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AGM 2007

Minutes of 2007 AGM

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The Meeting was held at 7.30pm on Wednesday March 21th 2007 in Maiden Castle bar.

Present: Pete Barraclough, Alan Clarke, Tony Cleaver, Peter Collins, Matt Deakin, Phil Hands, Mark Harrison, Christian Liddy, Nigel Metcalfe, Phil Nathan, Ray Pallister, Mark Swinbank, Ian Whitfield, Eckart Wrede
Apologies: Ewan Anderson, Nick Clark, Tom Hase, John White.

  1. Minutes: The minutes of the 2006 meeting were accepted with one change, namely the appointment of John White as club auditor.
  2. Matters Arising: None
  3. Chairman’s Report: The chairman reported that the highlights of his season had been (once again) the successful annual dinner, as ever organised in exemplary fashion by Tony Cleaver, and the retirement game in his honour the club had arranged against Durham City IIIs (or should it have been Staff Old Boys – sec.!?). The chairman had been overwhelmed by the support the club had shown in this venture, and wished to thank (again) all those involved in organising the occasion. It has been nice to see many old, but familiar, faces turning out to provide the opposition. Thanks were due to the captain (Phil Hands) and vice-captains (Chris Liddy and Ian Whitfield), secretary (Nigel Metcalfe), treasurer (Mark Swinbank) and kit man (Eckart Wrede). Without their tireless efforts, the club would simply cease to function. The chairman also recorded that long term club stalwart Tom Hase would be leaving Durham this year, and thanks were expressed for his efforts over the years both as captain and player.
    Peter Collins
  4. Captain’s Report: The 2006 season began in rather disappointing fashion, with us losing the first 8 matches in succession – apparently a club record! Fortunately however, we eventually rediscovered our form. The season ended with us having played a total of 23 matches, with 10 victories and 13 losses, with our longest winning streak of 7 matches in a row (another record?!). We were very fortunate with the weather, having only 2 fixtures cancelled due to rain and 1 delayed start. 1 further match was cancelled due to lack of opposition.15 of our matches were played at home (the majority of which, we were pleased to see were played on the grass wicket at MC1), whilst 8 were away fixtures. Amongst the away fixtures featured grounds that we have visited in previous seasons, including Cochrane Park, Durham City and Newton Hall. Also, we were pleased to widen our experiences and play at several new grounds including Backworth, Harraton/Washington and Coxhoe. As well as our more regular opposition teams, we also were happy to play against some new teams including Old Shire CC, The Cricketers and Knights. Most of the club’s matches were of the usual 20-over evening match format, however we were also very pleased to play in one 40-over Sunday match, against Genetics. Furthermore, we also entered a team into a local 6-a-side tournament at Harrington, in which we were highly successful, winning all three of our matches.There were many good performances from many team members throughout the year. Looking back at the scorebook, some individual performance highlights include (in alphabetical order):Bowling: (3 wickets or more)Tony Cleaver: 3 for 12 off 4, against Durham City III Phil Hands: 3 for 14 off 4, against Durham City III 3 for 3 off 2, against Knights Mark Harrison: 3 for 27 off 4, against Mallards Mark Swailes: 4 for 17 off 4, against Hatfield XI Batting: (50 runs or more)Tony Currer: 50 (retired) (in 42 balls), against Mallards (Also scored well in excess of 50 runs in a 6-a-side match) Matt Deakin: 56 (in 57 balls), against Genetics Phil Hands: 55 (not out), against Durham Farmers Phil Nathan: 63 (in 40 balls), against Old Shire CC 51 (retired) (in 46 balls), against Newton Hall Jon Pearson: 60 (in 50 balls), against Mallards On a slightly more worrying note, 2006 was probably the most injury-prone year in living memory. In his first over of the first match of the season, Jon Pearson had to pull out with an injured hamstring. This then set the tone for the rest of the season. Ian Stone managed to simultaneously pull both of his hamstrings. Eckart Wrede broke his finger whilst attempting a spectacular dive to save a boundary. Ian Whitfield also damaged his finger badly whilst catching a ball, leaving us with a wicket-keeper shortage. As stand-in, Aidan Sadgrove was very unfortunate to have a bail strike him in the eye. Alan Clarke then stood in as replacement for Aidan, and damaged his hand on the receiving end of the staff’s ferocious fast-bowling. Hopefully 2007 will be a safer year for all.2006 sadly also saw the year that Peter Collins retired from playing for the club, after 41 years of service for the staff (mostly behind the stumps), and 61 years cricketing overall. A testimonial match was played on 22nd August in his honour.The annual Staff Cricket Dinner was held on 20th September at Grey College. Thanks to Tony Cleaver for organising this again, and for helping to make it such a success.Finally, I would like to extend my thanks to everyone at the club for making the year so enjoyable and successful. In particular, a big thank you to the other club officials: Nigel for his hard work in organising fixtures and nets, Eckart for looking after the kit, Ian and Christian for vice-captaining (and stepping in as captain in my absence) and Mark for keeping on top of the finances.
