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AGM 2021

Minutes of the 2021 AGM

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The 72nd AGM of the Durham Colleges Staff Cricket Club took place on-line (via Zoom) at 8pm on Tuesday March 23rd 2021 (due to COVID-19 restructions)

Present: Ian Boothroyd (IB), Stephen Boothroyd (SB), Nigel Metcalfe – acting chair (NM), Peter Swift (PS), Aiden Duffy (AD), Rich Root (RR), Eckart Wrede (EW), Mike Costello, Rob Powell (RP), Steve Wake, Jon Warren (JW), Ian Whitfield (IW), Jill Cartledge (JG), Kris Cartledge, Mujeeb Chaudhry.
Apologies for absence:  Peter Collins, Stephen English

  1. In Memorium: PS had been in contact with Brian Lander, who informed us that Ray Pallister had sadly passed away the day before the AGM. Ray had been a long-time member of the club and in the early years of Peter’s captaincy, he and Brian Lander came to the Riverside to coach our players at winter nets. On the suggestion of PS, we observed a minute’s silence in memory of Ray.
  2. Minutes of 2020 meeting: Accepted
  3. Matters Arising: Matters arising included noting we had played no fixtures before the AGM (in the summer due to COVID). Our first fixture was due to be the mid-July match away to Mallards at Riding Mill, but this was cancelled as Mallards were still getting COVID ready and we needed to be sure on H&S procedures. It was noted in the 2020 AGM AOB that Leon Mexter, a Mallards stalwart, had passed away and we were due to give a minute’s applause at the fixture. It was suggested by IW that following Ray Pallister’s passing, we should observe a minute’s applause for Ray as well. IW noted that Ray Pallister and Brian Lander played in Peter Collin’s last match, against Durham City III’s, of which there is a photo on the club website. At the 2020 AGM, it was noted the club kit website was not allowing orders for particular stock – IB subsequently contacted the company (Surridge) and got the club’s account reactivated. EW bought a lot of anti-bacterial wipes/COVID equipment. Mujeeb currently has the COVID kit.
  4. COVID-19: PS noted the road map from the ECB has the same guidance as last year, with clubs allowed to play/practice from 29/03/2021. This includes adapted cricket; hand sanitiser & ball washing every 20 minutes. There is an outdoor focus – such as outdoor nets. PS noted that Durham City will have outdoor nets (for children) so there may be outdoor nets at Maiden Castle over Easter, once the university first team starts practicing. IW said that Maiden Castle were preparing wickets and IB referred to an email from Maiden Castle stating they were planning fixtures and bookings. PS suggested outdoor nets should be possible, but indoor nets not until at least mid-April. PS suggested IB to contact the Team Durham booking coordinator to find out our responsibilities to away teams when playing at Maiden Castle – e.g Maiden Castle risk assessments, arrival procedures. PS also noted nets will have limited numbers and will need to have someone in charge of track and trace for the club. Mujeeb wanted to get MC2 practice matches arranged as well as outdoor nets. Mujeeb asked PS whether the student league would take place – PS said we would have to wait and see (not all students are living in Durham this year).
  5. Chairman’s Report: Peter thanked IB for the invitation and wanted to convey his apologies for not attending. He was glad to hear the AGM is going ahead after all last year’s problems and wanted to give his very best wishes to everyone for a successful season.
    Peter Collins
  6. Captain’s Report: I’ve been captain since March 2020. Although we had a very little cricket in the season due to pandemic (cricket was allowed in end of July and we could only play away games as the Maiden Castle facilities were closed) but it was very enjoyable short season of the cricket in a year of pandemic. We stayed unbeaten for the short season.
    The season summary:
     * Played 4
     * Won: 3
     * Drawn: 1
     * Lost: 0
     * Cancelled: 2 (none of these were called off by ourselves)
    We had a couple of new players joining us: Hugo Jennings – a brilliant leg spinner and got every opposition in trouble with his leg spin. Also scored some very important and quick runs; M Hassan Bahar – a brilliant left arm medium pacer with very precise length and swing. Very good batsman as well, scored 36 run in 4 games.
    Highlights:
     * Aidan’s brilliant bowling 2 wickets on 2 balls and Aidan dropped the catch on next of his own ball.
     * Stephen Boothroyd’s brilliant spell: 4-15-0-5
     * Batting: Only one 50s that was made by myself. Peter Swift played only one game and was unlucky to get out at 47. Total runs: myself 141 (in 4 innings), Peter Swift 47 (in 1 innings), Rich Root 38 (in 3 innings), Hassan Bahar 36 (in 4 innings).
     * Bowling: Bowling being the primary reason why we were successful this year, all bowlers managed to restrict opponent teams to lower totals. There were some great individual performances – Stephen Boothroyd got 5 wicket haul with a total 11 wicket in 4 games. Besides Stephen, Tony Cleaver, Saidur Rahman, Ian Boothroyd, Hassan Bahar, Hugo Jennings and Philp Nathan all bowled very well.
     * Fielding: It’s fair to say that fielding was great in all games, wicket keeper Rich Root was great with glove behind the stumps and saved many runs.
     * Player of the season: due to low number of games the player of the season was not voted.
    I’d like to thank a number of people for their work and support in this extraordinary year: Ian Boothroyd for his tireless and proactive work as secretary; Stephen Boothroyd as treasurer; Eckart, our resident kit man and arranging sanitising equipment; Nigel for continuing in his role as webmaster.
    Mujeeb Chaudhry
    Comments on captain’s report – IW congratulated Mujeeb on leading us to an invincible (unbeaten) season, Mujeeb noted COVID was the 12th man (we had few fixtures!). Awards – Mujeeb scored the most runs and the highest score (55); SB took the most wickets (9) in five games, including a 5-wicket haul. NM noted that 5-fers in 5 overs or less gets bowlers on the club website record’s page – SB bowled 6 overs! It was noted that some score cards were missing (e.g. the King James match) on the play-cricket website – RP will update.
