Devon Association of Cricket Officials – Annual General Meeting 2012

November 15th, 2012.  Exeter Court Hotel, Kennford, Exeter EX6 7UX.

Meeting opened 19:30

The Chairman, Gavin Lane, opened the meeting and extended a warm welcome to all who attended the fifth DACO AGM. The Chairman introduced our President, Mr Roger Moylan-Jones.

 1.          In Memoriam:

Members present stood for a minute’s silence in memoriam of all those who had passed-on during the previous year. 

2.          Attendance:

A register of attendees was recorded on a sign-in register circulated at the meeting; a copy of which is available on request and held by the Hon. Secretary.

3.          Apologies:

A register of apologies is available on request and held by the Hon. Secretary.

 4.          Election of President

The Chairman gave a short explanation on the re-election of the President. The Chairman highlighted how DACO has been fortunate to have the benefit of his background in the game together with his powers of guidance in the transition from DCU&S. The liaison with DCL & DCB has gone from strength to strength and he was ideally placed to continue in this vital role. It was put to a vote and was carried unanimously by the persons present. (Proposed Bill Pinhey and seconded by Di Wadsworth). 

5.          Opening Address from the President:

The President started his address by returning the favourable comments by the Chairman. He expressed his continuing gratitude and honour to be associated with an organisation of officials even though his background was primarily as a player. As a captain he understood the special relationship with umpires. As President of DCU&S he certainly became more aware of the difficulties in many aspects of the game.  In describing the sometimes tricky subtleties required in an umpire’s handling of a game, the President said it was more a matter of the art of leadership than what was commonly referred to by umpires as “man management”. He appreciates how the teamwork between umpires and scorers is crucial to the smooth running of a match. After describing a famous story of a game in which he was involved, he emphasised how the role of scorer is often underrated. The President continued by stressing that the impartiality needed from officials is as important off the field of play as when they are on it. Any allegiance to former or present club(s) should not affect any official’s decisions or attitude. It is, after all, a ‘Player’s Game’. In conclusion the President was very proud to be associated with Devon Cricket. Its reputation is on the rise and all feedback continues to be very positive. He gave a vote of thanks to all concerned.

 6.     The Minutes of the previous AGM (held on 17^th November 2011)

All members had received a copy in advance of the 2012 AGM.

The minutes of the 2011 Annual General Meeting were proposed by Alex Pickersgill and seconded by Andrew Forward. The proposal was unanimously agreed.

 7.     Matters arising from those minutes.

There were no matters arising from the Minutes.

8.     Chairman’s Report:

Thank you, Mr President.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it has been a pleasure to be your Chairman for the last months during which much has happened.

Over last winter the education process produced 23 successes at UL1 and a further 18 people undertook the UL1A course - you will have seen photographs in the ECB ACO magazine, of the participants signalling in the snow!  8 participants have completed their UL1A qualification and the remainder will complete theirs in 2013-defeated by the weather in 2012. We also prepared 2 scorers for the 2012 season and, despite the poor weather, cricket was played and there were successes.

In May an MCC corporate day of cricket required officials. DACO provided two Young Officials: Jasper Heaver (with his mentor David Moseby) along with young scorer Nathan Bradley. (Gavin indicated these persons in a projected picture in his presentation). They had a brilliant day working at Lord’s.

The rain notwithstanding, cricket was played across the County. The variety and quantity is staggering and I really do applaud and thank the local appointers who do such a great job to make all the appointments to local leagues, friendlies, youth & other fixtures. This is a vital role and one that the DACO appointer, Pete Bamber, appreciates very much. (Pete Bamber had sent his apologies to the meeting and had indicated that he would soon be writing to the membership). Pete has done much to bring online ‘Who’s The Umpire’ (WTU) administrative software to ease the burden of organising appointments. 2012 was ‘year one’ of this project and the intention is to broaden WTU’s use in 2013. Pete had his own day at Lord’s too as one of the richly deserved nominations from Devon for a Cricket OSCA – no OSCA but a great day out nevertheless. Well done and thank-you Pete for all you do.

