OXFORDSHIRE CRICKET ASSOCIATION
Colin Olliffe – General Secretary – 40 Early Road – Witney – Oxon – OX28 1EU
Telephone: 01993.704108 or Mobile 07909 978863
e-mail:
Annual General Meeting
30th November 2017 at 7.30 p.m.
Venue: Stratfield Brake Sports Club - Kidlington
Present:
Vice Presidents, Executive Committee members and representatives from member clubs.
None-attendance by Great Horwood, Hanborough, Kennington, Swinbrook and Yarnton & Cowley C.C’s.
1. President’s Welcome:
OCA President, David Burns introduced himself and welcomed everyone to the 2017 AGM, and advised that Freeland and Harwell International C.C. had been invited to attend the meeting on a non-voting basis.
Following his welcome the President advised the meeting that the meeting would follow the agenda and that the vote would be noted by the showing of the club envelope, and for the sake of time, it would not be necessary to take a count, unless it appeared very close.
The meeting were reminded that only one delegate from each club may speak or participate in voting, and the proposals set out cannot be amended during the course of the meeting.
2. Apologies for absence
Mr Steve Oliver (OCA Treasurer) working away.
3. Minutes of the previous AGM – 24th November 2016
The minutes having been displayed on the website, were agreed as a correct record of the meeting. Proposed by Hook Norton and seconded by Fringford C.C. and duly signed by the President.
4. Matters arising from these minutes:
There were no matters arising that were not covered by the agenda.
5. Chairman’s Report:
The ‘acting’ Chairman, Mr. Paul Duester gave his report which will be added to the website under ‘Administration’, and under reports at the end of the minutes.
6. Treasurer’s report and adoption of Accounts:
All clubs had received a copy of the accounts and the Treasurer’s report in their envelopes. In the Treasurer’s absence, the President asked for questions, which were as follows:
How much revenue would the increased registration fee bring in?
Answer: Approximately £1k
Concern about the high cost of trophies?
Answer: OCA Executive to discuss this and report back.
Handbook costs high?
Answer: Executive are discussing if the handbook is necessary and wanted by the clubs:
Future Grants?
Answer: Clubs reminded that these were paid from fines and would be discussed at the January meeting of the Executive.
Loss made on OCA dinners?
Answer: Due to high cost of speaker, but if more attended this would bring the loss down. The 2017 dinner will show a loss of around £470, due to ‘local’ speaker.
The Chairman advised the AGM that from this September, Stratfield Brake venue had been taken over by Oxford Leisure Ltd and the OCA are now being charged to hire the facility, whereas before it was Free of Charge. Meetings for larger numbers will be held at Stratfield Brake and OCA Executive meetings at the Wolvercote Top Pavilion. These charges will be reflected in the 2018 accounts.
The President asked for the accounts to be adopted. Proposed by Hook Norton and seconded by Sunningwell C.C., all were in favour. A copy of the Treasurers report is under reports at the end of the minutes, with a copy of the accounts for 2016 on the website under ‘Administration’
7. Resolutions to change the Constitution and Rules of the Association:
The Executive had proposed a number of rule and constitutional changes.
These proposals are listed under ‘Administration’ on the OCA website, but listed below are the results of the vote by the member clubs which were as follows:
Constitution Articles:
No 3 & 4: Carried: No questions or objections.
No 11, paragraph b: Carried: -do- -do-
No 12: Carried: See under Treasurer Report.
No 14 Carried:
No 39: Carried:
Match Rules:
Proposals 8c, 8e, 14a, 12, 14a to 14h
All proposed matches rules: All Carried: See notes below:
8c, 8e and 14a, all dates to be 23rd April and not 30th and to remove section in 14a which is “or before 1200 hours on the date preceding the Club’s first league or cup match of the season if this is earlier than 30 April”
12….typo on third line which should read OR not of Cup Competitions.
Andy Warman advised that more rule changes will be discussed by the Rules sub-committee and brought to the Captain’s Meeting early in the year, so that the actual playing members will make the final decisions, a lot of these changes stem from the Players Survey taken during 2017.
