 

The Ground

 

I will continue to do what I can by way of cutting the outfield and preparing strips but I will be away on occasions eg 27 May – 4 Jun so I will need one or more understudies.