 2012 saw the eternally youthful Jim Anning join with Roger Tolchard and Phil Matten on the ‘D List’ (County 2^nd XI panel). Andy Forward has joined Phil Matten on the MCCA Panel. Both Andy Forward and Steve Lavis were also accepted onto the ECB ACO UL3 course. All these individuals have done themselves and Devon proud and I congratulate them.

 How did they do that? You may ask! The process is simple but, as always, the devil is in the detail.

In 2011 the ECBACO was involved for the first time in recommending officials for UL3 education and, as it transpired, making recommendations to both the MCCA Panel & 2^nd XI Panel. The basis is simple and starts with umpire gradings. This year, panel umpires will see their grades on their season’s mark sheet. Gradings are evidential, based on a minimum of 6 matches at a particular level:

C1- steady or possibly moving up or down.

C1*- upwardly mobile (MCCA or County 2^nd XI + portfolio)

C1+1- Officiated at a higher level.

How do we do this in Devon? C1 is premier, C2 is mainly A division, C3 is B&C divisions, C4 is Premier & A 2nds & D divisions, C5 all others (incl. L1s).

The number of DACO member panel umpires is around 60 and there are over 160 non-DACO members who regularly umpire in the DCL every weekend in Devon.

The DACO appointments sub-committee makes the decisions for who will stand where - based on performance/observations/assessments.

Much of what Devon has achieved is down to our growing ability to support our new and existing umpires, in particular by observing & assessing. I am pleased to report that Danny Daniels, Chris Shelton and Dave Moseby all qualified as Level 1 & Level 1A assessors this year.

Paul Dawe, Steve Lavis & Nick Evanson have started their tutoring careers by attending a ‘tutoring Day’ and recently Nick has been a participant in the new ECB ACO Scorer L3 course.

DACO was involved in a third day at Lord’s when a large group of our umpires & scorers attended the annual ECB ACO AGM and Conference - it was most heartening to see so many from Devon there.

 Your Management Committee has worked hard on your behalf and I thank each and every one for their thoughtful & supportive inputs. Devon is a large area to cover, so thanks for all when travelling long distances for the meetings.  A key factor is spreading the word from Management to the Areas & back again - Area Reps are the vital link here and are essential to make that process work.  Finances: Ken Jeffery will give you a ‘blow by blow’ financial summary. I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his dedicated, trustworthy and thorough financial dealings on our behalf. The DCB have always supported officials in Devon - indeed the ECB pass down funds to the DCB specifically for officials. Since DACO was created the financial scene has become less clear and we have managed to exist mainly through the membership rebate we get annually from the ECB ACO - more members means more loot! This year DACO submitted a financial plan to the DCB explaining what we do, how we do it & the financial support needed to enable DACO to fulfil its remit. The DCB have agreed – and why wouldn’t they, as we provide excellent value for money! Funding to support officials, to maintain standards on education courses and to administer what we do, for example to pay for WRTU, will be paid annually.   I consider this to be really good news.

DACO has a good working relationship with the DCB and DCL as well as other groups that make up the Devon cricket family. Much of what we do in Devon is cited as examples of best practice - so we must be doing something right!

Many of you will know that Simon Dodwell, our Secretary, has moved away to Liverpool. Paul Dart has volunteered to be his replacement and, as well, to take on the new role of ‘Membership Services Officer’- a “difficult and new area”.  For some time we have been without an Education Officer and I am pleased that Martin Webb has volunteered to take on this role.

 In September, your Officers attended the ECB ACO S&W Region Conference held in Salisbury. As I am the Regional Performance Officer, Andy Forward attended the Chairmens’ meeting in my stead. This event is helpful and informative & keeps us in Devon aware of what goes on around us.

 Looking forward: we can all do something to add value to our Association. We can try to be better at what we do, either scoring, umpiring or both. We can all try to get someone new to join DACO - there are benefits! Surely the majority of umpires & scorers would wish to be members? Of the many that regularly turn out every week in the DCL who are not members of DACO, would it not be brilliant if they became members and therefore able to take advantage of the supported education opportunities to improve their performance?

