The Appleton Cricket Club AGM was held on Monday 1st February 2010

in the Plough Pub and commenced at 7:30pm.

1. Apologies for absence: David Adams, Tom Crowe, Tim Cruttenden, Matthew Godwin, James Marks, Chris Mitty, Ben Salmon, Richard Tyack, Steve Handscombe and John Spivey

2. Meeting attended by: Greg Alder, John Bennett, Andrew Buck, Martin Bungay, Stuart Dobbs, Ed Gilkes, Roger Gilkes, Sam Hancock, Andrew Hammond, David Manning, Carl McKno, Roger Mitty, David Roach, Geoff Smith and Graham Rose

3. Minutes of previous (2009) meeting: proposed and unanimously accepted.

4. Chairman's Report. Welcome to all those attending the meeting. In 2009 more matches won than lost: congratulations to captain Andy Buck for this performance. He believed the club both on and off the field was headed in the right direction. Particular thanks to Andy Buck for his captaincy and hard work behind the scenes, ground preparation and nets. Andy Hammond for his sterling work as treasurer. Ed Gilkes for working wonders with organising the annual awards dinner, the 2009 fixtures and the 6-a-side competition. Andy Farrell for organising the trip to the West County. Graham Rose for his work as secretary. David Roach for his implementation of the fines policy and making an amusing speech at the annual dinner. David Manning for his work on loaming and other matters. David Morgan at Field Farm for his support and Brian Hathaway for helping to maintain the equipment. The Chairman concluded by thanking all club members and all who played.

5. Treasurer’s Report: In the 2009 season the club had income of £5,495 and expenditure of £4,232 thus a surplus of £1,263 and an opening balance for 2010 of £4,218. The 2010 budget was will be worked on following the AGM. It was agreed: -

• a. Senior Subscriptions will remain at £35
• b. Junior Subscriptions will remain at £15
• c. Match fees of £6 seniors and £3 juniors will continue
• d. 20/20 match fees of £3 for seniors and £1.50 for juniors will remain for 2010

Andy Hammond thanked, in particular, the excellent and much-appreciated contributions from the VPS in 2009. He did warn that income for 2010 might well not be as great as 2010 but the costs would certainly not be lower. Graham Rose congratulated Andy Hammond on excellent management of the finances and suggested the last of the three mowers should have the engine replaced this year. He also said there should be no reason why the club should not hire a heavy roller at the start of the season – the Sportsfield roller is now dead. Roger Mitty emphasised the club should be very careful with finances and build up reserves for potential future and unexpected expenditure

6. Secretary’s Report: Nothing untoward to report!

7. Election of Officers.

• President: Steve Handscombe proposed by Roger Gilkes and seconded by Geoff Smith. Unanimously accepted by the members.
• Chairman: Roger Gilkes proposed by Graham Rose and seconded by David Manning. Unanimously accepted by the members.
• Secretary: John Bennett proposed by Graham Rose and seconded by Martin Bungay. Unanimously accepted by the members.
• Treasurer: Andrew Hammond proposed by Martin Bungay and seconded by Sam Hancock. Unanimously accepted by the members.
• Captain: Martin Bungay proposed by Graham Rose and seconded Ed Gilkes. Unanimously accepted by the members.
•  Vice Captain: Andy Buck proposed by David Roach and seconded by Ed Gilkes. Unanimously accepted by the members. David Roach made particular mention of his concern there should be representatives who live in the village as senior officers.
• Press Officer: David Manning
• Fines Officer: David Roach

Vice Presidents:

• Life VPs: David Adams, Stuart Dobbs, Steve Handscombe, Jimmy Marks, John Revell and Graham Rose.
• The annually invited VPs: Roger Mitty, Geoff Smith, John Spivey, Joel Turner and Professor Sir Nicholas Wright. The meeting unanimously agreed with the selection of all the VPs and further asked the chairman to write to Teresa Bennett asking if she would honour the club by becoming a VP.

8. Field Preparation. The Chairman thanked all members who worked on the square and the outfield.

a) Outfield cutting: The arrangements with Rob Ford and the cutting of the outfield worked very well in 2009 and Graham Rose will establish whether the Parish Council will continue with the grant for cutting.

b) Football junior touch lines. The meeting discussed at some length the problem of the junior football touch lines – they are now, through use of creosote, quite severely indented and can cause a cricket ball to fly in an unexpected direction.

