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AGM 2020

Minutes of the 2020 AGM

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The 71st AGM of the Durham Colleges Staff Cricket Club took place on-line (via Zoom) at 8pm on Tuesday July 9th July 2020 (due to COVID-19 restructions)

Present: Ian Boothroyd, David Gillespie, Eckart Wrede, Stephen Boothroyd, Matt Deakin, Mike Costello, Mujeeb Chaudhry, Aidan Duffy, Jill Cartledge, Kris Cartledge, Rich Root, Jon Warren, Nigel Metcalfe, Steve Wake, Ian Whitfield, Peter Swift, Tony Cleaver
Apologies for absence: Stephen English

  1. Minutes of 2019 meeting: Accepted.

  2. Matters Arising:
    • Maiden Castle nets – NM asks if nets free & no charge. IB suggests a nominal fee.
    • Kit – can’t share kit with new COVID-19 regulations; EW suggests some bits will need to be replace, but lots of newcomers to MC nets so needed all three sets of kit regularly – need more? New bat required, it was replaced; if people have spare kit they could donate /lend to others without kit this summer – it was suggested to make a list. Rich Root organised this with a Google doc.
    • The club dinner actually happened on Friday 13 September in Grey (NM); representatives of the club were sent to see the World Cup trophy on tour at Beamish Museum, as the club won the Beamish Colliery tournament. Captain DG, treasurer SB and RR attended.
    • PS invited Brian Lander to the Euan Squires match against Grey SCR.

  3. COVID-19
    • PS noted six people had been netting together at Durham City nets for a while.
    • Government guidance to go ahead from 3/7/2020 but ECB on published adapted rules: no changing rooms; kit must be cleaned; slips & wicket keeper socially-distanced at 1m+ rule; wicket keeper moves away between balls; 2 m running zone either side of square; every six overs clean hands & ball, with fielding captain cleaning the ball; can’t give the umpires anything; sanitise bats after leaving the field; sanitise cleaning gloves.
    • IB raised the issue that as a university team, would we be able to play – e.g. for insurance reasons. It was suggested we might need to do a risk assessment – IW and MD thought we should be ok if we follow ECB guidelines, but we would need our own RA and from the host club. RR asked to we need to do a RA for the university and suggested contacting Team Durham. EW noted, who is working at TD? JW had a meeting with Quentin Sloper on Friday 10/7/2020*, so was able to discuss this on the day after the AGM; PS & EW noted that away grounds will have public liability insurance; EW noted that “the university will probably want a say in what we are doing”.
      * JW emailed the outcome of this meeting to the secretary on 10/7/2020: “I spoke to Quentin Sloper today as promised. There is no problem with us resuming away fixtures as DU staff cricket as long as we adhere to the ECB guidance. A risk assessment would only be needed if we were playing at home. He also asked me to pass on that Maiden Castles outdoor facilities will be reopening and can be used for team practice from 1st August “.
    • PS suggested it may be better waiting for a week to see how things go rather than playing Mallards (the 1st upcoming fixture of the season following government/ECB allowing recreational cricket). It was suggested we could ask Mallards to move the fixture. RR noted Riding Mill play in midweek league as well as the weekend (Mallards share the ground). IB stated/asked Mallards played Tuesday and Thursdays? EW noted we need to see how prepared Mallards are before playing them. MC stated we need to see check with Mallards for how ready they are and we probably need an RA. NM & JW ask whether we have a team – IB stated probably yes BUT our team can only make a decision based on Mallards. NM noted Mallards are the key, providing the assurances.
    • Four key factors were noted to follow up on: (1) host club protocols; (2) whether we need a risk assessment with the university; (3) Jon Warren to discuss with Quentin Sloper; (4) possibly delay Mallards fixture by a week or two to check all ok.
    • AD asked whether it was possible to use Maiden Castle for training. PS noted MC was still closed. RR asked whether it would be possible to have a practice match at the Racecourse, but PS noted there was no ground availability at Durham City.
    • RR suggested to contact teams with cancelled fixtures to try to rearrange.
  4. Chairman’s Report: Due to the short notice in arranging the AGM, Peter Collins was unable to attend.
  5. Captain’s Report: Al Clarke suggested we invite other local teams to our indoor championship, after a successful first match was played in February. David offered his thanks to IB, stating he kept the club ticking over and noted the amount of work he put in. DG thanked SB for his work as treasurer, EW for being kit man and taxi service, NM for running the website – DG also noted an issue of the website being replaced by the university. EW stated the website will move onto a new system – MC can find out about the new website after the AGM. “Community” websites are currently on the backburner due to needing to secure revenue streams*.

