Flaming June has arrived and we bid goodbye to a damp May and a rather mixed start to the new season. The Saturday 1st and 2nd Xl’s have done pretty well. Our newly promoted 1st Xl have a 66% strike rate, having won 2 of their 3 completed SHCL Division 1 fixtures, and the 2nd Xl have a 60% SHCL Div. 7 success rate having won 3 of 5. On Sunday morning the 2nd Xl stood in 2nd place in their league but by this coming Friday they will slide back to 3rd as the outcome of the “Selection-Gate” SHCL enquiry docks them 14 penalty points in relation to team selection for the opening match of the season. Disappointing, but to be honest, more than fair! The 3rd Xl are in mid table having suffered from the very variable May availability throughout the Club, and the 4th Xl of course bear the real brunt of the same problem, having had to concede 1 match and suffering “Domino effect” team weakness in several others. Sunday Cricket has been a much more disappointing area for us in May and early June. As National Village Cup holders, and after a good first round performance against Eton Bray, we surprisingly, and embarrassingly, collapsed chasing a modest total against Wheathampstead in the next NVC round and exited the competition. Two weeks later, admittedly fielding a weaker team, we suffered the same fate in the Hertfordshire Cup, with a similarly dire batting display and an embarrassingly early finish in front of rather too many disappointed spectators out hoping to enjoy the magnificent weather by watching a competitive Cricket match! A disappointing contrast between our Saturday and Sunday performances. “Saturday Night/Sunday Morning Syndrome” is cruelly rumoured by some to be a contributory cause? If there is any truth in it then that is a pity. Only each individual player knows where he stands on that one. It is of course up to the Captains to lead by example, clearly set the standard they wish to see, and resolve any serious shortcomings at future selection.
Away from the pitch, Cricket has hit the Front Page headlines instead of the back page in the last week. An article in Wednesdays Daily Telegraph was escalated into Thursdays dramatic front-page headline in the Daily Mail!
“TAXMAN TARGETS VILLAGE CRICKET CLUBS” screamed the page, but personally I was more interested in the photograph of J-Lo alongside the headline!! The headline was something of an exaggeration (a phenomena not completely unknown to the Daily Mail!!) in that it referred to the Tax problems of that well known “village club” Sawbridgeworth who play in the Home Counties Premier League Div2E! I remember Reed travelling there for the first time in the mid 1980’s for a Sunday conference fixture when we were significantly “looked down upon” on the day, and there were a number of snooty comments in the bar and at tea about how soon they would finish the game off against this “village outfit”! “Sawbo” had scored 220 odd at a leisurely pace, and eventually declared for tea, after batting for almost 3 hours, leaving us around 1 Hour and 20 overs to beat the total. When the match was over, and we had won with some comfort, you could have heard a pin drop in the bar when we walked off! Anyway – I digress!
The reported tax issue was interesting though, as the manner and scale of the Clubs eventually admitted, and apparently settled, liability was almost £15,500!! The crocodile tears being shed amidst claims of the Club being a village club run by volunteers possibly seem rather disingenuous in the face of the size of the admitted, and allegedly settled liability.
It would be interesting to know how much (if any) of the PAYE claimed, and allegedly settled, in this reported case, related to payments to Home or Overseas Players.
An HMRC Tax Liability for a Cricket Club would accrue from Tax being due in relation to unpaid Corporation Tax or unpaid PAYE contributions. According to the press articles, unpaid PAYE seemed to be a major issue in this case. Looking at the “You Gov. – HMRC Website Table”, PAYE Employer (and Employee) contributions do not become payable until an individual employee earns “over £148 a week”. Some Volunteer – some Cleaner! Benefits in kind (like cars!) also fall under the “income” classification and require to be included in the equations. If any Clubs do choose to employ Bar Staff, Professional Paid Groundsmen, or Paid “Overseas” Players, then they do need to understand and comply with the Income Tax and PAYE system and be aware of their liabilities. Obviously the HMRC feel that a number of Cricket Clubs have allegedly been abusing, or ignoring, the HMRC Rules.
Of course SHCL Clubs (as opposed to HCPL) should have no problems regarding costs related to paid players (Overseas or otherwise) should they??!!
Rule 13 b). of the SHCL Constitution reads:
“b) No player shall receive any payment or payment in kind for playing for a club.
There may possibly be several/many SHCL Clubs sleeping uneasily at the moment dreading the HMRC “knock at the door”, whereas lesser funded/“tight arses”, like us at Reed, who rely on home grown talent and visitors from “exchange/sister clubs” abroad, can perhaps more safely occupy the moral high ground!
Any serious SHCL investigation into the “Paid Player” issue might make “Selection-Gate” look like a minor misdemeanour?
