Wanstead & Snaresbrook Cricket & Football Club

Wanstead & Snaresbrook Cricket Club

(incorporating Snaresbrook Football Club)

founded in the year 1866

President John Gray Esq

Annual General Meeting

The A.G.M will be held in the Clubhouse on Friday 27th February 2009 @ 8.00 pm

E.F.R.Pluck MBE

Hon. Club Secretary

1.0To Adopt the Committee’s Report for 2008

2.0To Adopt the Treasurer’s Statement of Accounts for the Year Ending 30th September 2008

3.0Election of Officers,Vice-Presidents and Committee

4.0 Subscriptions

To adopt the Committee recommendation for the rates of subscription for 2009 as follows:

Standing

Order1

CRICKET££

Playing Member156.00176.00

Playing (over 18* and full-time student)78.0088.00

Playing (under 18*)67.5076.00

Sunday/Occasional Playing Member78.0088.00

Ladies Playing60.0068.00

Ladiesand Girls Associate26.00N/A

FAMILY MEMBERSHIP

Parent (Playing) with 1 or more Junior Members187.50210.00

Parent (OccasionalPlaying) with 2 or more Junior Members140.00158.00

Parent (Occasional Playing) with 1 Junior Member104.00120.00

Family with 2 or more Junior Members104.00120.00

Family with 1 Junior Member68.00N/A

SOCIAL/HONORARY MEMBERSHIP

Social Member (Gentleman or Lady)26.00N/A

Wife or husband of above16.00N/A

Retired Pensioner20.00N/A

Country Members (outside 50 miles)20.00N/A

1 Standing Orderpaymentsof 4 equal amounts due on 1stMay, 1st June, 1st July and 1st August

*Age as at 1st September 2008

5.0Match Fees

To adopt the Committee recommendation for the match fees for 2009 as follows:

Adult matches (home or away) – includes Junior players and covers teas £8.00

Junior matches (home or away)£2.00

COMMITTEE REPORT 2008

Members will see from the attached accounts that the club made a substantial loss last year. This is the third year in a row that our expenditure has exceeded our income and the position cannot be allowed to continue. Not only must we start to cover our costs again but we must rebuild our reserves, which have become somewhat depleted. The last thing the club wants to do is to reduce the opportunities provided to members but unless we can cover our expenses, that will be inevitable.

A whole range of actions have already been taken or identified, namely:

• We have renegotiated our purchasing terms with our main bar supplier
• Utility suppliers have been reviewed and changes made where beneficial.
• Insurance premiums have been renegotiated as have the terms under which we employ our groundsman.
• Every effort is already being made to maximise our income and all sources of income are under review.
• Members will be encouraged to make more use of the facilities and to raise money from sponsored events etc.
• Every activity will be reviewed to ensure that its income covers costs.
• A relatively small increase in subscriptions is proposed, albeit slightly in excess of inflation, although members will be given the chance to spread payment of the more expensive subscriptions.

Whilst all these factors will go towards significantly improving the financial position, one of the major reasons for the extremely concerning financial result last year was the lack of a Sport England funded Sportsmatch grant. It is hoped that this source of financing will become available to us again this year, although we cannot proceed with all of the expenditure covered by this grant unless we are certain of receiving a further award this year. Unless we can afford it, we will not spend money this year, a policy that may inevitably lead to a reduction in some of our offerings to members.

We are obviously open to ideas to generate income and steps are in place to set up a fundraising committee comprising members from across the club. Ideas are welcome from all members and it is important to remember that The Friends of Wanstead Cricket Club has been establishedto enable grants and donations to be made in a tax efficient manner for both the club and the donor.Any member who would like to donate money, or who knowsof somebody else who would, can speak to Chris Hurd or Martin Pluck to discuss the most appropriate method.

We have an extremely large number of members who provide an enormous amount of voluntary time to the club and we are enormously proud of what we have achieved, particularly through the youth section, over a number of years. Unfortunately time, effort and expertise donated so willingly by so many are not sufficient and we need more income to maintain the levels that have been achieved in the past.

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE ATTENDANCE AT COMMITTEE MEETINGS

Afn. Akram2 J. Gray2 K.Lloyd4 S. Andrews5 T.Hebden5 J.Palmer5 S. Batra4
N. Hutchings5 E.Pluck5 L. Enoch5 Mrs.H. Mills 3 M.Pluck4 P.Staniford4 C. Hurd5
N. Baldwin4

CRICKET SECTION

2008 was a successful season for the club with the 1st XI winning the Premier League in some style. Their impressive run actually started way back inJuly 2007, from when they were unbeaten in 25 league games with 16 wins, 6 draws and 3 abandoned games – an amazing feat which will take some beating. As for individuals, there is no doubt the 1st XI has one of the strongest bowling line-ups in club cricket. No less than 7 players qualified for the League bowling averages. Captain Arfan Akram was the leading runscorer with 638 runs (average 45.5) including a hundred before lunch against Brentwood. The team would like to thank Henry Chambers and Terry O'Connor for their kind support and help throughout the season.

