Cowley Cricket Club

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The Railway Inn, New St, Cheltenham on 26th October, 2012 at 7.30

Members Present:

Tim Courtney

Jon Hughes

Dave Hollard

Mike Hartley

Eric Choong

Will Carr

Adrian Blazey

James Taylor

Pete Taylor

Ed Anderson

Tony Burke

Adam Taylor

Gareth Rhys-Williams

Rich Blake

Nick Blake

Paul Stonham

+ others unrecorded

Apologies:

Theo / Dinkel

Minutes of 2011 AGM: These were read by Mike Hartley and approved.

Sunday Captain’s Report (Dave Hollard):

·  Dave’s one word summary for the season was “mud.”

·  Performance highlights:

o  The “Blazey Scoop” entered the CCC Lexicon.

o  After slow &/or expensive starts to the season, both Nick and Mike regained some of their bowling bearings towards the end.

·  Results for the 2012 season were:

o  Sunday matches: Only 7 games played – 2 Wins, 1 Draw, 4 Lost. Many cancelled or abandoned.

Midweek Captain’s Report (Will Carr):

·  Continuing a long (and some might say, well placed) Cowley tradition of self-deprecation, Will proclaimed that he was not really a cricketer, nor a captain - having peaked at Under-11 Hockey with a 3-1 defeat!

·  We lost the first three games despite some frugal bowling from Keith Franklin (4 overs for 4 runs) against Quedgeley.

·  Will was especially proud of the top scorer against Bayshill – Extras at 19!

·  Visibly pumped with pride, Will then announced our first “non-loss” against Gloucester Hospitals, after Will Haly safely held onto his catch off the last, dot ball to secure the draw.

·  Sadly CCC rediscovered its losing ways thereafter: being thrashed by Tintern (after arriving late – very poor manners!) and Notgrove & Turkdean.

·  The long overdue win came against the Postmen when Dave Hollard was top scorer – winning “comfortably”, with one ball to spare!

·  Results for 2012 midweek games:

o  7 games played – 1 Win, 1 Draw and 5 Lost.

·  Thanks all round from Will.

·  Batting performance was led by Dave Hollard (237 runs), Rich Blake (211 runs) and Ed Anderson (169 runs, including a fine century against Frampton). So the Batting Cup for 2012 went to Dave Hollard.

·  Bowling performance was led by Will Carr and Adam Taylor, both felling a dozen wickets, with Eric Choong demanding a recount with 11. Adam won the Bowling Cup for his superior economy and dedicated his award to the 6-year old who gave him the confidence to be aggressive whatever height and age of the opposition!

·  Fielding performance was satisfyingly well distributed during 2012 with five catches apiece from Dave Hollard, Rich Blake, Eric Choong and Adrian Blazey.

·  With a few new, young faces this year, the Young Player competition was between Will Haly and Ludo Rhys-Williams, with Will breasting the winning line first for the Young Player Award 2012.

·  The Jon Hughes Captain’s Cup for assisting the Captain most during the year could have been shared between Dave, Eric, Adrian and Will, but in the end it went to Tim Courtney for his huge contribution this year.

·  Most improved player cup was an easy decision this year, with Adrian Blazey the clear winner.

·  The CCC Champagne moment (Sponsored this year by the Green Dragon) was more open this year:

o  Will Haly’s catch off the last ball against Gloucester Hospitals

o  Ed Anderson’s massive six into the Girl Guides enclosure

o  Dave’s winning boundary with one ball left in the game against Cheltenham Post Office

o  In the end, Ed’s shot won the vote and the champagne.

·  The final award of the evening was the rare and coveted “Lifetime Membership” award presented by Dave Hollard to Jon Hughes, whose constant efforts and work over the years has rebuilt CCC into the thriving club it now is. Jon, as usual, gave a very gracious and humble speech, glossing over his existential contribution.

Secretary’s Report (Mike Hartley):

Nothing extra to report.

Treasurer’s Report (Adrian Blazey):

·  Adrian expressed his gratitude to all members who had paid their dues promptly and in full.

·  A special mention was made to all who contributed over and above their subs to the ‘Heavy Roller Club’. This campaign raised £800, which more than covered the costs of reviving the roller.

·  Summary for the year was that income was up, membership was also up, but income from match fees was down, reflecting the frequent intrusion of bad weather.

·  Other ‘income-positive’ measures during the year were scrap metal collections, August BBQ and tea donations.

·  Another, not inconsiderable cost avoidance measure has been the many hours that Dave Hollard spends lovingly coaxing a cricket square out of the wildlife habitat that is home to sheep, rabbits, moles and the occasional cricketer during the year. And all of this with equipment that should really have been retired years ago.

·  Bottom line is the Club is proud to boast funds of £950 at the end of the year.

·  Total Income rose to £2,306 (last year; £1,378), of which £618 (LY; £1,018) came from match fees.

·  Total Expenditure fell slightly to £1,435 (LY; £2,299). The main items were:

o  Heavy Roller £563

o  Outfield cutting £320

o  Away match tea money at £145.

Neither our Life Member, Mike Loving, nor our President, Peter Frankopan could attend the AGM this year.

Fixture Secretary’s Report (Jon Hughes):

·  Jon was proud to start the year with the busiest fixture list in years - almost international, including 1 in Wales and 1 in Warwickshire. Jon also achieved a good balance between Sunday and midweek fixtures.

·  As usual for this stage of the AGM proceedings Jon felt bullish that we could “win ‘em all”.