    Season’s review: [this is an abridged version of the Captain’s speech from the annual dinner] Played: 24; Won: 15 (63%); Lost: 9; Cancelled: 12 (2 by us, 5 by opposition and 5 due to weather). Whilst we didn’t have an 85% win rate like last year, I probably enjoyed this season a lot more. We experienced the student league premiership and other than one game, we competed very well finishing joint 4th on 6 points and securing our place in the division for next season! My highlight was the win against University College A team who were sledging our bowlers as they were running in to bowl – it only took 10 minutes of Mujeeb batting to silence them in the field and, before you knew it, they were arguing with each other as we knocked off 119 with 3 overs to spare.
    We had our usual battles against Mallards (one of which was a little spicier than usual!) – we managed to beat them twice and lost once. We also played King James 3 times as well and beat them twice, but sadly suffered a heavy defeat to a very strong Farmers side, again.
    We ended the season by retaining the Beamish cup with another 100% record, although we did have to win more than one game this time. Staff actually managed 6 straight wins without me, which shows what a vital part of the team I have become! There were a number of great individual performances throughout the season: Mujeeb Chaudhry (twice), Andrew Robertson and Saidur Rahman all made 50s. Nigel Metcalfe and Ian Boothroyd both took 15 wickets or more during the season. Best bowling performance was from Saidur, who took 4-11 off 4 overs.
    We’ve had a mass of new players coming through the ranks. Some of the more notable new players were:
    • Seb Aycock, our very own international player who bowled some vicious left-arm orthodox and was unplayable at times
    • Matt Hilborn, who’s all round ability boosted us all year round
    • Matt Williams who I think I’m right in saying hadn’t played cricket before did remarkably well, contributing as a batsman, bowler and in the field
    • Aidan Duffy who got lots of wickets towards the end of the season with his spin bowling
    • Chris Cowie, our very own Freddie Flintoff whose pace bowling, aggressive batting, excellent sense of humour and terrible diet had a big impact on the team.And of course, we have had Nigel Metcalfe and Tony Cleaver back to full fitness this year and have really just resumed where they left off with Tony opening the bowling (including getting me out whilst he played for Mallards) and Nigel regularly in the wickets.
      The awards for the season were: Top batsman: Mujeeb, with 530 runs for the season; Top bowler: Nigel, with 18 wickets. Player of the season, as voted for by the team, was also Mujeeb, with 42 votes. Saidur came second with 27.
      David Gillespie

      * Following the AGM, MC emailed: The community websites will be in all probably be re-constituted on a new platform. The information I have been able to glean indicates that approximately 450 sites have been identified as needing to be retained. The business case is due to be sent to the University Executive (or what ever they call themselves now). The funding will then hopefully, be secured. Once I have further information I share the details.
  6. Secretary’s report: IB noted the fixtures that had been arranged and cancelled, along with remaining fixtures in the calendar not yet cancelled. DG asked if we have any preferences to arrange fixtures. IW suggested Hunwick and Wolsingham. JC stated Knights were looking to arrange fixtures, which also had the advantage of being a local match (Belmont) so non-car travellers could attend [it was noted that the parish council was responsible for Belmont – council run facilities were not opened in the summer, so in the end, Knights played at East Rainton]. Jill could help to arrange fixtures with Knights. KSOB another suggestion and IW suggested weekend fixtures would allow us to continue playing in September.
    Ian Boothroyd
  7. Treasurer’s report: Due to the short notice of the AGM, SB will complete the accounts and his report after the AGM and add to the minutes. It was noted that match fees changed in 2019 to £5 and worked well. It was discussed whether we want to introduce a fee to training at MC, so we can get more money to buy equipment. NM stated we historically have lost money on nets but no losses this year so we will be in a better position. SB noted the increased fees helped too. If we do add fees it should only be £1-2/session and it would be recommended how to proceed after doing the accounts. It was also noted this season we will have no ground fees. It was discussed how we should also pay match fees – rather than paying cash at each match, it was suggested contactless match fees would be best by doing online bank transfers to the club account. It was decided this approach would be used and at the end of the season, SB would contact each member of the club to transfer money based on the number of matches played by each individual.

