Minutes of Annual General Meeting held at The Ship Inn London EC3
Friday 6 November 2009
Members present:
Rowan Allerton, Dave Bender, Neepam Bhatt, Steve Bignell, Andy Cox, Chris Dane, Phil Hill, Dave Laing, John McGirr, Justin Norcott, Dave Rawlings, Steve Rennie, Stewart Taylor, Phil Walton, Chris Wright
Apologies for absence: Kevin Allerton, Chris Boden, Damien Zachlod
Absent: Prabhu Bapu
CHAIRMAN'S FORMAL ADDRESS
As Chairman Kevin Allerton was indisposed, Vice-chairman Dave Bender presided over the meeting in his absence.
MINUTES OF 2008 AGM
The minutes had been circulated to members prior to the meeting and there were no matters arising.
CAPTAIN'S REPORT
Chris Wright advised the meeting that he was stepping down from the captaincy after ten seasons. Although he did so with a heavy heart, he nevertheless felt that the time was right, both for himself and the club, to make a change. He thanked his colleagues for making him the man he is today and for always playing the game in the right spirit, though thought perhaps the team was too hard on itself on occasions. A vote of thanks for his long and worthy contribution to the club was made by Phil Walton to which the meeting wholly concurred. A suitable presentation was then made to Chris to mark his long tenure as skipper.
TREASURER'S REPORT
Steve Bignell referred the meeting to the balance sheet and stated the financial situation was much the same as last season, with the club showing a small balance in credit. However, after some discussion it was agreed to raise annual subscriptions to £60 and match fees to £10 in line with ever-increasing costs for pitches and teas, etc.
It was agreed some fund-raising activities would be useful: Andy Cox said he would arrange a musical evening in the New Year and Dave Rawlings would organise a quiz.
The treasurer agreed to cover the cost of pre-season nets through club funds. Chris Wright had done this himself in previous years and always ended up out of pocket. It was decided Chris would still book the nets at Lord's for the New Year, although fewer than in the past (max. 5-6), and the club would reimburse him in full, thereby covering the cost of any shortfall.
Chris's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wright, had kindly made a donation of £50 to the club. John McGirr also generally agreed to forego the £140 owed to him for booking the two pitches at the CSSC ground in Chiswick in 2009 - £60 going to his annual subscription for 2010 and £80 as a donation to the club.
FIXTURE SECRETARY'S REPORT
Phil Hill announced he would be standing down from the position. The meeting thanked him for his good work over previous years though it was agreed that the number of fixtures was now unsustainable in view of the age and size of the membership, and that the new incumbent should avoid any 'double header' weekends when the club was not on tour (see discussion in AOB).
WEBSITE
It was generally agreed that the new site was working well and fairly represented the ethos of the club. Chris Dane agreed to carry on as the webmaster, although it would cost £35 to keep it going for another year. Any contributions and ideas from members would be welcomed.
NEW MEMBERS
Mike Delanian was confirmed as a full member for 2010.
ELECTION OF OFFICIALS
Chairman - Kevin Allerton
Captain - Chris Dane
Vice-captain - Chris Boden*
Fixture Secretary - Steve Rennie
Treasurer - Steve Bignell
Director of Cricket/Organiser - Steve Bignell
Vice-chairman - Phil Hill
*Chris Boden was not present at the meeting but was advised of his nomination by telephone and agreed to stand.
PRESENTATION OF AWARDS (as voted for on the night)
Batsman of the year - Chris Wright
Bowler of the year - Chris Boden
Fielder of the year - Rowan Allerton
Club Player of the year - Chris Boden
Champagne Moment - Rowan Allerton's superb running catch against Walthamstow Horizontals at Winchmore Hill.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
With Steve Rennie, having been elected new fixture secretary to combine with the job of booking pitches, there followed a long discussion as to how fixtures could be reduced to a more manageable level. There was some argument about cropping the Bob Ashton Memorial Cup games from 3 to 2, but this was narrowly defeated on a show of hands. It was agreed that Steve had a mandate from the club to arrange fixtures and venues and he should be left to use his discretion, having taken into account the feeling of the members present. It was hoped that the home venues would be split between Greenford, Winchmore Hill and Berkhamsted.
Dave Bender announced that he no longer wished to be in charge of the club kit, but agreed to hold on to it until a more suitable arrangement could be made for next season.
There being no further matters the meeting was closed.