I am assuming that you won’t want my annual report to be peppered with all those words that we had never needed to use in our cricketing lexicon before, so let’s get them out of the way in the first paragraph – unprecedented, truncated, sanitizer, restricted, lockdown, PPE, running-lane, Covid, furlough, Coronavirus, pandemic, remote, roadmap for return, virtual, self-isolation, facemask, government advice, bubble, social distancing – the list goes on and I’m sure you can add a few of your own. I’ll try not to repeat them!
At the AGM in November 2019 Sean Tidey departed the General Committee because he was too old to remain the Under 25 Representative! Rhodri Hughes succeeded him. Rhodri was also elected as the Third Team Captain and Matt Bowles became Vice-Captain of the Second XI. Julien Fynn joined the General Committee (Without Portfolio) and after several decades, Jonathan Fynn decided to cease auditing duties and nominated another of his sons, Alec, to take over from him.
The General Committee consists of 24 people and it met in January and March as normal then via Zoom from June onwards. Whilst never getting a full-house, (the best was 21 attending in July), overall average attendance was 76.56% over the year with 5 members having a 100% record. Additionally the Executive Committee met three times. Exigent Club business and all periphery issues affected by the Government’s and ECB’s rules continued to be administered by close contact between Committee members using available electronic wizardry.
Good news on the Inspection front – North Herts District Council, (NHDC), assessed us as being low risk relating to the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013. And the annual inspection of our Fire Extinguishers was satisfactory. Four new club officials completed Self-Assessment Fire Safety Tests – unfortunately, two others have so far failed to submit theirs.
NHDC came up trumps after a successful application for a £1,000 Grant for new netting on the practice facilities. There are some Terms & Conditions attached and outlay is estimated to be around £1,700, of which RCC would be expected to pay the difference, (i.e., the £700+). It was decided to postpone this project until the spring of 2021 as there seemed little point erecting new netting during the 2020 season in the current circumstances for them to stand idle. Another long-term goal would be to re-site the nets but we know from estimations in the past and from similar schemes undertaken by other clubs, that an initiative on this scale could cost I.R.O. £35K.
Even when there were no activities allowed from March until July, the pavilion still had to be kept up to appropriate Health & Safety standards and we must thank Mick and Margaret Watson for regularly deep cleaning the clubhouse and Bill Mansfield maintaining the regime on the showers to prevent the dreaded Legionnaire’s disease. By so doing, the facilities were ready for regulated use once cricket resumed.
Outside, Richard Robertson and Peter Wholley were the main players in working on the two grounds, especially the pitches. Cricketers should be grateful for the hours and hours they spent so that they were safe to use on resumption. Whatever was going-on (or not going-on) above ground, nothing stopped moles from doing what comes naturally below ground and we had to deal with that problem earlier in the year.
At least for some of us, with more free-time on our hands during the early summer, several of the less-noticeable tasks were undertaken. Wooden fencing was repaired; new netting along the boundary bought and erected; refitting the underground tap; clearing and refilling the mole drains; acquiring a “new” beer store; painting the storage container; sealing the scoreboard fascia; repairing garage roofs; clearing gutters and hoppers; preparing the kitchen for redecoration; stripping down the electronics in the scorebox because two circuit boards were malfunctioning; cleaning and painting the sightscreens; making doors for the Freman College scoreboard. In other words, many of you volunteered to carry-out essential maintenance. I’d suggest that several other members take it for granted that things “just happen” – they don’t. Sorry, there are too many to mention by name but I thank all who volunteered because if these jobs weren’t done it would impact on us all.
You will recall that the major project of 2019 was the relaying of 10 pitches on the cricket table on The Green. They were hardly used in 2020, (maybe a benefit of that will be that they would had have a further 12 months to settle-in by 2021), and Richard Robertson reports no problems with the ones that were road-tested this season. Fortunately, with the award of a Small Business Grant by NHDC, we were in a position to make the first repayments to the club members who had made generous loans for the pitch work to go ahead in 2019.
You might not be aware, but to use The Green to play our cricket, we have an Agreement with Reed Parish Council and the terms of this were updated and signed-off this year securing a further ten years usage. We also have a similar Five-Year Agreement with Freman College and that too was renewed in the autumn.
