ANTHONY AXFORD BOLTON CRICKET LEAGUE
MINUTES OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING
TONGE C.C. 2nd FEBRUARY 2015
Apologies: Mike Buckley.
Minutes of the January Meeting; The minutes had been circulated previously and were approved as a correct record.
Matters Arising; Mr Hutchinson is awaiting a response from Eagley in relation to the Junior Residential Course from 20th to 22nd February, but most of the places have now been filled.
The junior fixtures will be released once clubs have confirmed which age groups they are entering.
Election of Management Committee Member; The Committee agreed Mike Buckley should become a full voting member with Tracey Brooks joining the Committee as the junior representative. A decision on who should replace Derek Kay as Vice-Chairman was deferred.
Eric Smith is the umpires’ representative.
Mike Hall was elected Ground Committee Secretary up to the AGM.
Axford Indoor K.O.; Karen Knott had spoken to the four semi finalists who were all in favour of continuing to play the competition in January.
The Secretary is to email clubs asking if they wish to opt out of the 2016 competition.
Umpires; Umpires expenses remain unchanged at £35, but there will be a flat rate of £25 if the match is not played.
Although there will not be an umpires / captains meeting pre-season, all clubs must send at least one senior player or team manager to the umpires’ meeting 7.30pm at Tonge C.C. on 13th April.
Cricket Balls; An order has been placed and although clubs will be invoiced separately for VAT purposes the money will be collected centrally by the Treasurer.
Finance; Warwick Milne and Bill Elkin are the League’s signatories.
Correspondence; John Hutchinson will be the League’s representative in his capacity as an umpire and member of the Management Committee at the LCB ‘Get the Game On’ seminar.
Details are awaited on the Natwest t20 U19 competition. The competition is for clubs, not combined teams.
GM Leagues / Bolton League Development; Correspondence had been received from Westhoughton and Farnworth S.C. requesting that members of the Management Committee withdraw from the Greater Manchester Development Group with immediate effect to formulate a proposal to allow the expansion of the Bolton League to two divisions in time for the 2016 season.
The Committee agreed that were a number of practical reasons why this could be detrimental to the refreshment of the Bolton League. The following are examples and not an exhaustive list. Although a detailed proposal prepared by the Secretary had been in existence since December 2014, members of the Committee had differing opinions on the details, which would need to be ironed out and taken back to clubs before a prospectus is issued to our clubs and subsequently clubs outside the league. There are certain procedures aligned to LCB and League Cricket Conference rules that must be adhered to and calling an EGM to change the constitution could only be undertaken with the approval of all fourteen clubs.
The Management Committee agreed that following further meetings and consultation with clubs details of the proposed changes would be available by the end of May. This would give the GM Group sufficient time to finalise and issue their prospectus so Bolton League clubs could compare the two and be in a position to decide which or neither would be most beneficial.
The Management Committee are not considering any other options, including the Bolton League combining with any other league.
Assuming there is the greatest support for the Bolton League proposal there would be sufficient time to make any popular changes and then for clubs to consult their players, members and committees before a final decision is made at the 2015 AGM.
If necessary it would be possible to bring the AGM forward a few weeks. The Secretary noted two errors in the Handbook relating to Rule 9. 9(f) should read ‘31st October not 30th November’ and 9(g) should read ‘Rule 10 not Rule 12’.
Date of the Next Management Committee Meeting: 7.45pm at Tonge C.C. on 23rd February.