Bassetlaw Cricket League A.G.M.
by Paul Barker, 28th November 2004

The annual general meeting of the Bassetlaw and District Cricket League was held at the Valley Comprehensive School at Baulk Lane, Worksop.

Mr. Tony Wilkinson (President) opened the meeting and after welcoming everybody he asked Mr. Richard Martin the League Secretary to read the roll call. Clubs absent from the meeting were Basford Mill, Blyth, Lea Park , Oaklands, Ollerton Colliery, Rockware Glass, Rose Leisure, Thurcroft, Todwick and Welbeck Colliery. All these clubs are now subject to a fine for non appearance of £20.00 for contravention of Rule 1.5 (viii).

This was followed by the Secretary’s report and after this the Treasurer Mr. Peter Neale gave his annual report. Mr. Neale stated that despite a hefty amount on the debit side the league’s finances were in a very reasonable state of affairs. He finally went on to thank Mr. Roger Heath for his audit of the accounts.

The election of Officers for 2005 were taken as read with the only changes being Mr. Alan Bennett moving up from vice president to president and Mr. Geoff Holden becoming vice-president. The Honorary Umpires Appointments Secretary will be Mr. John Leaning and Mr. J. B. Wilson will make up the vacancy on the management committee caused by Mr. Leanings move to his new position.

Mr. Mick Beard (Clumber Park) then gave a vote of thanks to retiring officials including Mr. Geoff Holden and Mr. Tony Wilkinson.

This was followed by the proposed amendments to League Rules for the season 2005.

The first proposition on behalf of the Management Committee was that Rules 3.5 (ii) and (iii) be amended to read, (ii) If after 1 hour has elapsed or after the game has started, interference by weather, light or unforeseen circumstances amounts to more than 30 minutes, a time limit shall be applied from the time 5 hours (5 and a half hours) after the start of play. (iii) When a time limit has been applied there shall, unless further interference occurs or the match is completed, be one hour’s play or a minimum of 20 overs bowled. (iv) If further interference occurs when a time limit has been applied, or if time lost during the last hour of play causes a time limit to be applied, the number of overs to be bowled on the resumption of play shall be reduced from the total of 20 by one over for each full 3 minutes which have elapsed after the scheduled commencement of the last hour. This was carried practically unanimously.

The next proposition was again from the Management Committee who proposed that Rule 3.11 be amended to read. ‘Except in an emergency players shall wear all white apparel decorated only with small club and/or commercial insignia or traditional sweater trim. No player shall be allowed to bowl if he is not wearing such apparel’. This proposition created a lively debate with one club stating they had obtained sponsorship and had already spent £700.00 on tackle which they expected to wear. There were several ifs and buts talked about this but the Management Committee’s proposal easily carried through by 32 votes to 11.

Mansfield and Pleasley Cricket Club then proposed that Rule 5 Qualification of players be deleted in its entirety and be replaced by Rule 5 as it stood for season 2003. This was probably the most contentious of the propositions put forward and revolved around the registration of players which was new last season. Surprisingly although there was several opposition from the floor the proposition was thrown out quite convincingly. When this was brought in for the first time in 2004 it only got through by a single vote so it was somewhat of a shock to see it sail through so easily this time.

Ashover Cricket Club then withdrew a similar proposal to that of Mansfield & Pleasley but a second proposition by the same club that rule 5.2 Delete (i) All players must be registered on the prescribed form or by letter, fax, e-mail or telephone confirmed in writing within 3 days to be received by the League before they play was also thrown out.

The fifth proposition again from the Management Committee was that Rule 5.2 be amended as follows with subsequent renumbering of passages. (i) All players aged 16 or over on 1st September of the previous year must be registered on the prescribed form, and (ii) Category A (i) players may be registered by letter, fax, e-mail or telephone before they play and the registration confirmed on the prescribed form not later than three days after a player’s first match was accepted almost unanimously.

Papplewick and Linby Cricket Club’s proposal that ‘Rule 5.3 (i) be amended to read: A player registered under Category B or C shall be eligible to play for a club’s Second XI providing that the club’s First XI operates outside the Bassetlaw League i.e. Nottinghamshire Premier League, Derbyshire Premier League, Yorkshire Premier, Linconshire Premier. No player shall be allowed to play below Division 5 registered under this rule. This proposition even failed to gain the support of a seconder and was subsequently thrown out.

Papplewick & Linby did have more luck with another proposition which stated ‘No club shall engage a professional player if it does not have sightscreens or pitch covers. Although this proposition did manage to gain a seconder it still was thrown out very easily.

The next three propositions were all from the Bassetlaw and District Umpires Association. The first one was that Rule 6.2 be amended to read: Should any umpire be unable to accept his appointment he must immediately notify the Umpires’ Appointment Secretary who will appoint a substitute. Except in extreme and unavoidable circumstances the Umpires’ Association Secretary must be informed by 10.00 a.m. on the day of the match at the latest.

The second one was that Rule 7.1 be amended to read: Any club having any objection to the conduct of any umpire, player or team or any umpire having any objection to the conduct of any player or team in a League match must state such objections in writing to the League Secretary and in matter concerning umpires copied to the Hon. Secretary of the Bassetlaw & District Umpires Association. If the objection is sustained, such umpire, player or team shall be dealt with at the discretion of the Management Committee.

The third proposition was that Rule 7.4 2.1 be amended to read: Any alleged breach of Paragraph 1 above shall be notified in writing (to be known as a complaint) to the Secretary of the League and copied to the Hon. Secretary of the Bassetlaw & District Umpires Association. All three of these propositions were carried unanimously.

The final proposition on behalf of the Management Committee was that Rule 7.4 5.1 be amended to read: A player or club shall have the right to appeal to the Appeal’s Committee. Notice of Appeal stating whether the appeal is against the finding, or is against the penalties imposed and setting out the grounds, must be given in writing to the Secretary of the League within seven days of the decision of the Disciplinary Committee, together with a deposit of £20.00. This was also carried unanimously.

The next item on the agenda was that the Annual Dinner and Prize Distribution will take place at the Masonic Hall, Worksop on Saturday 19th March 2005. Each club will be allocated two tickets the cost will be included on next season’s Annual Subscription invoice. Applications for additional tickets will be dealt with in strict rotation with the price of tickets being £16.00.

The fixtures will be made by the Honorary Fixture Secretary after information given by clubs on the fixture proforma has been considered. Speaking on this the Fixture Secretary Mr. Bev. Norris made an impassioned plea to Clubs not to moan about getting fixtures on Bank Holiday Monday’s because there was simply no other way of getting them all in. When asked about the possibility of playing matches on Sunday’s, Mr. Norris reply was that many clubs are involved in Sunday League matches and only the odd clubs usually out of different sections of the league were able to play these games.

Finally the appointment of umpires will be made by the Honorary Umpires Appointment Secretary. Details will be sent to Umpires and Clubs.

The Management Committee give notice that for next season: a) The nomination form for umpires should be completed and returned to the Umpires’ Appointment Secretary by 7 th January. Please do not include umpires who represented another club in 2004.

b) Each nominated umpire will be contacted to confirm his/her availability for the season.

c) Every club should show further commitment by nominating members to the supplementary list prepared to umpire on days on which they have no fixture, each of whom will be contacted by an official of the Umpires’ Association prior to such days All these members will require CRB clearance under the ECB child protection legislation.

d) The League Handbook will not indicate any affiliation of umpire to club and umpires will not be precluded from matches involving their nominating clubs.

e) A list printed in the League handbook will show the number of active umpires nominated by each club.

f) The principles to be employed when allocating umpires to matches will be decided, and communicated to clubs, following assessment of the response to the letter from the Chairman of the Management Committee.

This concluded the business for the A.G.M. and Mr. Tony Wilkinson drew the meeting to its close.