The 2nd XI had a reasonable season finishing 5th in the league. A total of 31 players were used blending experience with a promising squad of youngsters. The 3rd XI had a frustrating season. At the mid-point of the season they were top of their league but defeat by Chelmsford by just 8 runs proved somewhat of a turning point as they managed to win only two of their last 8 games. They eventually finished third.

Having gained promotion to the 3rd XI League Division 2 the previous year, the 4th XI had another successful season. They weren't expecting to gain promotion for a third year running, but that's how it turned out. Dave Ramdial, the captain, has now led them to promotion three years running. The 5th XI enjoyed the most successful season of their short history as they were crowned Fourth XI Division Two Central Champions. As with all the teams, the 5th XI benefited hugely from the club’s flourishing youth section, with as many as 24 young players getting their first taste of adult cricket over the campaign. When Hutton pulled out of the Fourth XI Division Two Central League after the season had started we entered a 6th XI to take their place. The team consisted mainly of fathers and sons and while they initially found league cricket challenging they did eventually find their feet and recorded a memorable victory against Hainault & Clayhall.

JUNIOR SECTION

The club’s juniors had another successful season. Despite the monsoons, more than 200 juniors played in excess of 250 matches. The Under 16’s qualified for the quarter-final stage of the Matchplay where they lost to the eventual winners, Hadleigh & Thundersley. Our Under 15’s won the Peters Cup but went out of the National Competition at the Regional Finals stage. The Under 13’s were an outstanding squad again, winning the David Bradford, the Len Stentiford and the Nasser Hussain Trophies. They, too, were knocked out of the National Competition at the Regional Final stage. The Under 11’s finished runners-up in the Nasser Hussain (40 over) trophy but could only finish mid-table in the MECB mid-week League

Our girls had a tremendous year. Our Under 13’s won the Essex Lady Taverners competition and qualified for the National Finals which were to be held in Ashby de la Zouch, to which we all drove only to discover that the ECB had failed to tell us that the Finals had been postponed! The section continues to progress but, as always, suffers by being unable to get fixtures. However, there is now a path for our girls into adult Ladies Cricket as we now have an established team who, in 2008, finished 4thin the North London Women’s League.

In addition to the indoor league and outdoor fixtures during the year your club provided winter coaching for its 350 boys and girls as well as supporting Borough initiatives and the schools programme.

FOOTBALL SECTION

The adults side had a good start to the season 2007–08 but faded after Christmas to finish 8th in the Essex Business House League. We have had a disappointing start to the 2008–09 but results have improved since Christmas.Snaresbrook U17 had a great season winning the Chelmsford Youth PremierLeague. The team remained unbeaten in the league but unfortunately finished runners up in the Cup Final.

A girls section has been started with an U10 side whose results have been encouraging to date.

SOCIAL & BAR SUB-COMMITTEE

Once again the summer of 2008 was badly affected by the weather, especially Cricket Week. However, despite seemingly adverse conditions, the Bar continues tobring in a high level of incomeforthe club, especially through ourwinter functions.Once again Lynn and John Rising, along with Simon Andrews, have shown true commitment to the cluband must be congratulated on their hardwork over the last twelve months. Joe Palmer and other members of the Social Sub-Committee are also to be to be congratulated for their efforts and contribution to several successful events during the year, especially during the Adult and Junior Cricket Weeks.

GROUND SUB-COMMITTEE

The contracted groundsmen, Alan Shardlow and Ian Jordan, continued to work hard on making further improvements to the playing condition of the squares and outfields at both grounds. Special thanks must go to Nigel Baldwin, who took on the role of Ground Chairman in 2008, and his father Graham for their ongoing commitment, in terms of both time and personal effort, that has been instrumental in ensuring that both grounds are maintained to a consistently high standard.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

As ever, the help and support given to the Management Committee is much appreciated, particularly in light of the extra work and record keeping required to meet the demands of accreditation and legislation. Thanks go also to the Club Captain Arfan Akram and all the senior officers for their long andenduring service to running the club.

The efforts of Len Enoch, Vivienne and Trevor Hebden in sustaining the growth and success of Junior Section are outstanding. The financial assistance given by our sponsors, in particular Terry O’Connor, who also gives valuableservice as Fixture Secretary, the donations given by the Grange Farm Society and The Jack Petchey Organisationas well as those received from the Friends of Wanstead Cricket Club are allgreatly appreciated.

John Gray has decided to stand down as Chairman of the Management Committee although we are delighted that he is willing to remain President of the club. The Management Committee would like thank John for everything he has done for the club over the years. Last but not least, Tony Pluck MBE has decided to relinquish the position of Secretary, a position which he has held since 1962. Tony has made an immense contribution to the club and it is no exaggeration to say that the club is what it is today because of Tony.

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