ANTHONY AXFORD BOLTON CRICKET LEAGUE
MINUTES OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING
AT TONGE C.C.
11th AUGUST 2014
Apologies: B Elkin, K Knott, C Monks, E Smith. David Heap represented the umpires.
Minutes of the July Meeting: These were accepted as a correct record.
Matters Arising:
Electronic Registrations – This is now operational with Tracey Brooks administrating. Next season clubs will be able to attach proof of residence for players not born in the UK.
Clubmark – MH said the LCB anticipate with the present rate of progress Walkden will have accreditation in the autumn. Farnworth and Little Lever may not have accreditation which is in breach of Bolton League rules, and could affect their entry into LCB and ECB competitions.
Play-Cricket – Kearsley are to be referred to the R&C Committee.
Little Lever Direct Debit - the Secretary is to write to Little Lever drawing their attention to Rule 8(c).
Unregistered Players – there have been no problems with teams fielding unregistered players.
Correspondence: The following have been circulated to clubs;
‘Wanted’ poster of man suspected of burgling several changing facilities around the country including the North-West.
Groundsmans course on 24th August at Heaton Mersey C.C. It was suggested the League could fund its own course locally.
Umpires: If there is an advance weather forecast for Sunday later in the week, RT will invite Westhoughton, Farnworth S.C. and the match umpires to a meeting to discuss the Birtwistle Cup final.
Matches from 23rd August onward will commence at 12.30pm.
Recruitment was discussed at length, with members of the Committee investigating a number of options, including each club having to have someone available to umpire second team matches. There will be a course at Farnworth C.C. in October.
To avoid being in breach of Rules 26(o) and (p) players must be present even if there is little prospect of play.
Clubs should be aware of the following relating to junior players in open age cricket;
http://static.ecb.co.uk/files/ecb-guidelines-for-junior-players-in-open-age-group-cricket-12678.pdf
Comments from umpires relating to the trophies to be presented at cup finals were noted.
Discipline: Two clubs with players whose medical condition could affect their behaviour have been asked to provide documented action plans for monitoring and controlling the situation. Other clubs are asked to be aware of possible problems and be pro-active rather than waiting until a player has been reported for a disciplinary incident.
One Farnworth Social Circle player was banned for two matches, another banned for one match and two others given warnings.
An Egerton second team player was banned for one match.
A specific course of action must be followed by a Greenmount first team player following his comments on ‘Twitter’.
RT conformed professionals can be suspended. This is covered in Rule 14(a).
Names of players receiving bans will be noted in the minutes from 2015.
R&C Report: Horwich C.C. second team have had one point deducted for failure to fulfil junior matches.
Grounds: DK said there have been no major problems but referred clubs to the ‘Minimum Standards’ document issued earlier in the season, especially the part about the distance of the boundary from hard objects or surfaces outside the boundary.
Juniors: The Under 11 cup final will be played on 7th September at 9.30am, the Mervyn Porter final at 2pm on 17th August and the Under 18 play-off between Astley Bridge and Farnworth S.C. on 13th and 14th August.
Proposals for the structure of junior cricket have been circulating between members of the Management Committee for several months and were discussed in depth. MH will circulate a separate document setting out the recommendations. RT said that while he supported some of the more detailed suggestions which could develop junior cricket in the long term, we had to bear in mind any proposals for 2015 had to be sufficiently practical and popular to receive sufficient votes at the 2014 AGM.
Fixtures: RT had prepared a set of fixtures which would allow the Bolton League to play an enhanced 20/20 competition on Sundays, plus Sunday fixtures for an Under 18 / open age competition, however this would be at the expense of Inter-League cricket and the general consensus was that we should stay with the Inter-League competitions.
Date of the Next Management Meeting: Thursday 28th August at Tonge C.C. to discuss proposals relating to senior cricket.