ANTHONY AXFORD BOLTON CRICKET LEAGUE

MINUTES OF THE GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING

HELD AT BRADSHAW C.C.

18^th AUGUST 2008

Apologies: Karen Knott, Michael Buckley, Tony Hayes and Eric Smith. All other officials and representatives attended along with John Hutchinson.

Minute’s Silence: A minute’s silence was held for of Eric Wallwork (Farnworth C.C.), John Bromley (Farnworth C.C. and Umpire) and Geoff Isherwood (Egerton).

Minutes of the July Meeting: These had been distributed and were approved as a correct record.

Matters Arising: As far as the Chairman was aware, Kearsley and Westhoughton had still not returned their Child Welfare documents, and were urged to do so before the R&C Committee met to resolve other administrative issues in the coming weeks.

Correspondence: The Secretary had previously forwarded emails from the Huddersfield local newspaper describing proposed changes to overseas cricketers, and from GM Welfare Officer David Lees covering the same subject and announcing Child Welfare courses.

Grant information regarding The Big Bolton Fund had been emailed to clubs

Start Times: Matches for the remainder of August will commence at 1pm and those in September at 12.30pm.

Finance: The Treasurer reported the following balances; Current Account £733, Savings Account £5049, Legal Account £912, Coaching Fund £6472.

The Chairman announced Bill Stevenson would be standing down as Treasurer at the AGM and thanked him briefly for his services to the League. Clubs were asked to think of suitable candidates as Bill’s replacement.

Umpires: Two ten-week umpiring courses have been arranged. Both begin at 7.30pm and cost £10. The first is at Swinton Moorside C.C. from 16^th September and the second at Astley Bridge C.C. from 6^th January. David Heap has more details of the courses. A scorers’ course will be arranged in the New Year.

Missing Umpires’ Mark Sheets had been emailed to clubs. There have still not been any submissions from Kearsley and Westhoughton 1^st teams. Oddly some were received from 20^th July when no matches were played.

Juniors: Junior minutes including possible fixture changes had been sent out.

R&C Report: O Ali has transferred from Astley Bridge to Heaton. Majid Majeed will be Little Lever’s professional until the end of the season. Farnworth and Westhoughton updated the Committee on the circumstances of their professionals. The Committee discussed briefly the latest updates on overseas professionals and players from 2009 season. The Secretary agreed to submit a proposal that would permit clubs to sign a professional or overseas player, subject to future government legislation.

The R&C Committee had dismissed a protest from Bradshaw concerning an unplayed second team match at Farnworth S.C., but David Morris as Ground Committee Chairman had been notified.

Discipline: A Bradshaw junior team manager had been reprimanded by his club, and an Under 13 player banned for one match, with an additional two match suspended ban.

Three first team players had been reported, but the Disciplinary Committee had decided not to take any action. Simon Thomson said there had not been a noticeable decline in the number of players reported as the season progressed.

Ground Reports: David Morris said mid-season inspections had been partly hindered by the wet weather.

A number of clubs are thinking about purchasing new covers, and David said he would be happy to discuss requirements and prices with them.

Inter-League Reports: The President reported on the League’s success in the JW Lees Inter-League final against the North Lancs League at Furness, saying it was the third consecutive match the bowlers had excelled.. The Chairman thanked team managers Dave Tattersall and Paul Tebay. The Secretary said the Second Team Inter-League team had comfortably defeated the Central Lancs League, with Kearsley’s Dave Whittle taking five cheap wickets.

Lancashire KO Final: Farnworth S.C. will play Walkden at Blackpool C.C. on 14^th September. The clubs were asked to take responsibility for their supporters. The Secretary will contact the LCB to find out Blackpool’s policy on alcohol.

Hamer Cup Final: The Chairman congratulated Walkden and Tonge on a good game of cricket, and Greenmount for the preparation of an excellent track.

A number of letters had been received about the conduct of certain supporters. The letters had been copied to Greenmount, Tonge and Walkden who were invited to reply with a formal response from the club. The responses would be forwarded to the other clubs and would finally be discussed by the League Committee at the September meeting.

It was suggested that in addition to the League Secretary sending a standard letter to the host club for Hamer Cup Finals and inter-league matches, an advisory sub-committee could also be set up to meet with the host clubs, and in the case of the Hamer Cup Final the competing teams. Security costs would be considered, but it was accepted only certain clubs had restricted access to their grounds.

The Birtwistle Cup final between Kearsley and Bradshaw will be played on Friday 5^th September at 1pm.

Proposed Amendments to Rule: The Secretary read some proposals, including a rule for leg side wides and a proposal to play Under 18 cricket to Under 15 rules. The full list of proposals to date will be sent to all clubs and officials before the September meeting, but Ray Taylor said he wanted some of the proposals affecting the players to be in circulation before the season ended.

During the discussions it became apparent that Rule 26(f)(ii) – run rates – had caught many players and officials by surprise, as it was the first time since the Rule was introduced before the 2007 season that the rain arrived after the tea interval with no chance of play being resumed.

As it was clear from some of the comments that the Rule was still not fully understood by everyone the Secretary said he would run through it again, with examples at the next Umpires / Captains meeting.

It was explained why the present system had been chosen over other alternatives such as Duckworth – Lewis, and the one used in the Lancs KO, however improvements would always be welcome.

Any Other Business: It was agreed that the balls used in the Hamer Cup would be used in a league match before the end of the season.

Prize Claim Meeting: 22^nd September, 7.45pm at Bradshaw C.C. Clubs will be fined if they do not attend or fail to bring their scorebooks and averages.

John Hutchinson said clubs should consider nominating their most promising Under 16 player, as there were few outstanding candidates this year.

Date of Next Meeting: 29^th September.