·  What made this work gratifying to Jon was that teams now really want to play Cowley; a long way from the dark days when the Club nearly disappeared with a poor reputation for bad sportsmanship.

·  Jon shared with us that, since he started playing again in 1980, over fifty other clubs have become extinct, while a further 11 have amalgamated just in order to survive.

·  We must be doing a lot things right!

Chairman’s Report (Tim Courtney):

Tim reviewed the four objectives we set out at the start of the year:

1.  Improve pavilion (particularly from a health and safety perspective): While the good news was that Peter Frankopan has given the club a stay of execution, as this is only for one year it has made any investment in the clubhouse unachievable. Although we did manage to make minor running repairs to the toilets.

2.  Improve ground support for Dave: small progress was made, but Dave still shoulders far more than his fair share of the graft.

3.  Increasing the balance of local players in the club: good progress was reported on this front, pulling new members in from Coberley and Cockleford.

4.  Increasing funds: Again, good progress was made (as reported by the Treasurer).

·  Tim suggested that the same four objectives be rolled over into 2013.

·  Tim then gave a special thanks to those special members who have invested more than most in ensuring the club survives and thrives:

o  Jon Hughes: a.k.a. The Club! Without Jon, Cowley Cricket Club would not exist. And our fixture list would be empty.

o  Dave Hollard: sheer hard work - and a tenacious captain to boot.

o  Adrian Blazey; building a legacy of accurate and complete scoring, authoring brilliant match write-ups and single-handedly creating and maintaining our on-line presence. And even orchestrating the best tea of the year, too! A true modern renaissance man.

o  Ed Anderson: again for being the ever-convivial host for our AGM, supplying both the BBQ and the white van for the CCC scrap metal ventures.

o  Also a particularly warm welcome to some of our new local members; Gareth (and all the mini-Rhys-Wiliams’s), Will Haly and Adam Taylor.

Elections

The following posts, having been proposed and seconded during the meeting, were duly elected.

POST / ELECTED
Chairman / Tim Courtney
Secretary / Mike Hartley
Treasurer / Adrian Blazey
Fixture sec. / Jon Hughes
Sunday Captain / Eric Choong
Midweek Captain / Will Carr
Vice Captain / Dave Hollard
President / Peter Frankopan

Informal roles that also add to the survival and enjoyment of the club were Ed Anderson – entertainment secretary and Gareth Rhys-Williams – village communications. After a short break, we moved to matters arising….

A.O.B

·  Clubhouse: Tim Courtney reported that the roof seems to be sagging more noticeably than before, but everyone agreed we should do whatever we can to patch up the building to survive at least one more season.

·  Tim applauded the growing support of local residents to keep cricket going in the village one way or another. Reporting on initial discussions with the owner of adjacent fields which might, with a year or two of work, be brought up to a playable standard. The fields have access and running water, but would need a club house/changing rooms. A budget for this has yet to be estimated. Gloucesterhire Cricket Board (GCB) has provisionally said the venue might be feasible.

·  It was felt that to create a new ground from scratch would likely cost upwards of £10,000, which would require sponsorship. Ed Anderson felt positively that, once we knew the target, we could raise the money.

·  The meeting agreed that the next steps would be:

1.  Estimate total budget required

2.  Confirm what local landowners could provide

3.  Clarify the timetable for any commitments

·  We also asked Jason Hobbs (GCB) to quote for winter servicing of the existing square. But the level of investment seemed inappropriate if, as is currently the plan, Cowley Cricket Club is no longer able to use the ground beyond the 2013 season. So we again elected to create our own working parties over the winter months to maintain and improve the square – building on the improvements that Dave Hollard has led over the last 12-months.

·  Jon Hughes reported the death of one of our mowers and proposed three alternatives, ranging from £300 (to switch the engine over to the Honda mower) to £800 to secure a new mower (which Rich Blake could source). Again, due to the forecast eviction of the club from the ground, it was felt inappropriate timing to take any long term view of requirements and the cheapest stop-gap was reluctantly accepted and Tim offered to call Mike Taylor to discuss repairs.

·  Nets: the consensus view was, whilst our bowling was now fairly strong, our batting performances had let us down and needed practice. To this end it was agreed that Eric woud liaise with Warren at St.Philips North to continue our shared nets practice or we could look to host our own if we could guarantee attendance.

·  It was also suggested that we could further strengthen our ties with St. Philips by scheduling a “season opener” match together. Dave Hollard volunteered to organise a post-match BBQ.

·  It was agreed to maintain membership fees (and Vice President minimum contribution) for the 2013 season as follows:

Adult / Concessions*
Annual Membership / £15 / £10
Sunday match fees / £5 / £3
Evening match fees / £4 / £2

* Concessions: U16’s, Full time students, Senior Citizens and Unwaged

·  The club also voted to continue with volunteer tea providers, as this had proved both successful and financially prudent. Volunteers on the night were: Ed Anderson, Dave Hollard, Adrian Blazey, Tim Courtney, James Taylor, Will Carr and Eric Choong.

A.O.B

·  Despite Tim’s efforts to find a way to use Cowley Manor as our headquarters, we have not quite been able to make it work, so it was decided to keep the Green Dragon as the notional HQ again.

·  Will proposed that the club should create and maintain a Facebook page.

·  Adrian Blazey volunteered to set up the CCC Facebook presence.

After a vote of thanks to Ed Anderson for once again hosting the AGM at his pub, with sausage suppers and beer, the meeting concluded (for some!) at 10:30pm.

Thanks to all who made the 2012 season and the evening enjoyable.