SWANAGE CRICKET CLUB

Notice is hereby given that the

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Will be held at

THE PAVILION, SWANAGE CRICKET CLUB

On

FRIDAY 1^st MARCH 2002

At 7.30 p.m.

AGENDA

1.         Apologies for Absence

2.         Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting

3.         Matters Arising

4.         Chairman’s Report

5.         Secretary’s Report

6.         Treasurer’s Report

7.         Youth Report

8.         Captain’s Report

9.         Rule Changes

10.           Election of Officers and Committees

11.           Election of Auditors

12.           Subscriptions and Match Fees

13.           Any Other Business.

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF SWANAGE CRICKET CLUB HELD AT THE PAVILION ON FRIDAY 23^rd FEBRUARY 2001 at 7.30 p.m.

PRESENT:

President, Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, C. Wells, R. Wilcox, P. Dyer, P. Clark, A. Avery, P. Kirby, R. Smith, G. Hewitt, E. Gosney, J. Cook, T. Yeates, P. Selby, G. Watson, D. Saddington, D. Haines, N. Brown, M. Budd, G. White, D. Moss, R. Barker, P. Barker, C. Elfes, T. Falck.

A Minutes silence was held in respect of Mike Rigglesworth and Miss P. Bayley who had died during the year.

APOLOGIES:

A. Cuthbert, M. Brown, R. Selby, John Constable, James Constable, Mrs B E Constable, D. Puckett, A. Puckett, J. Bradford, J. Deare, M. Coak, G. Peart, P. Wilson, Mrs P. Wilson, M. Egan, P. Bruton, N. Clark, Mrs J. Bruton, M. Frith, Mrs M Brown, J. Last, Mrs F. Frith, M. Saddington, Mrs W. Wells, A. Wells, J. Last, J. Clark, I. Harris.

MINUTES OF THE LAST AGM:

The minutes of the last AGM were sent out with the notices for this meeting. The minutes were proposed by R. Smith and seconded by D. Moss that they be accepted as a true record of that meeting.  The Chairman then proposed a vote of thanks to the Secretary for the preparation of the AGM Minutes and Reports.

MATTERS ARISING:

1.       Picture – P. Clark reported that the painting of the old Pavilion by Ian Harris had now been framed.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT:

The Chairman’s report had been circulated with the notice of this meeting.  There was a vote of thanks to the Chairman for all his work during the year.

SECRETARY’S REPORT:

The Secretary’s report had been circulated with the notice of this meeting.  The Chairman thanked the Secretary for his work during the year and also expressed his thanks to Jim Constable for his work during the year.

YOUTH REPORT:

The Youth Representative had circulated his report with the notice of this meeting.  The Chairman thanked the Youth Representative and all the Youth Coaches for their hard work during the year.

TREASURER’S REPORT:

The Treasurer reported another successful year on the bar.  The takings were down due to less functions but the profit was 39.5%, which was higher than last year.  In the long term we were aiming, four years ago, to get our debts paid off in 5 years – we are still on target to do this.  If the season goes well we should be able to pay them off by the end of the year.

Peter Clark mentioned that the headings at the top of the Income Expenditure Report were the wrong way around.

The accounts were proposed as a true record by Guy Watson and seconded by Ron Barker.

The Chairman then thanked the Treasurer for all his hard work during the year.

CAPTAIN’S REPORT:

SATURDAY 1^st XI

(Presented by G. Watson)

Thanks must go to Ian Harris for the side that I took over at the beginning of the year.  It was my first year as Captain and I was fortunate to win at the first attempt.  We played 15, won 12, lost 3.  We were lucky at the start of the season when the results went our way.  It made a big difference in having C. Wells at the start of the season to give us a good start then when Nick joined us later in the year he took Craig’s place and scored the runs we needed.  New boy, Pete Kirby, was a good acquisition to the side and he ended up picking up the “Player of the Year” trophy.  A rejuvenated Peter Clark scored runs and took some very vital catches.

The sides I have played in before have tended to beat the better sides and lose against the weaker sides.  This year that didn’t happen and we won the league.  There was a lot of confidence in the side.  This coming year we have a new challenge with promotion. It will be good to have the focus on the Saturday side and hopefully the side should do well.  However if we want to progress we need to concentrate on improving our game and encourage more of the younger players.

The Chairman then thanked Guy for his work as Captain.  The League Winners trophies were then presented to G. Watson, P. Kirby, P. Clark, C. Wells & A. Howse.

SUNDAY 1^st XI

(Presented by C. Wells)

In summary we played 18, won 5, lost 11 with 1 match abandoned and 1 match cancelled.  We used 33 players last season which was one less than in 1999.  Our highest score was 213-8 and our lowest 111 A/O.

