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Posted:
Monday 12th January 2009
Source: Christopher Dean
SECRETARY’S ANNUAL REPORT
60th Annual General Meeting: 12th January 2009
1.
Introduction
I am delighted to report that, for
the fourth consecutive year, the Club has continued to make
outstanding progress on the field – particularly for both 1st
XI’s.
2. On
the Field
The Saturday 1st XI completed a
marvellous year that sees the Club fulfilling a long-time
ambition of promotion to Devon’s Premier League where we will be competing against
the County’s elite players and teams. By finishing equal top
with Bovey Tracey on 241 but with two fewer victories, Bradninch
has been promoted as runners up from the A Division. Ross Acton, Adrian Ezquerro and Tim Piper all
featured in the A Division’s top 10 for batting, each achieving
averages of over 30. A total of 14 players in the League’s
A Division all amassed 250+ runs, of whom 6 were from Bradninch.
The Club’s bowling honours were shared with almost 100 wickets
between Adrian Ezquerro (38) Joel Murphy (28) and
Ross Acton
(23).
Pushing hard the Saturday 1st XI for
the Club’s top honours was the Sunday 1st XI. Up until the
final match of the season, the Sunday 1st XI looked as though it
was going to have an extraordinary season, having been promoted
for the previous three consecutive seasons, almost becoming 1st
Division champions at the first attempt. In the end, we
finished third, losing to the eventual winners, Sandford.
Indeed, had it not been for a match-winning performance by
Richard Foan with both bat and ball, this could well have had a
different result. It may, of course, have been an
extremely astute move to allow Richard his chance to shine as he
now joins the Club in its inaugural season in the Devon League’s
premier division!
The Saturday 2nd XI completed its
first-ever season in the A Division with a highly creditable 4th
equal position. The ever-reliable Rob
Acton
amassed the third highest number of runs (319) in the Division
while five other players managed to achieve over 200 runs.
Andy Nichols was the League’s 2nd biggest wicket-taker with 24,
a long way ahead of Mark Perrott (14) and Phil Chappell (13).
These statistics prove, yet one more time, that the 2nd
XI’s strength lies with its batting but lacks the strength of
depth in its bowling to seriously challenge for further
promotion.
The Club hosted its first-ever
two-league 20/20 event, with seven different local Clubs
participating. The final saw the 1st XI comprehensively
beat the 2nd XI. We will be continuing this event next
year with the winner going forward into the county-wide
competition. The Club must be grateful for Gary Newall’s
administration in overseeing this successful event
The Club’s performance in the
developmental Sunday 2nd XI was disappointing. The
previous year’s enthusiasm and availability of players
(irrespective of success) was not so forthcoming. It is
unfortunate that we had to cancel several ND League matches as a
result of our inability to field two teams on the same day. As a
result, we have withdrawn our 2nd XI from the League and will,
instead, seek some friendly fixtures next year.
With regard to the Youth section, the
Club has had to rebuild from a new beginning, fielding teams for
the U10 Pairs and U11s. The Club continues to owe a
remarkable debt to Mark Stanbury for his unflagging enthusiasm
and support for our Colts and he was assisted by Gary Newall.
It is essential that other members and/or parents focus on this
critical aspect of the development of the next generation of BCC
players.
3.
Administrative Achievements
Off the field, this has been a more
difficult year. Financially, we ‘broke even’ but only as a
result of transferring £5,300 from the Bar Account.
However, this was no mean achievement as we ‘lost’ almost a
quarter of our matches throughout the season either to weather
or lack of players.
Once again, the Club’s income has
been supplemented by the highest ever level achieved through
sponsorship and Mark Perrott’s
excellent efforts should be widely applauded. I am also
grateful to Mark for agreeing to take over administration of the
“40 Club” income for the foreseeable future.
A continued highlight is the quality of teas being regularly
complimented upon by visiting teams – both League and touring –
as being amongst the best in the League or on tour. There had
been some occasions when the availability of tea staff was
doubtful until the last minute!
The Club is in the process of filing
its application for ECB Clubmark. This process should be
complete by the early season and the Club will owe a great deal
to Mark Stanbury and the Club’s Chairman for their work in
completing its submission.
I would also like to thank Rowland
Dicker for providing and maintaining one of the best websites of
any Devon Cricket Club. I would also like to thank Stephen
Birley for providing some extremely invigorating sports
journalism making our website so lively. The Club is indeed
fortunate to have these two. I doubt that many Clubs in Devon have so many well-wishers from overseas.
It should also be noted that the Club is immersing itself in the
community. More non-playing members are visiting the Club
– particularly during the social events. As just one
recent example, there were over 70 people seeing in the New Year
at the Club, of which there were fewer than 10 Committee members
or players present. This involvement with and by the
community remains an integral aspect of the Club’s activities
and functions.
Given the size of the Club, we have achieved much with great
credit being due to its hard-working Committee and several
exceptionally hard-working individuals. The past four or
five years have seen the Club’s playing teams move dramatically
into the elite divisions in both the Devon and North Devon Leagues. We must be careful to
ensure that we continue to provide excellent support and
facilities in the next phase of the Club’s progress.
I look forward to 2009 in the anticipation that we will continue
to consolidate our position both in the various Leagues and in
the community.
Christopher
Dean
Secretary, Bradninch Cricket Club
10th January 2009
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