Periodic meetings take place between the Parish Council and the Cricket Club. Apart from monitoring the situation of filled ditches along the boundary and potentially blocked grips and runaways that could result in flooding, there were no urgent actions to be followed up as a consequence of this year’s meeting. However, Ken Langley, (Chairman of RPC), recorded that we enjoyed a happy relationship and he was grateful for the valued contribution RCC made socially and to the community in general.
The death of Non-Playing Member, Kate Ford was announced in February. She was the wife of founder-member and Vice-President, David Ford, She was born in the Scottish Highlands in 1934 and then later moved to Royston where she met David in 1985 when they worked at Johnson Matthey and eventually they moved to Kent. Kate frequently visited Reed with David to support the Club, especially for Village Cup matches, and at times-past helped Kath Ford and Rosemary Collins with Sunday teas. Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with dementia in 2013 and David was her sole carer for 5 years. Sadly after David had a period of ill health, Kate went into care where she died in February 2020.
There was another sad loss this past year when Brian Bevan died at home in Spain on 15th June aged 74. He had been ill for some time and is survived by his wife, Caroline. A former Royal Navy submariner, Brian was a most prolific batsman, (and handy bowler), who played for Reed during the 1980s and early-90s scoring literally thousands of runs, sometimes more than 2,000 in any one season. To my knowledge, Brian represented several local clubs including Cottered (where he once lived), Aspenden and Johnson Matthey before joining Reed. Caroline’s brother-in-law, Richard Apperley, (also a former RCC player), reckoned that Brian would have played 7 matches a week if he had had the chance! Brian was a real Reed Legend who continued to follow the fortunes of the Club from afar.
Although RCC voted against it, a proposal at the 2020 Herts League, (SHPCL), AGM in February for Umpires standing in Divisions 3A to 6B to become paid-up members of the ECB Association of Cricket Officials (ECBACO) was carried. Otherwise there was nothing startling. Once cricket was suspended however, the SHPCL Committee were keen to consult clubs how the season might be reintroduced and playing conditions were amended as a result. Probably the main things were that there would be no promotion or relegation; matches were reduced in length; there would be no teas; and players were expected to arrive already changed. The truncated season was lengthened by one week to allow 9 matches, (i.e., half the league programme), to be played. A few friendlies were also added reminding those of us of a certain age that we routinely played cricket throughout the whole of September in the old days. All-in-all, most players, members and spectators accepted that this is how it would be and just enjoyed being able to stage and attend fixtures. Another disciplinary issue arose but it appears that the SHPCL are satisfied when Clubs issue penalties based on a table of offences / punishments. League positions were irrelevant this year but it was disappointing that we could not progress past the 1st Round of the National Village Cup when we lost to eventual losing finalists, Redbourn. Because of Reed’s participation in the Premier Division of the Herts Premier League, no first team players could be selected for this year’s competition despite RCC being the defending champions. Thus our Cup XI, made up from Second and Third Team cricketers lost by 28 runs chasing 237 for 7. In 2021 the same situation will apply and 1st XI players will be barred from playing when RCC will enter the fiftieth NVC. The draw is due to take place in February. The Team Captains’ Reports will indicate their own ups-and-downs during the season just gone.
To be able to “Return to Cricket” in July, we formed two sub-committees, one for Playing & Ground and the other for Clubhouse & Bar, then once we were satisfied that we had precautions in-place, completed risk assessments and followed the protocols in the ECB’s checklists. We ensured the scorebox could be operated remotely; we purchased a gazebo for players to shelter and store their gear, (thank you to Edwin Kilby for loan of his for the first few weeks); a one-way system for toilets was devised; similarly, ordering drinks from the bar had to be tackled; appropriate signage was displayed; sanitizing stations set-up. We gradually began the process of returning to some form of normality from firstly, practicing in the nets, to coaching outfielding in groups, then ultimately to matchplay for both Seniors and Colts.
As an additional, albeit separate, safety measure after witnessing the horrific injury to Houghton Main’s opening batsman at Lord’s, the Committee agreed to Cilla Robertson’s proposal that we adopt the following policy:
Reed Cricket Club recommends the wearing of Helmets when batting in all recreational cricket irrespective of age.