Our first match was away against newly promoted Wayfarers.  We were put into bat on a green wicket and amassed a respectable total of 178-7.  We soon had the home side in trouble and eventually dismissed them for 124 in the 44^th over so winning by 54 runs.  Ryan Norman took 4-44, Pete Constable 3-15 and Terry Falck 2-27.  It was an encouraging start to the season although realistically we all knew there would be stronger opposition during the season.  Next came Parley at home and we really did come down to earth with a bump!  I won the toss and put Parley into bat.  It was a decision that a number of the players questioned at the tea break because Parley scored 297-6 in their 45 overs.  In reply, we lost early wickets and were never really in the game.  We were finally dismissed for 116 in the 44^th over.  We lost the match by 181 runs with Mike Nash scoring 31 and John Hardy 24.

It would have been nice to have played a weaker side after being beaten by Parley, but no such luck, Bournemouth at Chapel Gate is hardly an easy fixture at the best of times.  Not really knowing whether our strength was batting or bowling, I won the toss and elected to bat.  At first the decision appeared to be justified having scored 85 for the first wicket, we went on to score 164-5 in our 45 overs.  It wasn’t a huge score but I thought it was respectable.  I think Bournemouth must have had a party to go to because their openers set off at lightning pace and they reached their target in the 32^nd over with the loss of only 2 wickets.

We had suffered two very heavy defeats in a row and we desperately needed to get back to winning ways but unfortunately our next match against Henstridge was cancelled.  We then had to play Cranborne away.  I always believe we should beat Cranborne but they are a difficult side to play against and we never seem to perform to the best of our ability.  I won the toss and chose to bat first mainly because the pitch was appalling and it certainly wasn’t going to get any better.  At 82-5 my decision was again looking a little suspect and at 112 A/O, just plain wrong.  If it weren’t for David Haines scoring 40 and Mark Parsons 22 we would have fallen well short of the 100 mark.  In reply Cranborne made heavy weather of it and lost 7 wickets in reaching their total of 114 in 28.5 overs with Mark Parsons taking 4-32 and Ryan Norman 2-27.

Next up was Corfe Mullen at home and we really needed to win this one.  Corfe Mullen won the toss and elected to bat first.  They scored an average 179-9 in the 45 overs.  We bowled and fielded well.  Chris Elfes took 3-27 and Tim Holland 2-19.  The total was one, which I thought we were capable of getting and I think the players thought that too.  We started well with 100 on the board for the loss of only 2 wickets but then we slumped to 130-5 and the momentum was lost.  We finished 17 runs short at 162-7.  That was out 4^th defeat in a row.  We then entertained Poole at home.  I won the toss and decided to field first.  Poole scored 165-9.  That was only an average score but based on our current form we had to concentrate and apply ourselves if we were going to get anything out of it.  On this occasion everything came right and we won by 10 wickets with 14 overs to spare.  Mike Nash scored 54 and Pete Kirby had earlier taken 5-36.  It was a good match and much needed win.

We then travelled over the hill for the local derby against Studland.  I won the toss and decided to bat first.  After losing an early wicket we recovered to 108-3, then came the notorious Swanage collapse, losing 6 wickets for 24 runs.  We ended the innings on 142-9.  It was not the greatest of scores but we took the field in positive manner and we made the early breakthrough.  In fact we had Studland 7-3 in the 2^nd over and our score was looking pretty good.  Unfortunately one of their batsman stuck around, blasted 60 not out and that was enough to see Studland home by 3 wickets with 13 overs in hand.  Next came Colehill and for once, as far as I can remember, nothing out of the ordinary happened.  They batted first and scored 211-9 with wickets being shared between Parsons, Norman and Warner.  We were positive in our reply but again fell short finishing on 185-5, losing by 26 runs.  Having won only two games in the first half of the season, we entered the second half hoping to improve upon our performances.

We started as we did in the first half, beating Wayfarers at home comfortably by 9 wickets chasing only 144.  Next up Parley away, Swanage 111A/O, lost by 7 wickets.  I have tried to find a way of describing this game but I am left wanting so I’ll just say, it wasn’t our best performance.  Then came Bournemouth at home and the Clark brothers, Nick & John, in inspired form.  Bournemouth batted first and scored 200 A/O with Guy Watson taking 4 wickets.  In reply, playing to the game plan, Wells went early, allowing the Clarks to make hay whilst the sun shone.  Nick finished on 115 not out and John 66 not out.  A second wicket partnership of 198 and Swanage had won by 9 wickets with 9 balls to spare.  Consistency has never been our strong point and we showed that against Cranborne at home.  We fielded and bowled well, restricting the opposition to 175-8 in their 45 overs.  It was a game that we should have won but we were left stranded 16 runs short on 159-7 in our allotted overs.

