ANTHONY AXFORD BOLTON CRICKET LEAGUE

 

MINUTES OF THE GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING

 

HELD AT BRADSHAW C.C.

 

26th SEPTEMBER 2011

 

 

A minute’s silence was held in memory of Arnold Bradshaw (Tonge and Heaton).

 

Apologies; The President. Heaton and Walkden were not represented.

 

Minutes of the August Meeting; These had been circulated and were approved as a correct record.

The Chairman congratulated Greenmount on their ‘treble’ of League, Lancs KO and Hamer Cup, and Westhoughton on winning the second team championship.

He also noted the Bolton League had received favourable coverage on Sky Sports, and brought to the attention of the Committee an article in the Times about a more balanced approach to the preparation of wickets to assist the bowlers.

 

Matters Arising; Eagley will not be able to stage the Axford Trophy match on Bank Holiday Monday. The Secretary will consider other ways their anniversary can be celebrated.

Eight clubs, Astley Bridge, Bradshaw, Farnworth, Heaton, Horwich, Kearsley, Little Lever, and Westhoughton have expressed an interest in competing in the ECB T20. Egerton, FSC and Tonge don’t want to take part. Eagley, Greenmount and Walkden will be given until the October meeting to make a decision.

There will be further discussion about the submission of averages at the prize claim meeting at Tonge C.C. 7.45pm on 3rd October. Clubs will be fined for non-attendance.

Clubs are reminded that while prize claims are for league matches only, the averages include league and Hamer Cup.

 

Correspondence; The Committee are considering electronic score books incorporating ‘Total Cricket’ with a link to ‘Play-Cricket’, and possibly Duckworth / Lewis. One problem could be the length of the battery life. Karen Knott will report back after attending a course on 4th December. Funding could possibly come via the sponsor’s money as League funds are reasonably healthy at the present time

The Secretary has previously emailed correspondence relating to League Cricket Conference, The Community Action against Crime Fund, an Umpires’ Course Poster (Tuesday 4th October at Walkden C.C.), a Groundsman Letter relating to the hire of machinery, and an update to the ECB Code of Conduct relating to defamatory comments including posts on forums and social networking sites.

 

Amendments to Rules; To be emailed to clubs. Those received to date were discussed briefly and there will the opportunity for further discussion at the October meeting.

The final date for submissions is 31st October.

 

Finance; The Treasurer reported a bank balance of £3920 with a further £3000 due from Axfords. Clubs are to be invoiced for their final fines of the season. Details will be emailed to clubs.

At the October meeting the committee will be asked to decide which type of cricket ball will be used next season.

 

Umpires; Mrs Knott announced there is a new ECB package for scorers and to register for qualification visit ecbaco@ecb.co.uk before 31st March. Some leagues are now insisting on Level ll scorers.

There will be Level 1 and Scorebook Entry courses in the New Year.

Mr Sturch said the Umpires and Scorers Association were disappointed with unminuted comments made by the Chairman at the last meeting.

The Umpires Fixture Secretary is finding it difficult to find sufficient umpires to cover all first and second team matches. At present there are 29 umpires to cover 28 positions, with only 16 designated first team umpires.

Umpires have been attending practice net sessions at Bradshaw C.C. to help improve their performance via video evidence and discussion. Derek Kay and Mike Buckley were thanked for their assistance. Hopefully the facilities at Bolton Indians C.C. can be booked for similar instruction during the winter.

Two courses have been arranged for the winter, and discussions will include the Laws, run rates and time wasting, and damaging the pitch.

There were discussions about the format of the Umpires / Captain’s meetings.

Clubs were reminded they cannot dictate who umpires their matches.

The League Chairman has been invited to the March meeting of the BCLU&SA.

 

Juniors; The Junior Presentation will be at Little Lever C.C. on 20th October.

 Mike Buckley has written to clubs about some proposed courses and responses are required by 14th October.

Proposed amendments to the current age structures will be emailed to clubs before the next meeting.

 

R&C Report; Mrs Knott said Horwich had been fined for failing to fulfil Under 18 fixtures. Farnworth, Little Lever and Tonge were fined for failing to fulfil second team fixtures, and their first teams have one point deducted. It was noted that the three teams who had failed to fulfil second team fixtures were also struggling to raise under 15 teams.

Farnworth S.C had reported an umpire. The R&C Committee will respond to FSC and explain what action has been taken by the BCLU&SA.

 

Disciplinary Report; to follow. The penalties originally imposed on three FSC players had been varied on appeal to include a possible points deduction for the team in 2012. There was a brief discussion about the effectiveness of this course of action.

It was noted that no one from Astley Bridge, Eagley or Westhoughton had been reported.

Heaton have still not submitted a report following incidents at their ground on 30th July.

 

League Dinner; The Committee agreed each club should be charged for a minimum of four tickets.

Tickets requirements should be emailed to David Morris at wam45@hotmail.co.uk by 20th October at the latest.

 

Date of Next Meetings; Prize Claim meeting at Tonge C.C. 3rd October, League Meeting 31st October.