WARBURTONS BOLTON CRICKET LEAGUE

MINUTES OF THE GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING

HELD AT BRADSHAW C.C.

27^th SEPTEMBER 2004

Apologies: Peter Stafford, Mike Hall and John Hutchinson. Mike Buckley represented the Junior Section. Westhoughton were not represented.

Minutes of the August Meeting: These had been circulated and were approved as a correct record. There were no matters arising.

Correspondence: Clubs confirmed they had received a letter from the ECB regarding CRB checks. From 1^st April 2005 all qualified coaches and umpires must be CRB checked, along with overseas personnel who must have a criminal check or ‘Certificate of Good Conduct’ from their country of origin along with their relevant ECB Clearance Form. Liability and insurance issues are involved.

Clubs have received details of ‘Time to Listen Courses’ at Old Trafford.

The President had passed the Secretary several articles of interest concerning recreational cricket. Due to the volume the Secretary will e-mail these to clubs.

At the Special Meeting on 15^th September the Secretary handed clubs leaflets advertising the stars of Test Match Special live at Albert Halls on 17^th November.

Minutes from the June League Cricket Conference meeting, plus legal updates including Land, Employment and Licensing had been e-mailed to clubs previously.

Westhoughton have proposed the following Amendment to Rule:

Rule 14(c) “Clubs shall be permitted to register one amateur player who is not normally resident in the UK. The player must not have played first class cricket.”

Finance: The Treasurer reported a balance of £4500. Letters detailing fines will be sent to all clubs. Rule 9(b) regarding the 10% surcharge for late payment was brought to the clubs’ attention. Vice-Chairman Derek Kay will ask Mike Hall to raise the subject of fines for match sheets with Geoff Cleworth. The Secretary said that if the Umpires would be prepared to take responsibility for reporting the slow bowling of overs, there would be no need for clubs to submit match sheets for second team matches.

Sponsorship with Warburtons will continue for 2005.

Westhoughton, Greenmount and Horwich will be fined £10 for missing the Special meetings in August and September. Darren Wilson explained the message re-arranging the September Special Meeting had not been relayed.

Umpires: At a meeting with League Officials, Umpires’ Representatives indicated they would be interested in reporting certain aspects of the match and club facilities. Mr. Kay suggested the clubs with high marks could be rewarded. A discussion followed concerning grounds and the information that could be incorporated on the forms.

It was agreed that the Umpires’ Secretary’s expenses should be reviewed at the AGM.

The Umpires have contacted the ACU&S about boundaries, but are not anticipating a response before the AGM. The League Secretary and Umpires’ Representative are considering a proposed change to rule in the interim.

The Captains’ response to the Umpires’ marking scheme was poor.

Eight new umpires are attending the course at Astley Bridge C.C.

Axford Indoor KO: The Committee agreed for a number of reasons that the facilities at Old Trafford should not be booked, but alternative venues in Bolton should be considered even if there were little or no viewing facilities.

Juniors: Following suggestions put forward by a sub-committee, clubs had indicated they would prefer to play under 11s and under 15s cricket on a Monday, and under 13s on a Wednesday with under 17s or under 18s cricket on a Wednesday or Wednesday and Thursday. The League Secretary said playing two age groups on the same evening would severely impede the progress of the most promising young players, noting at random that the sons of three members of the committee sat together were playing first or second team cricket by the time they were fourteen. He also noted that that it would be difficult to enforce rules concerning the fulfilment of fixtures if clubs could not call on the younger players for the older age matches.

Mr. Sandiford queried why Sunday morning cricket was being abandoned.

The next junior meeting is on 16^th October, and this is the final date for proposed amendments to rule. Proposals will be voted on at the November meeting in accordance with Rule 3.

A Sub-Committee has been set up to look into the costings following proposals from the Coaching Committee regarding winter indoor coaching. The players selected would have to cover any costs over the £1400 provided by the clubs, but it was agreed the Junior Officials would take an overview of costs before any final bookings are made.

The Walkden Festival did not take place.

The Junior Committee were asked to consider if there could be fixed admissions for Junior Cup matches or if a collection should be taken.

Coaches and junior and league officials will have to complete CRB / Self-Certification forms as appropriate before being appointed by the League in future.

League Dinner: The Hubert Pendlebury Award will be decided at the October meeting. The Secretary still requires ‘Player of the Year’ votes from Astley Bridge, Eagley, Farnworth, Farmworth S.C., Horwich, and Kearsley.

Junior and Senior trophies should be brought to the meeting on 4^th October.

Mike Buckley was asked to compile a register of all League and Junior Trophies, which winning clubs will sign for annually.

Disciplinary Reports: These were left until the October meeting.

Little Lever Second Team: Little Lever second team had failed to fulfil three fixtures. The Club would be fined £50 for each offence and pay the opposing clubs reasonable expenses including, umpires, scorers and teas.

A sub-committee of the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary and Tony Hayes will meet Little Lever Officials, as the Committee felt Little Lever could no longer be allowed to miss senior matches.

Other Cricket Reports: The next meeting of the MEN committee will take place on 21^st October. It was suggested that the Northern League’s lack of success in the competition could lead to them withdrawing.

Community Amateur Sports Clubs: It was agreed a working party would not be set up unless there was a threat of local authorities reducing or abolishing rate relief, as was happening elsewhere in the country.

Review of the Wording of Our Rules: Although several people had put their names forward for a working party, this will be left until after the AGM.

Any Other Business: The Vice- Chairman congratulated all the trophy winners, along with Westhoughton, runners-up in the Lancs. KO.

May Barlow thanked all clubs and officials who had supported the Lyddon Trophy.

Date of Prize Claim Meeting: 4^th October, 7.45pm at Bradshaw C.C.

Date of Next Meeting: 25^th October