9. Election of Officers and the Executive Committee:
9.1 President:
Mr. David Burns continues as OCA President.
9.2 Life Vice Presidents x 9
Mr. N R Beech, Mr. M.A.Belcher, Mr. P T Boyd Maunsell, Mr. G Clack, Mr. D Faulkner, Mr B. Hancock, Mr. N T Harris, and Mr.M Maguire and Mr. Nick Treweeke.
9.3 Vice Presidents x 14
Mr P R Biggs, Mrs Blanchard-Ward, Mr R Burrough, Mrs J Crump, Mr. K. Hamp, Mr. S Howard, Mr R Ledger, Mr F E Leese, Mr R Moss, Mrs J Phipps, Mr A Richardson, Mrs Carol Shepheard, Mr P White and Mr C. Wrench.
The above were proposed en bloc by the Executive and seconded by Clifton Hampden C.C.
Result: Unanimous
9.4 Executive Committee:
Office: Current: Proposed: Club Allegiance:
Chairman: Mr P. Duester (acting) Mr P. Duester Chadlington
Vice Chairman: Mr P. Duester Mr. Peter Baring East & West Hendred
General Secretary &
Minutes Secretary: Mr. C. Olliffe Mr C. Olliffe Charlbury
Treasurer: Mr S Oliver Mr S. Oliver No allegiance
Fixtures Secretary: Mr D. Quinn Mr D. Quinn Wolvercote
Registration Secretary: Mr. P. Whitlock Mr. N. Sutton Brill
Cups Secretary: Mr P Baring Mr P Baring East & West Hendred
Umpires Secretary: Mr. David Quinn Mr. David Quinn Wolvercote
Disciplinary Chairman: Mr. I. Royle Mr. I. Royle Steventon
Grounds Committee: Mr I Mulford Mr I Mulford E & W Hendred
-do- -do- Mr S Morse Mr S Morse Chesterton
Facilities Secretary: Mr. N. Wilks Mr. N. Wilks Stonesfield
Results Secretary: Mr N. Wilks Mr. N. Wilks Stonesfield
Media Sec’: K Bushnell K Bushnell No allegiance
Webmaster: Mr A Worman Mr A Worman Britwell Salome
Clubs Liaison Officer: Mr. D. Burns Mr. D. Burns Stonesfield
Forum & Social media: Mr. C. Mercer Mr. C. Mercer Wantage
Player Pool Secretary: Mr. Sam Willett Mr. Sam Willett Great Horwood
League Development
Officer: Mr.Owen.Lewis Mr Owen Lewis Watlington
Other Executive Members:
Mr C Probert Mr C Probert Kidlington
Mr. B. Pudwell Mr B. Pudwell No allegiance
Result of Vote: Unanimous.
Offers to join the Executive Committee was extended to the meeting, with one proposal from the OCA Executive: Mr. Neil Sutton from Brill for Registration Secretary. Seconded by Faringdon and all in favour.
Auditors: Accounts audited by Whitley Stimpson of Bicester..
10. Any other business:
1. Sunningwell CC asked for considerations to be given to the umpire and cricket teas – to be discussed by the executive at their January meeting.
2. Ian Royle advised that due to the number of changes being made by the MCC to the Laws of Cricket, there will be seminars arranged for four evenings and one on a Saturday. Details of the dates will be put on the OCA website and clubs advised via email.
3. On behalf of the Rules sub-committee Andy Worman asked clubs to make suggestions on how to improve the game, and however any suggestions may sound wrong, we do need player’s input, so please get in contact with Andy Worman or Colin Mercer.
4. There was NO Club’s Forum in 2017 due to lack of interest but one is planned for 2018 and clubs were asked to try and support this by attending and offering suggestions.
The President thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting at 20.21
Reports:
Please see copy of: Chairman’s report and Treasurer’s Report
Chairman’s report to 2017 AGM
I write this Report as Acting Chairman following the resignation of Brian Standish in June 2017. Brian had spent 31 years as a committee member, with the last 23 years as Chairman.