Colts Liaison Officer Hannah Heslam had organised the fixture lists for the four Colts’ age-groups by early-March and we were looking forward to running an Under 15 side again after missing a couple of seasons when we did not have sufficient young players of the right age. Simon Jackson, James Heslam, Lee Vincent and Ian Osborne were lined-up as Managers for the U9, U10, U12 and U15 teams respectively, with Graham Aldridge supervising the All-Stars. Frustratingly, all Hannah’s hard work went to waste, again caused by the suspension in mid-March. Parents and their children remained patient and once indications that coaching might be allowed, Hannah and Richard Barlow, (Coach Coordinator), set-up a series of practice sessions with the Coaches that culminated in a shortened programme of fixtures for each team. Hannah spent many hours consulting like-minded counterparts at other clubs to provide competitive match time for our next generation of cricketers who otherwise would not have had opportunities to develop their skills. Thanks must go to all involved, but particularly to Hannah and Richard.
Weather affected attendance at the usually popular Village Bonfire & Fireworks Party in 2019 which meant bar takings were down on the previous year. Not surprisingly, the 2020 Bonfire Party was cancelled.
In December 2019, Andrew Emms again arranged another visit from Father Christmas to distribute presents to our younger children and for families to meet and celebrate. Unfortunately, although sensibly, Santa decided to give Reed a miss in 2020 otherwise he would have had to have gone into quarantine for too long a spell.
All our other Social Events organised by Sam Greaves from March onwards that had been diarised, (Quizzes, Musical Evening, Curry Night, Race Night, etc.), were cancelled, so too were a couple of representative Herts Seniors’ matches that we normally host. Private parties for which the pavilion had been booked also went by the wayside. All this had a detrimental affect on the Club’s income.
The Annual Dinner and Awards Presentation was moved to March 2021, but again Sam has now had to cancel it.
Likewise, the Committee decided to postpone the Club’s Annual General Meeting from its usual place in the calendar in November to 18th February 2021 in the hope that we would be permitted to hold a proper face-to-face meeting. Sadly, that cannot happen now and you will know by reading the accompanying documentation that the AGM will have to be held virtually.
Bethan Smith’s Annual Account and Peter McMeekin’s Bar Report will be circulated at a later date but you will be able to see what the differences were between 2020 and 2019.
Richard Wharton was instrumental in securing shirt sponsorship deals with two companies for the First XI’s new coloured kit. However, circumstances prevented one company from proceeding. Thanks go to Monster Pop Toys Ltd in their first year of association with RCC, and once again our thanks go to The Royal Bengal in their third season of sponsorship. The Club also appreciates the support of the local companies and organisations that advertise in our Fixture Card and provide match ball sponsorship. Balls, (at about £20 each), are an obvious necessity and we are grateful for all contributions towards the costs.
Mentioning the Fixture Card, reminds me that I had the final draft of a “bumper” 48-page edition ready to take to the printers in March when cricket activities were suspended and we decided to cancel publication. Description of the National Village Cup (NVC) success in 2019 required those few extra pages and safe to say, I am the sole possessor of the only complete RCC 2020 Fixture Card, (once I had printed myself off a paper version). Once cricket resumed I published a shorter, revised version on the website. I have begun work on the 2021 edition already; let’s hope we get a full season.
In addition to the grant provided by NHDC, the sponsorship deal and advertising funds mentioned above, the Club was also kept in a healthy financial state thanks to generous donations from Club members. In March I invited you all to donate to the club funds once we knew that matchplay had been suspended. Some of you had already paid your subscriptions in-full, and to my knowledge did not seek to have them refunded. The remainder of you made donations of various amounts. Thank you all for your marvellous response.
We are also grateful to Paul and Ann Garrott who raised a most welcome £320 from the proceeds of the sale of Photograph Albums that they had designed and produced containing images of the Village Cup Final at Lord’s in 2019.
Our finances were also boosted by Richard Robertson foregoing his honorarium for 2019 because he insisted on donating it back to the Club. We don’t reward him with anything near to his real worth anyway and despite entreaties, he refused to back-down until we accepted his very generous offer. Thank you very much Richard.
Other useful funds came from our own monthly lottery, the 100 Club. The profit this year was £1,435 after prize money of £1,680 was distributed. We have 54 people currently entered each month and these are made up of 21 Non-Playing Members of RCC, 22 people who are not even Cricket Club Members but continue to support us in this way and disappointingly still only 11 active RCC Players – a meagre number compared to the amount of registered playing members. 29 different people won between £20 and £100 during the year. If there were more participants we could consider increasing the prize money and still make a profit. Could you afford to join at £5 a month? Please contact Bethan Smith or me if you want to join.
