Apologies : P Stafford, R Taylor , M Buckley

NB there was no representative from LL , hence a fine will apply

Minutes of the September meeting : These had been circulated and were approved as a correct record.

Matters arising:There had been one nomination for the Hubert Pendlebury award hence the nomination would go forward.

Only one reply had been received from clubs re their preference of balls to use next year . Mr Sandiford said further evidence had come to light re problems with the use of the International ball. It was agreed to use the Reader Sovereign next season with the possibility of trying out a Dukes ball in cup matches.

Clubs were reminded to get their averages to Mr Stafford a.s.a.p. . He had received averages from AB (Both teams) BR 1st , WA Ist and FA 2^nd

Indoor: Kearsley and Walkden would play on January 4^th at Old Trafford and the draw for the Axford Trophy was handed out. There was only one change to the rules and that was any ball going down leg side would be called wide.

Correspondence : IPO consultation and Managed Migration had been E mailed to clubs.

Finance: Current A/C £1330 Savings A/C £4674, legal A/C £917 Junior Coaching A/C £6280.

Mr Kay reminded members Mr Stevenson would be finishing his role as Treasurer and to give some thought as to whom his replacement could be.

Umpires: Two incidents at end of season games had caused the umpires concern. One was against the spirit of the game when the away captain appeared to deliberately not call the game off until after an hour so the home team had to pay full expenses.

The other was both umpires were locked out of the ground. The game had been called off and it was only when a member of the club called in to get some equipment for the first team that they found the umpires there.

Quite a bit of discussion was had about the way matches were called off at the end of the season and it was suggested, it was open to abuse at present and needed a hard and fast rule. Groundsmen usually had a good idea and another suggestion was to call in an umpire who lives close to the ground.

Juniors: The presentation would be at Little Lever on 20^th November at 7.45pm. Mr Buckley would be contacting clubs re ticket requirements. There had been no response from the LCB concerning the coaching courses which was disappointing.

Discipline: Mr Hayes had received 30 reports and players had been banned for 51 matches, of which 3 players had received 22 matches. A few players had received suspended bans which the committee had felt was right to do at the time. Thanks were given to Walkden and Egerton for no reports and also thanks to the committee. When asked as to the nature of the reports Mr Hays said there was more player / player abuse than player / umpire abuse . 75% of the reports had come from First team cricket One professional had been reported but he had gone home . Next season players would start with a clean sheet although two players had parts of bans still to complete. It was suggested the guidelines not be changed as all now knew the procedure. Mr Hayes said he wanted two changes:- If a player wanted a personal hearing then he had to be notified 24 hours after the club had received notice of the report (e.g. Wednesday ) as previously it had been Tuesday of the following week. It meant the matter could be dealt with within the two week time scale. The composition of the committee could be changed to avoid members involved with own clubs . It was suggested that the members on the committee should be respected and trusted to deal with any matter.

The umpires were working on consistency and had agreed to talk to captains at the toss to state what they expected at a game.

League dinner: There had been two amendments to the prize awards and it was agreed these winners would get the award rather than give out two awards as was suggested. Only one club had replied with their numbers for the dinner. All number s for the dinner should be with D Morris by Monday 3^rd All junior trophies were in but Walkden still had to return The Hamer Cup and Warburton Cup. Greenmount still had the Hulton Trophy, Sandford cup and Ken Worall Trophy and Kearsley had the Axford Indoor Trophy,and Birtwistle Cup. All these had to be given to Readys by the weekend.

R&C Report : none

Presentation by Neil Edwards: This would be held at Bradshaw on 10^th November at 7.45p.m. Mr Edwards would go over the new legislation governing professionals, overseas amateurs etc. Clubs could bring more than one representative if they wished. Clarification would be sought as to whether or not clubs had to be club mark etc as it appeared LCB were saying different to ECB .

Amendments to rules:

Concern was expressed about losing both rules governing the leg side wide. It was agreed adult cricket covered first and second team cricket.

Clarification was sought on rule 14. It was suggested that any rules governing professionals , overseas amateurs etc could be deferred from the AGM until clubs were sure of all the implications from the new legislation and these could be voted on at a EGM at the January meeting. Egerton were to write to Paul Bedford at ECB quoting a few scenarios and see what the reply was.

Mr Kay said there were still a couple of amendments pending and these would be added to the list

AOB

The umpires intend running a scorebook entry course in April and asked clubs to inquire if they had anyone interested in attending.

Greenmount’s professional was now at home and expected to make a full recovery

It was noted that for the second time Little Lever had no representative at the meeting, nor did they have one at the prize claim evening.

Date of next meeting November 24^th

Date of AGM 8th December