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As a member, I have been expecting some correspondence from Notts CCC with regards to some proposed changes to the club's constitution, electing of committee members and who knows what else, but as yet nothing has landed on my door mat.
However, in my ymail inbox I have received a warning on the possible motives for contitutional changes which will share. HBD
Do they really want members?
Would they rather as attendees we were buyers of bulk T20 tickets or season ticket holders; ready to perform like well-trained lab-rats that make the relevant actions or noises according to each musical cue. Like performing monkeys that can be manipulated to buy copious amounts of over-priced food and beverages, but also like children that need to be told to drink plenty of water and wear a hat when it's hot and sunny. So long as we all keep swilling the alcohol, probably from the compulsory purchase eco-glasses. We're all saving the planet, you know! But they don't trust us with the greenest option, reuseable glasses made of glass.
Cue trumpet call, yeah!!!
Hi ho, silver lining...
touching me, touching you Sweet Caroline, oh, ohh, ohhhh.
Perhaps some take comfort from the, in my opinion, now tired formulaic repertoire of jingles, hits from the distant past. It's the same play list as from a 1980's New Years Eve party, has no one else noticed?
The masses still seem to lap it up though. Finals Day is a spectacle to behold but it's not included in anyone's membership fees. Edgbaston is largely full of day trippers, booked in groups from all corners of the country.
Daaaay-oh, yeah
A quick floss followed by Hey Jude!
Cue trumpet call, yeah
Cue trumpet call, yeah
Cue trumpet call, yeah
Many of the target audience will have never heard of Jeff Beck or Neil Diamond, but still they conform and perform to their call. Watch-out it's Kisscam, but at least the acidic lager will act as an antiseptic mouth wash before you smooch for the ogling crowd.
Cue them bongos!
Then there's the imposed The Hundred, descending on our shores in 2020; but that's not for members, it's not for the existing performing monkeys crowd either, nor is it for the Barmy Army wannabes of Finals Day, no that's for a new diverse audience that currently doesn't engage with cricket at all but, as it appears from the chosen sponsor, does eat fatty, salty reconstituted potato and corn snacks.
Will we be getting wider seats at our Test venues in the future?
Members were consulted about "the new competition", a new T20 competition to be launched aptly in 2020, but members didn't back it or reject it out right, they were just drip fed propaganda direct from the ECB or from county CEOs and views have been largely ignored. The project has now morphed into the hideous form that is still not fully revealed, The Hundred.
Of course they, the authorities, don't want the hassle of members and the accountability that comes with them.
So how are they going to rid themselves of the pesky members, when members' rights are protected by rules and the constitution?
By stealth and deceit no doubt under the guise of necessary amendments to the constitution to comply with regulations regarding safeguarding and diversity. The only way that members can lose the few rights that they do have is to vote them away, so any proposed changes must be viewed with a sceptical, suspicious eye.
Be warned. Cue trumpet call..... make it a bugle, the "Last Post" for the members!
Dixon Gates
'Dixon Gates' makes some very important points - see 'Letter to Members' Heading on this Site. In reality the vast majority of 'members' are more like 'Season Ticket Holders' and play no active part in THEIR Club - very few attend AGM's and very few ever vote - so I have real doubts as to whether the eagerly awaited Consitutional Changes will even be read my most Members never mind voted on. Apathy gets what apathy deserves I'm afraid to say.
ReplyDeleteI get the impression that they are running down the clock, leaving it until the last moment, giving people minimal time to digest and act even if they were to be motivated to object to any proposals.
ReplyDeleteHowever, didn't one the "bald accountants" (sorry Richard S) state that any changes needed the approval of a certain % of the membership before it could be implemented? Apathy works both ways if that is the case. I hope memory serves me right and I'm not clutching at straws and it's all decided on a count of hands at the AGM.
The process is, apparently, proposals put out to all Members for any Feedback THEN AGM Consitutional Amendments proposed to be voted on by all Members - I guess members may Vote either by Proxy or in person at the AGM - BUT WE NEED TO KNOW.
ReplyDeleteYes, I rather get the impression, despite what Ms.Pursestrings alluded to at the last Forumn when she gave her spiel about a member being something more than just a season ticket holder, in reality that is what they want. More of a football type arrangement where you cough up loads, then spend loads at the ground, have no say whatsoever, attend all the games and then all you can do is whinge about things to your mates in the pub. It would be very interesting to see if the members do have the ultimate final say or whether the committee will impose it anyway?
ReplyDeleteThe Members WILL have the final say because they have to approve the Constitutional changes - but will they all realise what they are being asked to vote for?
ReplyDeleteI’d be surprised if Notts don’t want members.