 Education will continue, supported by observations - already 14 are planned for 2013 with more on the way.

 We hold our first UL2 course in April 2013.

WTU will be developed and more widely used.

 I am particularly keen to retain & bring into the fold our Life Members- they did a tremendous amount for us and at the very least I would like to see them kept up-to-date.

You - all of you have contributed in some significant way in the last year and I thank each and every one for that. Our volunteers are vital and their hard work is very much appreciated, both countywide as well as locally. Above all, I would like to think that communications will significantly improve during 2013 - your help is fundamental to making this so as we move forward to play our part within the cricket family of Devon.

Thank You.

9.     Treasurer’s Report:

I take no credit for the splendid surplus of £852. This is entirely due to the influence and negotiating skill our Chairman has with the Devon Cricket Board. For not only did we receive the expected members rebate from the ECBACO of £940 but Gavin Lane prepared a factual paper to present to the DCB outlining the impact upon DACO's finances if we are to organise all the internal training courses and furthermore attend & participate in external ACO courses & seminars, including the enhanced attention our governing body now applies to the Scorers. The Grant, which the DCB has provided for the past year, is £1,440 and not all the funds have been used so far.

Administration costs are under control. Not all of your committee claim a re-imbursement for their travel in attending meetings. Overall most of the figures do not require an explanation, I feel.

On to the Balance Sheet - the nominal training fund has reduced by £1,109 to £2,835 following the purchase of a flip-board. Debtors are temporarily high and relate to the aforementioned DCB funds of £1,440 and also to the DCL club affiliations of £710 but the funds were credited to the bank account earlier this month.

Stock of ties - as a tempting offer I am prepared to reduce the price from £8.00 to £7.60- there are new members of DACO each of whom ought to possess a tie - I have some with me this evening.

Current liabilities - our accountant's fee £131 and a bill from the ECB for training packs £440.

President, I will try and answer questions. (No questions were asked).

Therefore I move for the adoption of the Accounts for the year ended 31^st October 2012 and secondly for the retention of Robert Loxton & Co. as examining accountants (whose fee, including vat, is very generous for the time taken for thoroughly examining and preparing the accounts.).

Ian Birt proposed that the financial accounts be accepted; Bill Pinhey seconded this proposal and the proposal was unanimously agreed.

A copy of the submitted report is available on request from the Hon Secretary.

 10.  Election of Officers: 

The President supported the motion that the un-opposed nominations for returning current Officers of the Association was done en bloc  (Proposed Gary Aldridge, Seconded Geoff Coish):

i)      Chairman – Gavin Lane

ii)     Vice Chairman – Andy Forward

iii)   Hon Treasurer – Ken Jeffery

iv)    Hon Appointments Officer – Pete Bamber

v)     Hon Scorers Officer – Nick Evanson

vi)    Hon Performance Officer – Gavin Lane

            The proposal was unanimously agreed.           

 The Nominations for new Hon Secretary (Paul Dart) and new Hon Education Officer (Martin Webb) were proposed by Peter Gleave and Seconded by Paul Dawe. The proposal was unanimously agreed.           

 11.  Appointment of Auditor:

Previously accepted in item 8 ‘Treasurer’s Report’.

 12.  Life and Honorary Members:

David Moseby (DACO South Vice Chairman) gave the following address:

Mr President. Mr Chairman. Ladies and Gentlemen

On behalf of the South Area it gives me great pleasure to propose my good friend George Gribble be made a Life Member of DACO. Regrettably George cannot be here tonight due to a long-standing engagement. Tempting though it is in his absence I will stick to the script and not reveal all I could about the man. George has been an active member of DCUS and then DACO for around thirty years. When I first got to know George in 1995 he had been umpiring for some time and at that time was a highly respected Premier League Umpire. 1995 was in the good old days when you passed GL6, GL5 (a two hour written exam) and GL4 (a one hour meeting with experienced umpires who tested your knowledge) - a far cry from today when a full multi guess questions, a weekend course with food thrown in and all of a sudden you have progressed to level 3!!!!!

