Minutes of AGM held on 17^th September 2007 at St. Werburgh's Club

Present:  Dave Cooper, Keith Davies, Craig Lamb, Ray Lamb, John Lea, Martin Liversage, Jim McWilliams, Ian Price, Gordon Vickers, Nigel Walker, Bill Webber, Brian Welch, Billy Williams, John Pritchard (minutes).

The Chairman opened the meeting at 8.05pm, welcomed all those present and thanked everyone for attending. A copy of the Agenda was given to all present.

1. Election of Officials

The first item on the agenda was the Election of Officials and the following people were nominated / elected:-

Nigel Walker has stood down from the Committee after many years fine service.  The Chairman thanked him for all the fine work he has done over a long period of time and Nigel received a well deserved round of applause from all those present at the meeting.

The Chairman thanked all those newly elected / re-elected onto the Committee for their support and commitment to helping run the league for the forthcoming season.

2. Statement of Accounts

The Treasurer presented the Balance Sheet for 2007 and copies were made available for those present.  Gordon Vickers proposed that the Balance Sheet be accepted, this was seconded by John Lea and carried unanimously by all present.

3. Any Other Business

Two written proposals were received before the deadline and, formal Notice of them having been posted in all pubs as per the rules, were discussed and voted on by all present.

Proposal One

The first proposal was from Frank Whitley of the City Arms, who was not present at the AGM, so the Chairman read it out on his behalf.  Frank's proposal is that the practise time allowed to away teams be increased from 15 minutes to 30 minutes so that away teams can claim exclusive use of the table from 8.00pm onwards instead of 8.15pm.  The Chairman then opened the floor to discussion.  After considerable and constructive discussion, the feeling was that the existing rule generally provides adequate practise time for the away team.  In the past, sometimes home players have practised after 8.15pm if they arrive late, but this must be with the consent and goodwill of the away captain.  Concern was also shown about away teams turning up late and still expecting practise time. One example was given where an away team did not arrive until 9.10pm.

A vote was taken and those present unanimously voted against changing the current rules. However, if the Away team captain insists on exclusive use of the table at 8.15pm, the home team must agree to this request.  Similarly, a Home team captain can insist on the match starting promptly at 8.30pm, as per the rules. 

Proposal Two

The second proposal was from Tony Carss of the Stanley, who was not present at the meeting, so the Chairman read it out on his behalf and then opened the floor to discussion.   Tony's proposal concerns the "6 man / 2 play again" rule and proposed that, when a team has only 6 players available, instead of two men playing again, their score is 'capped' at that point.  The other team play all eight men and drop the two lowest scores.  Similarly, if a team has 7 men their score is capped and the other team plays 8 men and drops the lowest score.   Again, the proposal was discussed in detail and, though it was felt to be a good idea, it would effectively shorten the bagatelle match which went against the social side of the evening.  Everyone felt that it was better if the format meant that both teams had 8 scoring players, for example, to prevent the team with 6 men standing and watching the other team carry on playing.

Billy Williams (United Services) suggested an amendment to the proposal, that instead of the score being capped, the two lowest scorers are allowed to play again (rather than lots being drawn to decide who goes again).  This idea was considered to be a more practical solution which would prevent games finishing early and would be more in line with the existing format.  Billy's suggestion was formally proposed as an amendment to the original suggestion by Martin Liversage and seconded by John Lea.

The original proposal was voted on, and was unanimously voted against.   The amendment to the proposal was then voted on and carried unanimously.  

So, next season, if a team only has 6 players available, the two lowest scoring players will be allowed to play again, and they are to play in the order in which they appear on the team sheet, i.e.. the first named will play 7th and the second named will play 8th.   In the event of a team having 7 players, the lowest scorer will play again.   In the event of a tie for lowest scorer, the opposing captain will spin a coin to decide who plays again.

This amendment will apply to all League, West Cheshire Shield and Northgate Cup competitions.   In the Five-A-Side competition, where a team only has 4 players available, the lowest scorer will be allowed to play again.

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Having dealt with the proposals, the floor was open.  The Talbot situation was discussed briefly. Basically, the pub is still closed and we have no news as to when it will re-open.  At present it is not clear where the Talbot team will play next season.

Comment was made about the success of the Open Knockout and the format for the competition which has worked well. The next stage takes place at the Union Vaults on 3rd October.   It is hoped we will be able to hold similar events in future.

Martin Liversage asked if cup matches could be played on Wednesdays instead of Thursdays, extending the season, and making Wednesday the "bagatelle night".  Martin gave the example that his doubles partner is often busy on Thursdays and thought many others would be in the same boat.  The Chairman said it was not practical to play every cup game on a Wednesday because there weren't enough Wednesdays to accommodate all the competitions if the League was to finish by Chester Races in May.  From 23rd Oct to Chester Races, there are 26 Wednesdays available.  With 11 teams in the league, each team has 20 league games leaving only 6 free.  Each cup competition needs 4 nights to progress all the rounds and, with 5 competitions, that totals another 20 nights, so at least 14 Thursdays will have to be used next season.
 

Dave Cooper pointed out that if any player was unavailable for a doubles match on a Thursday, they could always ask to re-arrange the game for another night.  This applies to Singles also.

Ray Lamb raised the matter of people not turning up for the first round of both singles and doubles competitions.  This can be frustrating because it means people have made unnecessary journeys if their opponent does not show.  Ray suggested the first round follows the format of the Open Knockout where, instead of playing an opponent, everyone will have two sticks and a set number of players will go through.  Thus, if someone does not turn up, it does not affect the rest of the players as such. 

For the singles, it is proposed to play the preliminary round in four different venues, with the 8 highest scorers from each going through to the next round.  The "batting order" at each venue will be decided when the draw for the competition is made.  Doubles will be decided based on the number of entries to the competition.  This change means that everyone who has entered and turns up will get to play two sticks, and there will be no frustration with "no shows".  In future, if someone does not turn up, it will simply increase everyone else's chance of going through.   John Lea formally proposed this change to be adopted for next season, seconded by Gordon Vickers and the change was unanimously carried.

With the introduction of a St. Werburgh's "B" team, we expect to have 11 teams for the Winter League. The League will start on Wednesday, 24th October 2007 and the fixture list will be distributed by approx 10th October 2007.   The fixtures may be published sooner if I clarify the situation with the Talbot.  Sadly, Ian Price informed the meeting that the White Horse will again not be entering a team this season.

There being no other business, the chairman thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting at 9.00pm.

John Pritchard
Chairman

END OF MINUTES