Minutes of the Devon Association of Cricket Officials
Annual General Meeting
held on Thursday 2nd December 2010 At the Dolphin Hotel, Bovey Tracey at 7.30pm
1. In memoriam: The President asked members to stand in memory of the following:
· Dick Lear
· Other members of the cricketing fraternity
2. Attendance: A full list of those members in attendance was made and retained by the secretary.
3. Apologies: The following gave their apologies: John and Di Wadsworth, Nick Evanson, Simon Dodwell, John Hukku, Paul Dawe, Eddie Dymond, Brian Pearse, Andy Davis, Jack Neville, Dennis White, Martin Webb, David Court, Richard Weare, Jim Anning, David Moseby, Bert Mitchell and Graham Pascoe.
4. Opening Address from the President:
The President thanked everyone for attending despite the poor weather. As the chairman had resigned there would be no chairman’s report. The President gave thanks to Graham Curson for standing in as chairman and ensuring that the President was kept fully informed on relevant matters.
The President went on to thank the South Area for making the arrangements for this AGM.
The President mentioned the growing membership of DACO and the strong pool of volunteers who work tirelessly to administer the association and to improve the standards of umpiring and scoring in Devon. He mentioned and congratulated the 7 umpires who recently completed their ECB ACO Level 2 course and hoped that there would be plenty more coming through in the future.
The President said it was also true to say, from his attendance and experience of ECB briefings in London and meetings locally, the high regard in which DACO is held – and that remains the case. However, what has recently transpired and which resulted in the resignation of the chairman and secretary was less than edifying. The President made the point that we can disagree but need to do so in a mature, adult manner – he went on “As your President, I am allowed to say that”.
That said, the President thought it very sad that two long serving members felt the need to resign and stand down from their elected positions. He wished the meeting to record a vote of thanks for the hard work and effort of Chris Shelton. This was unanimously agreed.
The President then told how David Moseby had come into the then DCUS in the 1990s, at a time when the President took over from the late Derek Cole to set up the Devon Cricket Board and which coincided with the start up of the newly formed ECB. The President explained how different county boards developed in many different ways, but in Devon the aim was to bring the whole family of cricket together under one wing. David Moseby became chairman of the DCUS and the DCUS became a fully-fledged member of the Devon Cricket Board. David worked extremely hard for his organization – exemplified by the change from DCUS when the old ACUS collapsed to the new ECB ACO. The President spoke to David at the time of his resignation and whilst a critical factor in his resignation was the disagreement, David felt that it was also time to move on, after 10 years or so in post, and it was not the case of a “rat leaving a sinking ship” but more of let a new team move the association forward. The President wished the meeting to record a vote of thanks for the hard work of a great servant of DACO. This was unanimously agreed.
The President went on to explain to the meeting why he endorsed the proposal that Gavin Lane was a suitable nomination for the position of chairman. Gavin Lane was suitably embarrassed.
5. The Minutes of the previous AGM: These had been circulated and the President asked if they could be accepted as a true record. Jim Hicken proposed, Clive Russell seconded and the proposal was unanimously agreed.
6. Matters arising from those minutes: There were no matters arising from the Minutes.
7. Chairman’s Report: As explained earlier, there would be no chairman’s report on this occasion.
8. Treasurer’s Report: Ken Jeffery gave a brief report to the meeting. On 31st October 2010 DACO had achieved a surplus over the previous 12 months of £256. Two weeks later with some late claims for travel and fees, the real surplus is nearer £141 – the main point is we broke even and a little bit more – this is good because we had to write off old DCUS stocks which were no longer required by members – in fact the old coat and blazer badges went to a good use, they were handed out as gifts to less privileged, enthusiastic children during the Devon Under 15 Development Tour to South Africa in February. So the various badges were written off at a combined loss of £212.
With a reduction from the ECB this year in turn our grant from the DCB was £500 instead of the £1,500 received one year earlier. ACO have attracted more members so our subsidy was increased from £656 to £724 and the club affiliations of all DCL clubs of £720 is a more useful source of funding.
Correctly the income and expenditure is reflecting the development work undertaken by Gavin Lane and his team of trainers and examiners. The course fees of £505 are a down payment for this winters training and within the expenditure of £973 will be a payment for course starter packs.
The DCL collected £8072 of fees from clubs to cover the 4 leagues against which we paid out £7821 and more recently another £84 – brilliant management by John Wadsworth achieving a budget surplus of £167.
A surplus in match fees of £407 (less another £32 recently) is welcomed but is a reflection on some generosity by a few umpires in failing to make claims.
Within the Expenditure items, administration has increased by £332 and the main reason is an almost doubling in travel costs – more claims for meetings not only in county but also further afield in connection with the training of future umpires.
