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AGM 2011

Minutes of the 2011 AGM

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The 62nd AGM of the Durham Colleges Staff Cricket Club was be held at 7.30pm on Thursday April 7th 2011 in the Pennington Room in Grey College

Present: A. Clarke., P. Collins (chair), M. Dolan, A. Finlay, B. Hedley, S. Luard, N. Metcalfe, R. Prudom, C. Stiansen, P. Swift, M. Swinbank, J. White, E Wrede.
Apologies for absence: P. Barraclough, T. Cleaver, K. Khundakar, R. Pallister, M. Costello, P. Nathan, I. Stone.

  1. Minutes: The minutes of the 2010 meeting were accepted.

  2. Matters Arising: There were no matters arising, but there was still no written captain’s report from 2009 or 2010. Both would now be written-off.

  3. Chairman’s Report: Thanks, as ever, were due to the club officers for keeping the club in running order – captain (Alan Clarke) and vice-captains (Alex Finlay and Phil Nathan), treasurer (Mark Swinbank) and kit man (Eckart Wrede). Particular thanks were due to the secretary (Nigel Metcalfe) who after 16 years in the post was standing down. Once again the annual dinner had been a highlight of the year, and the chairmen encouraged those concerned to ensure that this event continued into the future. The winning of the Euan Squires trophy this year had a very enjoyable experience.
    Peter Collins 7th April 2011

  4. Captain’s Report: The report can be found as a Word document here: Captains report 2010 season. Alan Clarke, 7th April 2011
  5. Secretary’s report: – After 16 years in the job, this was the secretary’s final report. Unfortunately, the first item was to note that Maiden Castle had decided, as an economy measure, to close the grass wickets after the end of the summer term. After discussions with the Director of Sport, Peter Warburton, it had been agreed that a wicket would kept long enough for us to play Farmers at the beginning of July, and that Staff should be able to have grass wickets during the exam period and the last week or so of term. Several fixtures had thus been arranged, but as yet none of the pitches had been confirmed. The state of MC2 last season (uneven ground condition, lack of markings and scoreboard) had also been briefly raised. The Director of Sport indicated that he had not been aware of these issues, and would like to be informed if similar problems arose this year. Student fixtures were to commence on May 2nd, with three games that week. This year umpires have to be paid on the night (£7.50). On top of this the cost of entry to the league would be £130. Some new friendlies had been arranged for the forthcoming season: Sparta CC (Newcastle civil servants), SMB (Houghton 3rds), RWE (Npower) and Chatton. Alan Clarke had again arranged very successful winter nets at the Riverside, Chester-le Street from January to the end of March These have been well attended, and much enhanced by coaching from Brian Lander and Ray Pallister, for which the club is extremely grateful. Indoor nets at Maiden Castle had been arranged for Tuesday evenings over the Easter holiday period. Alan Clark has arranged the Riverdale Hall festival again for May 29/30th, and was still looking for players to commit themselves. The Durham dialogue advert again seemed to have been successful in bringing in some new players. Nigel Metcalfe, 7th April 2011
  6. Treasurer’s report: We had lost a significant amount of money (~£150) on the annual dinner, as the cost of £470 had not been covered by the charge per head. The reason was not entirely clear, but the cost of wine seemed to be the main problem! It was agreed that this could not be allowed to happen again. Now Tony Cleaver was no longer a member at Grey, Peter Swift (who is) agreed to organise next year’s dinner. Expenditure for the year was £640. About £400 had been collected in natch fees, but ~£350 was still outstanding. If this money were to be recovered, then the float in the account would be roughly back to its 2006 position. As a result it was decided to keep match fees as their current level of £2.50. No formal written accounts were received and the accounts from the last two years had still not been audited. The outgoing auditor, John White, agreed to sort this out with the treasurer before relinquishing his position. Accounts for 2010 season. Mark Swinbank, 7th April 2011
  7. Kit: Due to his recent absence from Durham, there was no kit inventory available. However, some new items would be required, due to the ingress of mice during the long winter months in the Captain’s garage! There was a long discussion on how the load to be carried to matches could be reduced. It was felt that, with many people now having their own equipment, much of the kit was superfluous, and it could be pared down to the minimum necessary for a match. It should also be possible to use two smaller bags, rather than the current (overfull) one. It was decided that a full review of the kit would be undertaken at the next nets, so it could be sorted out for the start of the new season. Steve Luard offered the possibility of storage in his lock-up near the science site, for which keys could be provided. It was agreed to investigate this. It was noted that a new scorebook was required. Eckart Wrede, 7th April 2011
  8. Election of Officers:
    • Ray Pallister was re-elected as club President.
    • The post of vice-president would continue to be suspended.
    • Peter Collins was re-elected as Chairman.
    • Eckart Wrede was elected as Secretary
    • Alex Finlay was elected as Captain.
    • Ben Hedley was elected as a Vice-Captain.
    • Peter Swift was elected as a Vice-Captain.
    • Mark Swinbank was re-elected as Treasurer.
    • Steve Luard was elected at Kit Man.
    • Alan Clarke was elected as auditor.
  9. University archive: The outgoing secretary had been contacted by the University archivist at Palace Green (Michael Stanstead) with an offer to house the club’s paper records in the archive. To this end, the secretary had completed his scanning of the AGM/Accounts/Results – started in 2000! – and placed the files on the club website. It was agreed to allow the scorebooks and all the secretarial papers to go to the University archive. The auditor also produced a file of historical treasurers’ accounts to be stored. The outgoing secretary would make the arrangements, once he had gone through the scorebooks to try to fill the gaps in the on-line results records.
  10. AOB: Rupert Prudom agreed to take over the running of the club website from the outgoing secretary.

Nigel Metcalfe – 12/04/2011