Being confined to our homes for much of the time, or having opportunities to explore new ways of doing things, one other method of raising income for the Club was shopping on-line using easyfundraising. I know many of you have the App already, but if you haven’t already, setting-up an account is easy enough by clicking on the logo on the RCC website www.reedcricketclub.co.uk then following instructions. Hundreds of retailers, including some really well-known ones, make donations on purchases you make, and that includes energy providers, insurance companies, travel agents, as well as traditional retailers. It costs you nothing extra. In March the total raised for RCC was £3,905 since the initiative began, (this was £300 up from £3,605 in 2019), today that grand total stands at £4,342 meaning £437 has been raised in those past 10 months. Sixty-three of us participate in RRC’s easyfundraising scheme but there’s scope for many more; please consider signing-on when shopping on-line and explore what is available. To those who do regularly support our cause, well done and thank you.
I was in the pleasant position to inform John Heslam that the Committee had conferred Life Membership of RCC on him. John spent 36 years on the Committee; 25 as Club Chairman and was Captain in 1985 when Reed was building a competitive side that recorded numerous promotions and cup triumphs during his tenure. Off the field, John was instrumental in planning the construction of extensions on our super pavilion and under his leadership and as Fundraising Officer he secured thousands of pounds in sponsorship and grants from various sources. He also procured everything from carpet tiles to fire doors, and from safes to lorry loads of concrete and building materials for those extensions, ensuring all tasks were completed on time and on-budget. Life Membership is in recognition of those forty years’ of service. Thank you JQH.
I try to thank all those who have contributed to the ongoing administration of the Club as I compile my report but realise that I have missed many of you out personally by name. I apologise. The year has been so different to the norm and many of you have volunteered and helped in several ways and, if no one informs me, I don’t know who has done what! I am afraid that by living 65 miles away, I have not been in the usual close contact witnessing for myself who has been active in keeping the club going.
However, I do know that Chloe Robertson has been our Welfare Officer for two years but is not standing at this AGM; thank you Chloe for your involvement. I hope that when circumstances allow, you do consider standing again because of the freshness of thought by not being a player, brings to the Committee.
Another vacancy this time will be that of Bar Sub-Committee Chairman. Peter McMeekin has spent countless hours administering the smooth running of our bar for many, many years. Stock management; profitability margins; imprest; cashing-up; pipe-cleaning; card terminal functions; glass-washer malfunctions; security; Wi-Fi problems; BT liaison; gas cylinder connections; chiller cabinets servicing; alcohol licences; fire brigade inspections; not to mention actually serving behind the counter – all of these have fallen on Peter, possibly because he lives the nearest to the pavilion! I thank you Peter, and I am sure 100% of our members will join in me in that sentiment. Enjoy the rest.
Succession planning is in-hand for both of those roles because I know two Club members are willing to stand for election.
Finally, I announced during the summer of 2019 that I would not be seeking re-election as Honorary Secretary at the 2020 AGM meaning that this is my final Hon. Sec. Report. However, because the AGM has been postponed, my tenure has been extended by three months! I have been aided over the years by an extraordinary band of cohorts, too many to name individually, I hope you know of whom I am thinking. I am so grateful to you for your advice and counsel. It has been a pleasure but admittedly it has also been hard work and time-consuming to be on the ball all of the time. I have been fortunate enough to be in a position to have had time to commit to the job and hope that I have done it satisfactorily. However, as hinted at above, distance makes it more difficult for me to carry-out the role as I would wish. I would have continued otherwise. Whether my successor operates in the same way, or makes changes to suit their method of working would be their own choice. If staging and playing cricket matches as we know it, has altered, and if the ever-increasing burden of administrating volunteer-led sports clubs like ours continues, there will be many challenging issues to deal with. The next Hon. Secretary will have my full backing and I wish him or her the best of luck.
Of course, I shall remain associated with RCC as an occasional player and Vice-President and hope to see many of you in the coming seasons. Good luck, stay safe, take care – and enjoy!
Peter G. Baker
Honorary Secretary, Reed Cricket Club.
January 2021.