Anyway back to 1995 and having passed the three exams John Gauler would find you two on- field referees, who you had not stood with. I was so lucky with Bob Elliot and George Gribble and learnt so much from those two.

George was always confident on the field I made sound decisions and had the utmost respect of the players because of his communication skills. It was around this time he talked Chris Shelton into joining the panel, but on behalf of all Devon cricketers I think we should forgive George of this one error of judgement.

George gave up umpiring on the Panel a few years later but has always been active in DACO and from 2005 to this present day is Chairman of the South.

Those regular attendees know George can rattle through the agenda and it is not unusual for the interval to be reached in fifteen minutes. What South members may not know is that this is done for your benefit as George is a caring person and knows after fifteen minutes most will be ready for a toilet break and emptying bags where appropriate. George has been heavily involved in so many aspects of Devon cricket including-

Chairman of Bovey Tracey and leading them to the Premier Title in 2002

Premier league Representative on the DCL

Manager of Devon County Cricket Club

In all these tasks he has been a great ambassador for DACO and has earned great respect for the efficient and energetic way in which he always works.

In his spare time he has been Mayor of Bovey Tracey seven times at the last count- they keep asking him back hoping he will get it right next time

He is now a County Councillor sitting on more committees than even Yes Minister had & seems to be at every Council Meeting anywhere within drinking distance of Bovey Tracey. But you know that old saying-"if you want something doing ask a busy man"

That busy man is my good friend George Gribble and he will always find time-to help.·

It gives me great pleasure in proposing George Gribble should be made a

Life Member of DACO for all he has done for cricket in Devon.

The meeting accepted the proposal unanimously.

13.  The “Tony Miller” award

This award is traditionally awarded to a member of AGM host area.  Andrew Forward gave the following address:

Ladies and gentlemen, it is the honour of the East Area of DACO to be able to propose and now to present this year’s recipient of the Tony Miller Award.

The person that we wish to present this award to has been involved in cricket for many years as I am sure you would expect. They have spent many hours at cricket matches, scoring but not only that they have also spent more agonising hours on the phone trying to arrange umpires and scorers for matches and had to deal with short notice cancellations, from both clubs and umpires and had phone bills which required an HGV to deliver! Their time in the score box was a rest from the exhausting time as an appointments officer.

I have had great difficulty getting information on this very quiet person, I am aware that in 1985 a partnership which later would run the East Area of DCU&S and later the East Area of DACO was formed but the partnership was not formed in Devon but the home counties. The player met the scorer and I am unsure of previous involvement in cricket but from this person’s dedication to cricket, I would have thought their involvement went back well before 1985.

This person came to Devon in 2003 when the “umpire” retired. 

This person has acted as the area appointments officer and supported the umpire whilst he was doing the county appointments.

Scoring is her passion and supporting cricket in all ways is evident. She has trained scorers with the ACU&S and had numerous successes in both Devon and other counties. There are many scorers who have her to thank for getting them thorough the exam.

The scorer lost her umpire last year and he will be sadly missed by her and by us all but this did not stop the scorer carrying on and continuing to allocate fixtures thorough a very demanding season both one and off the field, the weather caused the most problems and changes in eligibility added their own problems. Thorough all this she carried on and got umpires to all games and also started to master the computer!

Therefore it is with the greatest of pleasure that I ask our president Roger Moylan-Jones to present the Tony Miller Award to Di Wadsworth.

 14.  Presentation of Scorer’s certificates

The President presented certificates to the following successful Scorers on attaining their ECB ACO L2 awards:

            Nick Evanson, Valerie Rundell, Shelia Harding & Philip Huxtable.

 15.  AGM 2013

Date set as Thursday November 14^th due to be held in the West Area.

 The Chairman thanked all persons present for attending and particularly to the ‘East’ for hosting the AGM.  The meeting closed at 20:41.