Executive Committee Meeting

16thFebruary 2017 – 7:00pm

Leicester Banks CC,BanksRoad,Aylestone, Leicester, LE2 8HA

Meeting notes

Andy Jones / Brad Peake / Nigel Kinch / Martyn Dobson
Richard French / Sam Rowe / Mark Ward / Andy Hibberd
Rob Doleman / Robin Whait / Guy Jackson / Jonny Lawrance-Owen
Paul Whiteman / Kevin Smyth / Roger Stead
Dan Pedley / Colin Green / Pratap Odedra
  1. Apologies

Brad Peake, Richard French, Dan Pedley, Guy Jackson, Martyn Dobson, Colin Green

  1. Approval of, and matters arising from, the Minutes of the meeting held on 5th January 2017 (distributed)
  • Discussion about the vacant President role.
  • There is a consensus that this role would be best suited to being a figurehead or advisory role rather than an executive committee role.
  • Brad Peake to inform Andy Jones if there are any outstanding fines from clubs.
  • All other matters approved.
  1. LCS Cricket Academy Balls
  • LCSCA didn’t confirm their ball order (for zero balls) until after the deadline of 31st January.
  • In line with other clubs in the same position, 36 balls were ordered for them.
  • At the balls meeting It will be emphasized that the appropriate balls must be used for League matches.
  • Fatana2ndXI can take half the balls from them, so LCSCA will need to pay for the remaining 18 balls.
  1. Fatana 2ndXI and Leicester All Stars
  • Leicester Forest have resigned from the League leaving a space in Division 9 Central.
  • Fatana want to field a 2nd team.
  • They have arranged to use the vacant ground at Gaddesby.
  • The ground is very poor and we would prefer Fatana to use a different ground. Kirby Rec. might be a possibility
  • Committee votes in favour of bringing Fatana 2nd XI into the league.
  • A further application was received from Leicester All Stars but there was insufficient information available to enable their application to be accepted.
  • Andy Jones to inform Fatana that they have been accepted.
  • Roger Stead to find out if the ground at Kirby Muxloe is free and how much it would cost.
  1. Leicester Banks CC Fees (room hire cost)
  • Committee to pay £250 to Banks for the room hire.
  1. Disciplinary hearing – Jazz Lall
  • Sam Rowe reports on the disciplinary hearing with Jazz Lall – he has been given a 6 month ban rather than 1 year (as recommended at the previous Committee meeting).
  • It was felt that 1 year was too heavy a suspension, particularly given that Houghton had not handled the case particularly well and that the player appeared to be of good character.
  • There is some discussion about concern that the suspension was too lenient. There is also a concern that this sets a very lenient precedent for future suspensions which may themselves warrant a heavier suspension.
  1. Handbook-deadlines, outstanding items, rule changes
  • Deadline is the end of February. Anything sent in needs to go via Andy Jones.
  • Some rules have been adjusted to improve clarity and reduce the likelihood of them being misunderstood.
  • Rule 14C – Rearrangements
  • If the opposition doesn’t agree to a rearrangement then the match cannot be rearranged.
  • Proposal that the penultimate and final paragraphs outlining details need to be removed given the new rules about rearranging.
  • Rule 15C - Transfers
  • This needs to be updated to include managing this on the internet.
  • Mark Ward to look at the first half of rule 15C and send the details to Andy to be reworded.
  • Overseas Players
  • There was a discussion to clarify procedures around the recent decision to relax the current rule allowing one overseas player per team.
  • Rule17J & 17K – Disciplinary
  • Sam Rowe to look at these rules and amend if necessary.
  • Bowling Restrictions
  • There are some queries about bowling restrictions, particularly after 45 overs. Dan Pedleyis requested to brief the umpires about this.
  • There has been a request to highlight rule changes in the new handbook.
  • Andy Jones toask Peter Short to add a page at the front of the rules sectionthathighlights all the new rules for this season.
  • It would be helpful for the handbook to show which teams ground-share with others. Andy to speak to Peter about this.
  1. Website queries-survey tool, data entry
  • Survey
  • Mark is making some small changes to the survey software before it is ready.
  • In order to minimise fines- is it possible for the website to send a confirmation response?
  • There is already a feature on the website where you can see how many missing marks there are.
  • Clubs to be signposted to this at the balls meeting.
  • Should club Welfare Officers details be submitted to the website?
  • It makes sense to be proactive in this area.
  • There is already a field on the website to add these details.
  • Clubs to be reminded at the pre-season meeting that this field needs to be filled in.
  1. Grants/loans
  • ECB small grants scheme
  • Discussion about how the ECB “get the game on” scheme may need to be more directive assome clubs legitimately requested finance for refurbishing inside their pavilions.
  • A meeting has been organised with Shree Sanatanin order tosignpost them to the League’s grant fund, as they may be better served by other items such as sightscreens.
  • PratapOdedra has a flat sheet (25m x 4m) for sale £250-£300 for any clubs who are interested.
  • Appleby Magna were too late to apply for the ECB grant scheme for a flat sheet cover. The League will consider providing a grant for a flat sheet and a bow-dry.
  • Asian Sports has been awarded £1,000 already from the ECB small grants scheme. The League will consider a further grant to fund the purchase of a bow-dry.
  • Discussion about the need to construct a more formal process for granting money. A decision is made:
  • Clubs use an application form to be sent in by a deadline,
  • A panel decides how to allocate the grant pot,
  • Receipt proof of purchase will be required from the clubs.
  • (However, the 3 clubs who have already applied this season can be processed using the current system.)
  1. Restructure of Divisions at the end of the 2017 season
  • Discussion about how to implement the removal of Division 4 Central at the end of the coming season.
  • Ideally the most suitablestructure would be the one that best facilitates teams playing good games of cricket against opposition of an equal standard.
  • There are currently issues around some clubs not being eligible for promotion because they have an insufficient ground rating, potentially creating blockages.
  • It is important to use the correct terminology. Large numbers of teams may find themselves moving down a Division – this is not relegation, it is simply a natural consequence of a restructure.
  • A few options have been discussed in detail. Committee to reflect on these options and a decision to be made at the next Committee meeting.
  • One proposal for the end of this season:
  • East/West structure fromDiv 4 down
  • 4 down from Div 3 from 2018 onwards.
  • 2 up 2 down from every East/West division
  • Canvass teams in Div 7 to determine whether they want to go down to 10 team divisions.
  1. A.O.B
  • A suggestion was received from a club - if a team wins their Division or finishes as runners up but ends up not being promoted due to the restructure, can they be offered ‘recompense’ such as free ballsetc (as an incentive)? The Committee discusses this proposal and decide that winning teams will still receive their shield trophies at the presentation evening and that this recognition is sufficient.
  • Pitch Hero (sports website) contacted Mark to offer a sponsorship deal to theLeague. They essentially want access to the contact details of the clubs.Mark to forward the email to Rob Doleman.
  • Andy Hibberd and Pratap Odedra update on developing 2 new grounds on sites in the city.
  • South Asian Community funds money can potentially be used to build pavilions.
  • There have been good discussions about which 4 teams could play on these grounds.
  • Andy Hibberd updates on Clubmark. There will be more ‘check and challenge’ for the things clubs need to carry out.

Date of Balls meeting:Thursday 13th April

Date of next Committee meeting:Thursday 6th April

Meeting closes: 21:53