Our next game was away at Henstridge.  We were unable to field a full strength side but we did have 11 players thanks to Ron and Pete Barker agreeing to play.  It was a very hot day and a large outfield so I won the toss and elected to field!!  We again performed miracles in the field and restricted the home side to 178-5.  Yet again the match was there for the taking, or so we thought.  On this occasion we finished on 171-9 in our 45 overs, just 8 runs short.  Fortunately the match against Corfe Mullen, away, was called off at tea due to the weather.  I say fortunate because they had just taken us for 256, which was a target we had not achieved all summer.  Poole came and scored 103 A/O, Swanage in reply scored 104-3, winning by 7 wickets.  The return match against Studland was a hard fought thriller.  We batted first and scored 213-8, with the top six batsmen all getting runs it was a solid performance.  In reply Studland scored well but also lost wickets.  The match went down to the last over but unfortunately luck was against us.  Studland finished on 217-7 with 3 balls to spare.  Well the season came to an end at Colehill.  Swanage batted first and were all out for 118 in 40 overs.  Only Pete Kirby (52) and Pete Dyer (20) made double figures.  For those of you who know the size of Colehill’s ground, it will be immediately apparent that 118 wasn’t going to be anywhere near enough.  For those of you who don’t know the ground, it’s the size of a postage stamp and 1^st slip stands on the boundary to a spin bowler and I’m not joking.  Colehill scored 120-3 in 21.1 overs and that was the end of the Sunday 1^st XI, as we know it.

In my opinion the major problem during the season was a lack of runs.  On only 2 occasions did we score more than 200 runs and that simply isn’t good enough.  Anything below 200 gives the opposition a chance.  Four games we lost by less than 26 runs and in all but 1 of those games we had taken 8 or 9 of the opposition’s wickets, so taking wickets wasn’t the problem. 

So for a few names, Ryan Norman was leading wicket taker with 19, followed by Mark Parsons with 16, Pete Kirby 13 and Seb Warner 10.  Pete Kirby was the only bowler to take 5 wickets in a match.  On the batting side, only 6 batsmen scored over 100 runs in the season and they were Nick Clark, Mike Nash, John Powell, Pete Kirby, Anton Howse and myself.  Fielding is just as important as batting and bowling but rarely does it receive the credit it deserves.  Ryan Norman, Pete Kirby, Anton Howse and James Harris were exceptional in the field.  The pressure placed upon batsman by good fielding should not be underestimated.  Bowlers may take wickets but the fielders may have created the pressure that forced the error.

If we are to be a successful club in the 2001 season and continue the good work of the Saturday side we must all practise and that doesn’t just mean stand around a net, fielding can be fun too!  My thanks go to Tom Yeates for the excellent pitches, Pete Dyer and Mike Budd for scoring.

                                                                                                Craig Wells

SUNDAY 2^nd XI

(Presented by T. Buck)

The 2000 cricket season was very disappointing for the second team.  We struggled for players until the end of July and eventually used 39 players in league matches.  The bowlers toiled away manfully and kept us in most games but we only scored over 150 on 5 occasions and as a result only achieved 2 wins although we were close in 3 other games.  Socially we were a great success and the team spirit was good despite the almost invariable defeat.  We never gave up and avoided finishing bottom of the league thanks to a win over Sturminster in the final game.

Most Runs                    Terry Buck                 251

Most Wickets                Roger Wilcox              24

Best Batting                  Charlie Wycherley         73 no,

                                    Peter Clark                 70

Best Bowling                 Guy Watson             6-11

                                    Seb Warner              6-30

In 2001 we hope that some of the first team will play in Division 3 on Sunday and make the team competitive and hopefully the players who play in Division 8 will get the chance to play in a winning side on more occasions.  This season has shown that you can still enjoy your cricket in a losing side, but it would be nice to enjoy the game and win regularly too!

                                                                                                Terry Buck

The Chairman then thanked all the Captains and Vice-Captains for their hard work throughout the season.

RULE CHANGES:

Rule 2.

The proposal was for this rule to be changed to:

“The Colours of the Club shall be blue, green & pink.”

This was proposed by A. Howse and seconded by R. Wilcox – carried (9 for and 1 against).

Rule 16.

The proposal was for this rule to be changed to:

“The Committee shall consist of the Officers (Rule 12), Representative of the Ground Committee and at least three other elected Members.”

This was proposed by T. Buck and seconded by G. White.

An amendment was proposed by P. Clark and seconded by C. Elfes to add “and not more than 4” after the word “three”.  The amendment was carried (17 for amendment and 2 for the original proposal)

Rule 29. (b).

The proposal was for this rule to be changed to:

“Receive Chairman’s, Secretary’s, Treasurer’s, Captain’s and Youth reports.”

This was proposed by J. Cook and seconded by R. Smith – carried (17 for and nobody against)

ELECTION OF OFFICERS: