Devon Cricket Board - DACO AGM minutes 2009

MINUTES OF THE DACO COUNTY AGM

held on Thursday 3^rd. December 2009

at Ivybridge Rugby Club, starting at 730pm

In Memoriam: The President asked members to stand in the memory of the following:
- David Shepherd ;
- Gerald Clarke
- Glenys Hildick

Attendance. A full list of those members in attendance was made and retained by the secretary

3. Apologies: The Secretary read the following : Martin Webb; John Hukku; Dennis Smith; John Harris; Harold Shaw; Steve White; Tony McIntyre; Malcolm Glass; Paul Bennett; Bob & Jeannie Bell; Jim Lowe; Peter Gleave; Jack Neville; Brian Pearce; Mike Tandy; Andy White; Bob Gitsham; Jean & Graham Pascoe.

4.Opening Address from the President:

The President thanked all for attending and expressed his pleasure of this, his first opportunity, to be among a large selection of Devon Cricket Officials. He felt it was a great honour he had had bestowed on him, when he was invited to become President…his only hesitation was concerning David Shepherd, who had confirmed to him that he was unable to take on this role.

The President stated that, as the County Chairman knew, he had been a strong supporter of the Umpiring and Scoring cause, particularly at home here in Devon,, when Chairing the DCB in its early days. He had always admired the growth and development of the DCU&S and the expert way the delicate transition to DACO was so successfully handled. He wished to comment on the current issues on the discipline front….firstly he wished to confirm that he totally supports the DACO initiative on swearing, putting this personally to the Board Chairman, but he would like to make two general points on these issues.

The role of the Club Chairman…..The President stated that he feels the behaviour of the players is first and foremost the responsibility of the club, therefore the Club Chairman, and secondly the on field Captain……if both of these people were working together, he felt that the problems would be resolved…as they had been within the Devon County side.
The relationship of the captains with the umpires was crucial… as regards general behaviour and he felt that the new initiatives of DACO and DCL would reap the rewards they deserved…..he had needed to be strong in his playing days, and he believed that players were like children, who often needed guidance from a good leader. He felt that a conversation he’d had with David Shepherd, when the Darryl Hair incident had taken place, emphasised this…the Pakistan side refused to take the field because of Hair’s actions, ‘Shep’ expressed his opinion that Hair had been right ‘by the book’ but could have spoken to then players and conducted himself in a calmer manner, explaining what he felt was wrong without creating the tensions, and actions, that followed.

The President finished his address with one of his own experiences, when captaining a Combined Services side, at the Parks, with Bill Alley as a ‘new’ umpire…this amusing story involved a cricket sweater, a pair of glasses, a top set of teeth and the possibility of a wooden leg!!!!!

5. The Minutes of the previous AGM…..these had been circulated and the Chairman asked if they could be accepted….Jim Hicken proposed this, which was seconded by Ray Adamson, and unanimously accepted by the members present.

There were no Matters arising from those minutes

6. The Chairman’s Report:

     Welcome to all –it is excellent that in excess of a quarter of all our members attend AGMs.       Thanks Mr President for your excellent words.

     Moving the AGM around the County has been a great success

    Thanks to the West for hosting tonight – especially Ian Devine and Gary Aldridge for all their efforts and Ivybridge Rugby Club. Format will be            the same as last year. Once the AGM has closed an opportunity for members to ask questions of our Management Committee and then a buffet.

    I am proud to have been Chairman for eight years- the only one left of the 2001 Management Committee – where have I gone wrong?? I have         looked back at my first report of 2002 for two reasons - firstly, Nostalgia (although it isn’t what it used to be!) and secondly to save writing a new one!!

Six main issues discussed then and all relevant today.

            1 Raise our profile
                     We have a seat on Devon Cricket Board
                     We attend every cricket meeting in Devon and have influence on all decisions.
                     Most important over 2000 umpire appointments made last year. - John Wadsworth and his 4 Area Appointments Officers do a marvellous job

         2 Keep members involved and informed.
                  Thanks to Chris Shelton for all his Secretarial work
                  Area Meetings thriving
                  Updated website- thanks to Clive Russell
                  Regular ECBACO Newsletter in which we can put Devon news
                  Area Reps on Management Committee

         3 Improve Standards through Training
                  Gavin Lane had a mammoth task in taking over from the late Len Horton and I congratulate him on his success
                  Improved Training
                  Record number of course members and exam passes last year
                  Scorers courses now ready to go

         4 Work closely with DCL
                  In 2002 Discipline system was totally unacceptable but working together has resulted in present system which is
                  exvellent and the DCL  support  our members 100%

         5 Captains Marks
               Were introduced in 2002 - A lot of early problems now ironed out.
               Pre season umpires /captains meetings working
               Boundary observers will aid the system

         6 Discipline
               Much better now through work with DCL.
               New initiative to cut out foul and abusive language to be introduced this winter.