  7. Secretary’s report: Maiden Castle stated that if all goes well and lockdown ends, MC will be holding cricket fixtures during the spring and summer months. As always, we have to wait for the DU men’s and women’s fixtures to be finalised, then she will get in contact regarding booking fixtures. Mujeeb has also mentioned outdoor football is hoping to start at the end of the month, so is also hopeful we can get outdoor nets and practice matches going. Towards the end of 2020, either during second lockdown or when we were tier 3, cricket was not one of the indoor sports allowed at MC, so I’m not sure on indoor nets yet. I have started to arrange fixtures against the usual teams and am in the process of contacting them and getting a response. So far we have 13 fixtures on the website, and I am waiting to confirm two fixtures against Grey SCR (including Euan Squires), a match against Farmers, and an away fixture against Wolsingham, once they can start booking. We have a couple of Sunday fixtures, the usual season opener on 18th April against KSOB and Sunday 8th August against King James. I can also contact USCC for further Sunday fixtures and Hunwick are keen for a match against their development team. Last year we tried to set up a University staff vs staff match against York Chemistry, as the beginnings of a wider University staff tournament. We had to cancel due to covid, but in November 2020 we were contacted by Bristol Staff CC, looking for a touring fixture around Easter. These might not happen this year, but we have potential to start a University staff tournament. Sadly, based on conversations last year, QSCC have likely collapsed.
    Ian Boothroyd
  8. Treasurer’s report: In our disrupted 2020 season we had total costs of £118 – this comprised the nets booked for the inaugural intra-staff indoor trophy match, and shared match fees with Littletown. Because of COVID we moved to electronic payments for matches which worked pretty well, though is harder to chase down people who haven’t paid or not told me they paid. In total we took £225 in fees. Current profits for the season were £107.39, with £25 in fees outstanding. The club accounts are in a strong position (£1620.44). 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. The 2020 accounts may be viewed at https://staffcricket.webspace.durham.ac.uk/archive/cricket_acc21/
    Stephen Boothroyd (some figures were updated after the meeting once the account book had been updated by the bank)
  9. Election of Officers:
    President: Brian Lander – assumed happy to continue.
    Chairman: Peter Collins – NM states we know he wants to give up, but no one to take over yet. NM asks if happy to retain?
    Secretary: NM note it is preferable for secretary to be member of university (as IB has left uni after post-doc finished in December). NM states IB has given his intention to resign, so we have a season to fix this. EW still happy to check in on the account as the account owner and is happy to help out, but he wants to stay as kit sec. AD might be willing to take on some of the responsibilities for next season or two while completing PhD. Ian Boothroyd to show him the ropes, with Aiden Duffy vice-sec.
    Captain: Mujeeb Chaudhry is happy to continue for this year, to complete his two year term.
    Vice-Captain(s): Peter Swift happy to step back and not do it in name, but can captain if he’s available and no other captains; Rich Root happy to continue; Rob Powell will continue and should be around more; Ian Whitfield happy to continue.
    Treasurer: Stephen Boothroyd happy to carry on.
    Kit Man: Eckart Wrede happy to carry on. Not sure when he will be back in Durham to start his duties this year, but should happen eventually. IB has kit at the moment, Mujeeb the covid-stuff. EW has match balls at home, boundary flags. IB notes no scorebook last year. RP has the 2019 scorebook. RP will copy the 2020 scores from Play Cricket into the 2019 scorebook. JC also has some scorebooks – e.g. the Littletown scores, and will pass on to RP. RP notes half a book spare, so plenty of space for 2021 season but NM notes should get a spare.
    Auditor: NM – happy to continue.
    Webmaster: NM – happy to continue. NM asking EW about switch from Community web site. No information from CIS about this yet. EW to monitor staff account to see when/if account switching. CIS state that pages linked from the homepage will be migrated, but any links not on the homepage may be lost. Community site web server might lose stuff in migration, but there will be an archive record – would take time to fix on new website. EW thinks migration will occur in the summer.
    Scorer: JC has offered to be club scorer.
    Other matters: DG will be in charge of Instagram, RP the Play Cricket site; the staff-account will be the contact for the Surridge Sport club shop.
  10. Kit: NM asks do we need new kit? NM asks about sharing Kit – RP notes no sharing at all allowed (unless a last-minute player drafted in – all kit would need sanitising for these exceptional circumstances – see below for his zoom chat comments). EW, enough gloves, thigh guards ageing. Bats, 2 good ones, but some damage. Helmet, some screws missing so need fixing. EW earliest available post-quarantine 4th May, but not looking good – suggests a player sure playing one match will get club kit loaned, which would then need quarantining after they’ve finished borrowing it. SB asks about keeping gloves – RR used them last year. RR doesn’t have the gloves anymore. EW has his own personal pair of gloves. Mujeeb notes Rich sent around a Google docs kit list to see who has what kit and what could be shared/loaned out. RR probably does have the wicket keeping gloves, having played in the final fixture. SB suggests we should get a spare pair of wicket keeping gloves. NM suggests 2nd pair so a stand-in keeper can use a clean, quarantined set separate to the gloves RR borrows from the kit bag. EW and RP have their own keeping gloves. RR doesn’t have the gloves – likely given to Mujeeb. NM asks how long quarantine – EW states 72 hours, so NM suggests we have Tuesday or Thursday bats and keep separate, but could share between matches if 72 hours between. SB asks how many match balls we have/do we need to buy more? Sounds like we need more balls.