Actions:

• i) It was agreed Greg Alder would approach someone he knows who deals in turfs and seek advice.
• ii) Graham Rose to speak with football clubs and see if they plan any action
• iii) Graham Rose to raise with Sportsfield Committee as it was thought the costs of repair should be borne by the Sportsfield Committee.

9. Tea rota. Andrew Buck proposed this as a club captain responsibility and it was agreed. Thus Martin Bungay will manage the tea rota in 2010

10. Cricket kit. It was thought the kit was adequate although David Roach believed much of the equipment in the bag should be thrown out.

11. Any other business

a. Fixture list for 2010: Ed Gilkes circulated the confirmed matches for 2010 and it showed a full fixture list with only a few yet to be confirmed.

b. ACC representation on Appleton Sportsfield Committee: It was agreed that Roger Gilkes and David Manning should be the representatives of the club on the Sportsfield Committee.

c. Cumnor use of facilities. It was agreed that Cumnor will, once again, be able to rent the facility on 8 occasions in 2010 and on Saturdays that are immediately preceding an Appleton Sunday fixture. There was discussion about setting up and closing down on the days of play and Roger Mitty volunteered to ensure better streamlining of this aspect and offering help if necessary.

Actions

• i) When Cumnor know the dates these should be discussed with ACC
• ii) Check the typical rate for renting cricket facilities: ACC currently charges £85 (of which the Sportsfield in 2009 had £25) when the booking is for a Saturday preceding an ACC Sunday fixture as it was suggested the ACC rate is too low.
• iii) When the rate has been agreed Cumnor to be advised of the rate and the conditions.

d. Net mat: Roger Gilkes advised the Appleton Community Shop had agreed to a grant of about 95% towards the cost of a new mat and the meeting unanimously expressed their thanks to the shop. The new mat is in the garage at the Sportsfield. Roger Mitty suggested the shop be kept appraised about the ACC and developments. Andy Buck raised the matter of the netting and it was agreed they had only about one more season left. This will be monitored and the Treasurer will build an amount into the 2010 budgets to allow for this cost (estimated at £350 to £400).

e. Kwik cricket set: Roger Mitty agreed to supply the club with contacts for the free supply of Kwik cricket equipment and David Roach agreed to follow this matter up.

f. Summer tour: Andy Farrell had sent an email to the officers advising he would not be able to finalise the arrangements for the Isle of Wight summer tour – planned for June 26/27. Ed Gilkes agreed to speak with Andy and try and persuade him to resolve the issue. By a show of hands those who said they would attend the tour were: Carl McKno, Martin Bungay, David Manning, Andrew Hammond, Bennetts x 3 … it was agreed we have a hardcore of members!

g. Indoor net practice: it was confirmed indoor net practice has been booked on 21/3, 28/3 and 11/4 to start at 12:30.

h. CASC: David Manning apologised for the lack of progress in this matter; he had tried to obtain the information but it has been a nightmare. Roger Mitty confirmed this was not an easy matter to resolve and will send information to David with the details of how Cumnor succeeded. Roger did say it was important to resolve the CASC approval as it can lead to consideration for grant aid.

i. Jumpers and shirts: Andy Buck agreed to establish the prices and then ask club members what badged wear they require. There were mutterings that the fines system should reflect kit decisions!

j. Ties: it was agreed the price of a club tie should be established – Andy Buck to action. The tie could be used as a motivator.

k. Cups and china mugs: it was unanimously agreed the present cups and mugs were good.

l. Appleton with Eaton Advertiser: the meeting asked that press officer, David Manning, put a piece in the Advertiser announcing the beginning of the season. Graham Rose to advise the new contact details of the editor.

m. Presentation to ex-secretary: the meeting presented Graham Rose with a special commemorative plate in acknowledgement of his many years of service to the club. 

Presentation to Graham Rose

n. VP and wives luncheon. Roger Mitty recommended a luncheon for VPs and their wives sometime in the season. This was agreed and further recommended officers of the club and their wives might also be invited. Action: Graham Rose

There being no further business the meeting concluded at about 8:54pm