Turning to the Balance sheet (laid out at the end of these minutes, as I promised last year), I have isolated the historical but hard earned Training Fund – at such occasions we reflect fondly upon the late Len Horton, a great friend of many members who worked so conscientiously to build up and preserve this important asset which is retained to purchase training equipment. The balance of £2945 remains intact as no equipment has been purchased during the year.
The stock of DACO ties stands at £324 in value and I have some here with me this evening for purchase at £8 each.
President, our financial position is sound. We have an accumulated fund of £7,758 which is an increase of £256 upon last year. Members will of course distinguish the difference between the accumulated fund and our working cash balance of £3317 plus debtors £520 less creditors £115 leaving net funds of £3581.
President I move for the approval of the Accounts for the year ended 31st October 2010 and the retention of Robert Loxton & Co as Examining Accountants.
I shall try to answer any questions.
There was one question from Tom Waldock concerning the £4 subsidy per member paid by the ECB ACO to DACO. In light of the increase in membership fees to the ECB ACO, would there be a corresponding increase in subsidy. The answer was not known but the secretary will try to ascertain the answer – Action Secretary
The move to approve the accounts was seconded by George Gribble and accepted unanimously.
The President took this opportunity to comment favourably upon the detailed work undertaken by Ken Jeffery and asked for a vote of thanks to be recorded, which was unanimously agreed.
The President went on to ask the meeting to endorse the retention of Robert Loxton & Co as Examining Accountants, the proposal was seconded by Ian Western and unanimously agreed.
9. Election of Officers: The President proposed that the nominations for Officers of the Association be voted for enbloc with the exception of the post of vice chairman. The following were unanimously elected:
Chairman – Gavin Lane
Hon Secretary – Simon Dodwell
Hon Treasurer – Ken Jeffery
Hon Appointments Officer – John Wadsworth
Hon Education Officer – David Whaley
Hon Scorers Officer – Nick Evanson
The President then went on to the election of the post of vice chairman, voting by a show of hands. Votes were cast as follows: Julie Searson 1, Mike Taylor 10, Andy Forward 16. As a result:
Vice Chairman – Andy Forward
10. Appointment of Auditor: This was covered under Item 8 – Robert Loxton & Co being retained as Examining Accountants.
11. Life and Honorary Members: Graham Curson read a citation to have Tom Waldock named as a new Life Member, listing his numerous achievements, roles and significant contributions within the County. A very surprised and somewhat stunned Tom graciously accepted this award.
12. The “Tony Miller” award: Ken Jeffery read the citation outlining the tremendous and apparently increasing commitment to cricket, in a multitude of different spheres, given by Ian Western. An altogether surprised Ian was delighted to accept this award, suitably engraved, from the President.
13. Any Other Business: There was one item of AOB, a North Area proposal – “The £12 increase in fees, across the board, for DCL League games is withdrawn and replaced by an £18 increase in fees”.
The President started out by saying that in the absence of the Chairman of the North Area to whom he would have turned to, to put the case for the proposal, he considered it important that the matter be dealt with correctly and openly thus he would ask the secretary to put the case for the North Area.
At this point, Peter Gleave requested on behalf of the North Area for this item to be withdrawn. He went on to explain that he had originally proposed this item but on discovering that if agreed it would not be possible for it to be implemented in 2011, accepted the proposal should be withdrawn. He added that he hoped such deliberations could be better conducted in future.
The President thanked Peter Gleave and the proposal was withdrawn.
14. The President then drew the meeting to a close by once again thanking everyone for attending. The meeting was closed at 8.27pm.
15. AGM 2011: The DACO AGM for 2011 will be held on Thursday 1st December 2011, in the North area. The date is to be confirmed.
Please note – Balance Sheet is laid out below
31st October 2010
2009 2010
CURRENT ASSETS £ £
Cash at Bank 2,112 3,317
Training Fund (Bank) 2,945
Debtors 3,834 520
Training Equipment (At cost) 750 750
Stock of DCU&S Lapel badges 30 -
Stock of DACO Ties 677 324
Stock of DCU&S Blazer Badges 41 -
Stock of DCU&S Coat Badges 141 -
Stock of DCU&S Shirt 17 17
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Total Current Assets 7,602 7,873
Less Current Liabilities 100 115
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Total Net Current Assets 7,502 7,758
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Represented by:
ACCUMULATED FUND
Balance at 1st November 2009 6,107 7,502
Surplus for the year 1,395 256
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Balance at 31st October 2010 7,502 7,758
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J. K. S. Jeffery
Hon. Treasurer
15th November 2010