    Written report (received Oct 8th 2020): In 2019 we made a loss of £60 from the winter nets, an improvement on previous years. The club dinner also made a small profit of £7.60, which again was an improvement on our usual small loss. Overall we had pitch fees of £360 for the use of MC1, and no equipment costs for the year.
    Match subs were changed to £5 for all matches and this gave us total match takings of £995 across the season. This left the account balance at £1,513.05 (with £1320 in cash held, most of this has now been paid into the account). This gave us a total profit of £583.09, and leaves us in a much healthier position following losses of £403.52 in 2018.
    With no net fees over winter 2019/20, following the opening of the new facilities at Maiden Castle, that has further cut down costs to the club. Although for future seasons it is safe to estimate equipment costs of ~£300, the match fees of £5 have worked well and generated enough money to cover this as well as pay for pitches on MC1. There had been discussion of introducing a small fee to winter nets of £1 or £2 per session, but currently this is not necessary as long as the nets remain free of charge.
    With an estimated profit of ~£130 from a disrupted 2020 season, the club accounts are in a strong position. Although I do not anticipate any losses in future seasons with the current fees of £5 per match, the club is well placed to absorb any potential losses. These may result from the inability to recover equipment costs if we continue to play a reduced number of matches during the current pandemic crisis.
    Accounts for 2019 season
    Stephen Boothroyd
  8. Election of Officers:President: Brian Lander – Happy to retain (if he is!)Chairman: Peter Collins – Happy to retainSecretary: IB tried to resign due to uncertainty over his future at the university. No volunteers to take over, so IB continued as secretary for now.Captain: Mujeeb Chaudhry elected as captainVice-Captain: Stephen English is stepping down as a VC; PS retained when available; Ian Whitfield carry on as VC; Rich Root willing to be VC when available; Rob Powell retained.Treasurer: Happy to carry on whilst still here, not sure what will happen in the next year job-wise.Kit Man: Eckart Wrede happy to be retained; MC could help with kit and keep it when necessary. EW back in Durham for 2 weeks but back to Germany after that for a few more weeks. Hopefully back in Durham by mid-August. In winter will be kept in Eckart’s office in Chemistry.Auditor: NM retainedWebmaster: NM retained – EW asks do we take backups of the website, so it is something we should do? MC says CIS automatically back up.
  9. Fixture discussion: Post Covid – Possibilities for a NE university staff tournament; we should arrange indoor intra-squad cricket match.
  10. Kit: need to purchase hand sanitiser, anti-bacterial wipes for bats etc., bin bags. Can’t really clean gloves though without washing at 40C so probably not able to share. May need more inners for keepers gloves; If 3-days between matches less of an issue. Any batting inner gloves for kit-bag? EW propose we buy 10 pairs of inner batting gloves. Possible sanitising spray? Kitchen roll to wipe down kit; first aid kit – masks and disposable aprons? EW may be able to bring surgical masks from Germany. EW – Helmets more personal as not sure how to wash pads inside the helmets. MC suggests if people are spare helmets we can loan/donate to people. EW suggested using Teams to coordinated a kit list and noted we need to build a list of players. It was suggested Google docs could be used so everyone was able to edit it. Following the AGM, RR set up a Google docs for members to enter what kit they possess, if they use it all, and if they have spare kit that could be shared with members without kit, so they can have there own kit this summer and minimise use of shared kit. EW suggests we still have about 12 match balls that Eckart has at home. JC asks about Surridge kit website as lots of items out of stock – IB will have to track down who to email*.
    * Following the AGM, IB contacted Andy Horrocks at Surridge ([email protected]). There was an error on the club’s site which was rectified and it was now possible to place orders again.
  11. AOB: Remembering Mallards stalwart Leon Mexter. If match takes place, we should do something to acknowledge his contribution – could do a minutes silence or applause, will suggest to Mallards.
    Club dinner? Will it be possible? Half-price Monday’s to Wednesdays. Contact Peter if it all possible – so should it be done later in the year or do we go to a restaurant? Could possibly do a virtual club dinner. IB & DG: Can we make the dinner more inclusive? E.g. people with special dietary requirements? Make a more informal event so everyone can feel comfortable? MD suggests could do a BBQ which can have a better range of options.
    Aidan – where does training stand? Can we set it up? IB – maybe best to wait for Maiden Castle to open than go to CLS Riverside? DG asks about local clubs but EW and SB suggests Durham City will be booked out.


    IB thanked everyone for attending, particularly at short notice. IB notes the attendance was probably better than it would have been in person; also thanks everyone to help with the discussion on how to restart cricket at the club with COVID-19.

Ian Boothroyd September 2020