He contributed greatly to this Association and we should all be very grateful to him for his outstanding commitment. I’m pleased that Brian was able to attend the recent awards presentation evening where we were able to present him with a gift from the Association in appreciation of his long service.
2017 has been a challenging year for the OCA. The Executive has met on 11 occasions, with members also meeting on several sub-committees such as admissions, discipline and rules. Other meetings with representatives from the Cherwell League also took place.
In the early months of the year much effort from the Executive was spent in discussions with the Cherwell League. However, it was obvious that although there was some agreement on certain items, the two organisations clearly had different views on key issues such as neutral umpiring and result cricket. This led to a halt in discussions between the two organisations over the summer.
However, I can report that the Chairman, General Secretary and the President have met more recently with the Cherwell League with an aim to ‘pick the discussions up’. A more detailed paper on the events of what happened has been prepared for your clubs to read.
On a brighter note, it is pleasing to record that in the annual OCA v Cherwell League match the OCA won by four wickets when, with the aid of 100* from Billy Webb, they chased down 227 to win. Special thanks go to Sam Willett for organising the team and E&W Hendred for hosting the match. The OCA now lead 4-1 in terms of victories since the commencement of playing an annual match.
I would like to congratulate all winners of our league and cup competitions. I also wish Charlbury and Eynsham every success in their new ventures with the Cherwell League.
It was good to see so many at the annual presentation evening, although a shame that not all clubs were represented. I thank Colin Olliffe and his small team for organising a successful evening.
The Executive is very mindful that the withdrawal of two sides late in the day left our premier league with too many gaps. It is our intention that this will not re-occur in 2018. We want all leagues to be competitive and the league planning meeting is scheduled for mid-December. That is why you do not have fixtures tonight.
In the current climate we are all aware that fielding a team or teams each week is becoming more difficult, and if your club is anticipating problems in 2018, please let us know as soon as possible.
Having clubs come to us in March/April just causes too many difficulties, we cannot wave a ‘magic wand’ and change everything. By then fixtures, grounds and umpires have all been sorted, and it is just too difficult to change.
New cricket laws came into effect from October 2017 and tonight several rule changes are before you to enable the OCA to be more flexible. The ECB held a major survey in 2017 and for the first time the OCA have been presented with ‘local’ answers to many of their questions.
The Executive have taken a view that the suggestions coming from this survey should be carefully considered. With that in mind, normal match/playing rules will be set out in early 2018 as proposals to the clubs. There is a thread on the forum where views can be expressed.
It is anticipated that the captains meeting will be moved earlier in the 2018 calendar so that the new rules can be voted on.
We are currently seeing a reduction in player and team participation and the executive will be using the results of the survey to propose changes. These could be with regard to the length of the game, more geographical leagues if possible, earlier start time, to name but a few. Nothing will be decided by the executive but I believe they do have a role to play in the national game to ensure our match rules evolve with 2018 cricket demands.
One compelling statistic is that in 2017 we had 56 (18%) less young players playing than in 2016. We must address this decline where we can.
It would also be the Executive’s view that the top leagues remain open, competitive and as strong as possible.
I would like to thank all the executive members for their support shown to me since July. The Executive is in need of new blood and ideas, if you think you can help please come forward.
Finally, I would like to say a special thanks to Peter Whitlock, our Registration Secretary, who is moving away from the area and not seeking re-election, his input to the association will be missed.
Paul Duester
Acting OCA Chairman
29th November 2017
Treasurer’s Report to the 2017 AGM
Good evening ladies and gentlemen.
Please let me start by once again offering my apologies for not being present this evening. As in the past, if there are any questions relating to the accounts presented, please let me, or one of the committee members know, and I will get an answer to you as soon as possible.
Yet again, I find myself opening my report with a grumble about the return of trophies. This time last year I was commenting on the lateness at which trophies are returned to me for cleaning, engraving and re-presentation. In the 12 months since then, nothing has changed. Trophies are still being returned after their due date, 1st July for all cup competitions and 1st October for ALL trophies. It is not difficult, it is in the handbook; I send out reminders by email, and post on the website. And yet, year after year, I find myself chasing around the county to collect the last one or two.