    RP provided the following notes on sharing kit in the Zoom chat: Sharing of equipment must be avoided where possible, particularly that used around the head and face, such as helmets. Where equipment is shared, equipment must be cleaned before use by another person. Sports where a ball needs to be handled by multiple players (such as basketball, cricket, or football) must follow the measures put in place by their national governing body to reduce the transmission risk (for example, by pausing play to sanitise the ball at regular intervals).
  11. AOB: IW – whereabouts of ES Trophy and will it be at the match to present to the winners? PS has the ES Trophy at Grey College. IB has the Beamish trophy – IW notes we’ve won it two years in a row now (with no 2020 tournament) – SB noted we have had it for three years!
    Tynemouth match is in Easter vacation so IW asked if practice match possible before then – NM suspects not.
    Mike Costello asked IB if still planning on/able to play as not Staff anymore. NM notes we allow guests and IB notes he is alumni (PhD graduate) so is a legitimate club member still. JW asked if IB a member of a college – he is (Grey SCR), so again, still a Staff member as per club regulations.
    IW asked about TC as not attending or given apologies – IB noted he emailed apologies during the AGM, had logged on too late! But noted he’s still part of the club.
    Questions on how we get new players – IB suggests using Dialogue. Mujeeb suggested a couple of new players he knows. SB trying to re-recruit James Walton, JW mentions Ian Latham.

Ian Boothroyd July 2021