           So in Summary
            DACO in great shape.
             Membership rising up 40 % in last ten years.
            Excellent financial shape - thanks to Ken Jeffery our Treasurer and Jim Wood and the DCB for their support.
            Training thriving and new active umpires and scorers joining at a record level, Thank you to all Area Trainers and well
            done to Brian Pearce for the award he received at Sandford recently.
            Appointing umpires to all Devon games including top 4 leagues of DCL every Saturday.
            DACO will always be grateful for the foundation laid by 46 years of DCUS success.

            The 9 Life and Honorary Members will rightly have their status transferred over to DACO - John Fry, Brian Pearce,
            Harold Shaw and John Harris cannot be here tonight. Clifford Alford Bert Mitchell Percy Govier Bill Craven
             and our President Roger Moylan Jones are.   Let us thank them all for what they have done and I would
            like to present them with the new DACO tie.

         Finally thanks to all of you for what you on whether it is scoring , umpiring or with Committee/ Administration work.
         Without the individual efforts of all DACO members Devon cricket would not be as successful as it is

      7. The Treasurer’s Report: At the end of October, the new organisation, after incorporating the finances of DCU&S, achieved a balance of £1,395.In the Income Section, the Grant from the Devon Cricket Board for £1,500 effectively represented the reason for the surplus. The ACO rebate via the DCB for £656 is based upon £3.00 per member( I believe). The DCL collected and passed on Club affiliations of £710. John Wadsworth fine allocations of matches resulted in a surplus of £230 being the difference between what was collected from the Clubs of £7,658 and the travel claims paid out in two stages totalling £7,428. As for match fees covering all other competitions, including youth, John achieved a surplus of £406.

      Looking at Expenditure, the administration costs were reduced considerably from the previous year, mainly due to the fact that we do not have to finance the Warren Times, as in former DCU&S days. The costs for training, coaching and examinations across a large county, are separately identified and, apart from the County Training Officer’s substantial workload, the overall total of £641 includes reimbursements to candidates who presently travel some instance to attend the new Level 2 training course.

      Members, you will quickly surmise, that without the benefit of support from the Devon Cricket Board, we would have made a small loss, and if the Chairman, Giles Clarke, continues to keep Test cricket off terrestrial and negotiate good contracts with Sky etc. hopefully grass roots cricket, via the DCB, will continue to survive, and that includes DACO’s finances.

      Turning to the Balance Sheet, our accumulated fund has increased to £7,502. A year ago I promised to highlight the old DCU&S training funds, verbally I confirm that no new equipment has been acquired this year, so the training fund still stands at £3,695, less the training equipment at a cost of £750, a net balance of £2,945 which will be shown as a separate asset in future accounts.

      The Debtors of £3, 834 is purely a timing matter, covering the DCL second half mileage of £3,658 and Devon Over 50’s fees of £176.00 – both amounts received since the year end.

      The acquisition of new ties is shown in the balance sheet – I hope the sales will proceed quickly…would Area Treasurers kindly forward funds on a regular basis please!!! Old DCU&S stocks are still reflected in the balance sheet and some £200 may have to be written off unless members wish to make an offer for ‘keep sake’ purposes e.g. 1 DCU &S badged shirt could be purchased tonight for a fiver!!! The Committee will discuss the strategy of the ‘old stock’ at its next meeting. If Area Secretaries / Treasurers still have any such stocks would you please send it to me!

      So to summarise, our finances are in a very comfortable state, but don’t tell the Prime Minister, just in case he taxes us.

      Chairman, before I move for the approval of the Accounts for the Year ending 31^st. October 2009 and furthermore the retention of Robert Loxton & Co. who do a very thorough job for a Modest fee as Examining Accountants, I will try to answer any questions which Members wish to raise.

There were no questions from the floor, and the accounts were accepted by the members present.

8. Election of Officers: The Secretary makes the following Nominations as Officers:

Chairman – David Moseby

Vice Chairman – Graham Curson

Hon. Secretary – Chris Shelton

Hon. Treasurer – Ken Jeffery

Hon Appointments Officer – John Wadsworth

Hon. Education Officer – Gavin Lane

Hon. Scorers Officer – Vacancy

These, having been proposed by the Secretary, were seconded by Jim Hicken and voted in on block. The Chairman asked the Secretary if anyone had been proposed for the vacancy as the Scorers Officer, he replied that Lynne Davis had been proposed by Nick Evanson, and seconded by the Secretary…as there were no other nominations, Lynne was duly elected.

9. Appointment of Auditor: In his report, the County Treasurer had recommended that Robert Loxton was retained as Auditor, this was seconded by John Gauler and accepted by the members present.

10. Life and Honorary Members: All life members present were presented with a ‘new’ DACO tie. Ian Devine then read a citation to have John Gauler named as a new Life Member, listing his numerous achievements and roles within the County. John graciously accepted this award.

11. The Tony Miller Award: John Wadsworth read the citation that listed the input and support given to DCU&S and DACO, over 50 years, by Percy Govier, who graciously accepted this award from John.

12.The Chairman thanked all again for attending and closed the meeting at 2015.

13. AGM 2010. The DACO AGM for 2010 will be held in the South Area, at the Dolphin Hotel, Bovey Tracey, on Thursday 2^nd. December, starting at 7.30.