ReplyDeleteNot sure how many we have - 6000. - providing revenue through subscription of 750k let’s say
I’d have thought for the money making matches of the T20 that half the crowd is pay on the gate. The other half would be members and those who buy a t20 season ticket. Our average attendance is about 3-4K off capacity- it always feels fuller - so I’d be surprised if members who get in for “free” are somehow blocking those who pay more via ticket purchases.
That’s the weakness of the 100. Members are excluded- and so join the ticket buying public. But the ticket buying public doesn’t fill the ground for t20, so you’re reliant on people travelling from Leics and Derbys and/or a new audience which somehow prefers the 100 to t20.
I don’t think too many members would buy the 100 on top, and I’m not sure how many people would travel (they do for football but that isn’t weather dependent). So if it were me, I’d be discounting 100 entrance prices to existing county members as a means to tapping into an existing and proven audience
But maybe I’m wrong!!
I understand that we have around 7000+ members and half attend T20 Matches so the majority of attendees are paying customers. The 100-ball-Knockabout is nothing to do with Notts - it is entirely an ECB initiative (like Test Matches) and so there ought to be no impact on Notts membership costs. It has to succeed on its own merits - personally I hope that it fails as I see it as 'dumbing down' the game I love in a major and dangerous manner.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that Notts do want members and certainly in my three or so years of being a member, I always had a good feeling whenever I phoned up that I actually mattered, something that I’ve never had at Old Trafford.
ReplyDeleteHowever, be extremely careful in what you vote for. I don’t think that many Lancashire members would vote for the changes that came in again if they were given another chance. I think a lot boils down to what percentage of income comes from members and at Old Trafford it is microscopic against hotels, pop concerts, weddings etc.
Old Trafford membership figures thought to be around 3000 now ; peak was 13000.
Ref the above .I do not know of a single Notts CCC member who is looking forward to the new 100 ball Comp . No one appears to intend to pay and watch it - including myself .
ReplyDeleteHowever I have a long memory when it comes to cricket situations and changes . I well remember Sir Garfield Sobers batting and bowling at Trent bridge .
I also well recollect the introduction of the 40 over John Player League which was played on Sunday afternoons from about 2pm until circa 6.30PM. I think this started in 1969/70 .
(Anyone remember some of these matches being played on the old John Player Sports ground on Grassingtn Road Aspley?).At the time there was quite a lot of opposition to this new format ,but it caught on and became fairly successful but the crowds for it at TB were never mega .
Then of course we had the introduction of T20 in around 2003 . Again it was known as Mickey Mouse cricket and not taken seriously . I well remember the first floodlit T20 game at Trent Bridge. I think the start was delayed because of strong winds and the portable floodlights standing in the back of large lorries around the ground perimeter were considered unsafe when fully extended. I think the game actually finished about 10.30pm . It was a cold night and the crowd was probably on the 3-4,000 range . Amazingly towards the end of the match we had stewards going into the stands throwing ice creams and choc ices at the remaining shivering fans . Its funny what you remember - no idea of the scores or who won . But eating free choc ices in the cold at 10.30 pm left an impression .
Well now e all know what a tremendous success has been made of T20 cricket all around the globe . A fantastic money spinner and it has attracted a big new audience of free spending fans - both male and female and many of them in the 15-25 age bracket .
Without T20 cricket I wonder how many of the current County Championship sides would now be on the verge of extinction or just a part-time outfit?
So perhaps the 100 Ball comp is just another form of progress and within a year or two may well be a pretty big sporting occasion in its own right . It will draw top players from all over the world and be seen "live" on free to air television . So it MAY catch on in a big way .
They say you cannot stand still in business . And lets face it ,cricket is NOW BIG BUSINESS rather than a sport .
So the question is this
' will all those of us with negative views and thoughts about the 100 Comp be made to look foolish in years to come ?"
What do others think ?
Another quote from George Bernard Shaw:
ReplyDelete"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
Thats deep Philip !
ReplyDeleteWill have to think about that quotation from the great man .
Another quote ref the 100 Ball Comp
" A fool and his money are soon parted!"
I wonder what sort of incentive the ECB will offer to "fans" of the very first 100 Ball matches ?
THEY MIGHT PAY US A FIVER TO GO IN AND WATCH !
Would that be enough to tempt us ?
Staying on the theme of GBS
ReplyDeleteWhen a learned scholar asked him what was the secret to a long life - he simply replied -
" loose boots and empty bowels"
It was probably not the answer the scholar was expecting ! ?
I feel I must congratulate DIXON GATES on a very unusual post . It must have taken a lot of thought .