    Phil Hands (15/03/07)
  5. Treasurer’s Report: The treasurer gave a verbal report to the effect that the club was still in a healthy financial position. The accounts can be found here.We had spent about £400 on kit over the season, roughly balanced by the income from match fees (although about £150 was still outstanding). The club dinner had roughly broken even (at a cost of £20 per head). The Euan Squires trophy had been engraved.It was agreed that match fees should remain at £2 per game. The accounts for the past three years had still not yet been audited. This would be dealt with once the auditor re-appeared from foreign parts.
  6. Secretary’s Report: Once again thanks to Alan Clarke, the club had been able to share winter nets with Newton Hall Cricket Club at the indoor facilities at the Riverside, Chester-le-Street. These had taken place on Saturdays and had again proved very successful. It was agreed Alan Clarke would try to arrange two lanes on a weekday evening for next winter – with the demise of Newton Hall CC, the club would be free to negotiate its own bookings. It was agreed that there would be a charge of £3 per head to use the net, but that if this did not cover costs the club would make up the shortfall. Meanwhile indoor nets had been arranged over the Easter vacation for Wednesdays, 5:30-7pm, at Maiden Castle (our usual Monday slot no longer being available). There had been some discussion with Durham City over Staff using their new outdoor nets. Ray Pallister agreed to look in to this matter, and if possible, find a weekday evening slot. The fixture list was awaiting confirmation of dates for friendlies against the colleges, these being arranged by Quentin Sloper. Various matches during exam time and out of term had been confirmed, but suggestions for new opponents were needed as it was unlikely Newton Hall would have a team this season, and it was rumoured that Knights (alias the Rose Tree) may also have folded. During the ensuing discussion, support appeared for some longer Sunday afternoon fixtures to be added to the schedule, and the possibility of a single wicket competition within the club was raised. The secretary agreed to look in to these matters. Ray Pallister also noted that due to the agreement now existing between Durham City and the University, we should be able to arrange some fixtures at Durham City’s ground, should Maiden Castle not be available.
    Nigel Metcalfe
  7. Kit The kit inventory can be found here. It was agreed to purchase a bat, 12 new balls, a new scorebook and a helmet (large size). Two umpire clickers had gone missing last season, leaving us with only one again, after a brief glut of having three. A replacement would be purchased. Pete Barraclough presented designs and prices for short sleeved club shirts and sweaters. Three University/club logos were voted on, and the ‘correct heraldic’ version was chosen. The question of long sleeves would be raised with the suppliers.
  8. Election of Officers:
    • Ray Pallister was confirmed as club President.
    • The post of vice-president was suspended.
    • Peter Collins was re-elected as Chairman.
    • Nigel Metcalfe was re-elected as Secretary
    • Ian Whitfield was elected as Club Captain.
    • Christian Liddy was re-elected as Vice-Captain.
    • Outgoing captain Phil Hands agreed to act as the other Vice-Captain, although it was possible he would be leaving Durham part way through the season.
    • Mark Swinbank was re-elected as Treasurer.
    • Eckart Wrede was re-elected at Kit Man.
    • John White was re-elected as auditor.
  9. Club Awards: The secretary had had a proposal from Nick Clark (in his absence) that a system of club awards should be instigated, for best bowler, batsman, and fielder, the most improved player, and the ‘asti’ (!) moment. Some discussion followed and it was agreed that in principle, the idea of awards was a good one, and that they should be presented at the annual dinner. However, it was felt rather the proposed awards were rather formal, and not in keeping with the spirit of the club. It was therefore decided that a committee of the captain and vice captains would decide how awards would be allocated, and that they would not (necessarily) be based on technical merit.

Nigel Metcalfe – 22/03/07