Nottinghamshire CCC AGM 2020 "Minutes"

"Minutes" c/o JAG 

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club AGM

Held at 19.00 on Monday 24 February 2020 at County Hall

The top table consisted of Richard Tennant (RT), Lisa Pursehouse (LP), Bill Taylor (BT), Paul Ellis (PE), & Mick Newell (MN).

To approve and matters arising from minutes of the AGM held on Tuesday 26 February 2019

John Evans stated that the minutes were not a fair reflection of what had been said.  RT disputed this and a discussion was held on the reasons behind this.

 He said that the increased value of Assets and Budget for the Radcliffe Road Stand developments were for £7.4 million, and that the dispute was over £390,000 which was the value of an additional asset, which had been paid for by an outside party, and that there was a confidentiality agreement around this asset, and the club had to stick with that. Nigel Crockford asked what the terms were for the missing asset.

 RT said that the asset is definitely owned by the benefactor, and he could not say any more other than that is no future liability to the club on that asset.

 John Evans recommended that the minutes be rejected. A subsequent vote led to the minutes being rejected.

Chairman’s Report - Richard Tennant

 The last year had been very busy and challenging both on and off the field, and that he was very disappointed in the red ball cricket performance. MN and Peter Moores (PM) had presented to the committee their views on how to change things this year. He also stated that the performance in white ball cricket had been excellent over the last ten years, and that was reflected in the club reaching two semi finals in 2019.

 Coaching changes and player recruitment have been made to support the club.

 2019 saw a One Day International against Pakistan and five matches in the ICC Cricket World Cup. These were all a success and the club won the ‘Warmest Welcome Award’ for the second successive year. A year without a Red ball test match was always difficult to make a profit; therefore the club is pleased to announce a small profit.

 The ‘Six Restaurant’ is top quality and will be a great venue. The opening year of trading had been given great acclaim within Nottinghamshire.

 The future tours agreement has been agreed until 2024, but although Test Matches are well supported in England, this is not the case in the rest of the world.

 The cricket club and the Nottinghamshire Cricket Board will be merging but the exact date has not been agreed and this is subject to further discussions.

 The club has also been considering the order of priorities for ‘Ground Development’, the Pavilion requires an upgrade, the William Clarke Stand needs replacing, and there needs to be an overhaul at Lady Bay. However all of these require funding in place before work can be undertaken.

 There had also been meetings to discuss improving the ‘Governance of the Club’ and there had been great work by the Heritage Team run by Steve Lemottee to keep the history of the club alive.

 This year saw the tenth anniversary of the ‘Trent Bridge Community Trust’.

RT then thanked the outgoing president Bill Taylor, and the retiring committee man Stuart Foster, who had spent more than thirty years on the committee.

 Bill Russell asked what would happen to the money currently held by the Cricket Board after the proposed merger between the Club and the Cricket Board. RT said that all funds relevant to the board will be ring-fenced and that there will be benefits for the recreational game.

John Lee asked whether the club were aware of the ‘Sport England Code of Corporate Governance’ concerning co-habitation of senior committee or board members, and that conflicts of interest should be handled in an appropriate way.

RT said that they were happy that the governance of the club is being managed correctly.

 David Beaumont stated that it was important that the ‘Six Restaurant’ should be open all year, and why was it shut pre and post Christmas?

 LP said that it was open for Christmas, but that it was not open for the New Year, when the club would be paying staff double-time.

  Peter Quinn asked whether there was a conflict of interest because Mr Bicknell was employed by the club as a cricket coach, whilst serving on the committee at the same time which conflicts club rules.

RT stated that Mr Bicknell’s coaching role was financed for by the Nottinghamshire Cricket Board and not the cricket club and therefore any payment was separate and outside of the club therefore he was not breaking any rules. If the Cricket Board does merge, with the Cricket Club then there would be a conflict of interest. Mr Bicknell is appointed by Nottinghamshire Cricket Board and is paid for via the ECB.

 The Chairman’s report was passed.

Accounts - Paul Ellis

 A financial review of the club had been carried out by a group comprising Paul Ellis, Tim Eatherington, Richard Stevenson and Richard Tennant.

 He stated that income had decreased by 4 per cent, and commercial income decreased by 9 per cent. Some expected income was retained longer by the ICC for the Cricket World Cup. Cricket costs on cricket development had risen by £254,000.

 ECB Grants had increased and commercial expenditure increased by 8 per cent, this was partially due to the ‘Six Restaurant’ and the appointment of a new HR Manager.

 We had to upgrade the Radcliffe Road stand in order to retain ‘Test Match Status’. The Radcliffe Road Development cost £7.5 million, and the set-up costs of the ‘Six Restaurant’ were £80,000. During its first year the ‘Six Restaurant’ had operating losses of £97,000.

  He then spoke about the profit for the year and said that ODI’s do not make as much money as Test matches, and that it is important to consider four year cycles, and that the return from ICC World Cup games is considerably lower.

 Nigel Crockford (Accountant) raised some questions and said that the club had reduced its cash balances and that the reported surplus was confusing. He also stated that regulations dictate that the club must update the value of Fixed Assets (i.e. Trent Bridge) once every five years and that the club were failing to do this, and that in his opinion the accounts should not be approved.

 At the end of the financial year there is a deficit from the ECB for the staging of the ICC World Cup matches of £1 million and this affected the cash flow. This was not expected.

To maintain ‘Test Match Status’ the club had to make a number of improvements to the ‘Media facilities’ within the Radcliffe Road, and that the biggest challenge was managing debt over four year cycles.

 There was a discussion on the ‘Market Value of Trent Bridge’ involving PE, Peter Wright (PW) and LP. PW stated that Trent Bridge had been re-valued on Insurance Value about ten years ago.

 Nigel Crockford quoted Rule 9.3 – The accounts shall show the value of Trent Bridge Cricket Ground and be re-valued every five years.  

 PE stated that the Charitable Trust is a separate entity but that some of the members are the same as the cricket club.

 PE stated that the club does forecasts over four years, and as we know the years we are allocated test matches so estimate a total profit of £500,000 over that four year cycle.

 LP stated that the ECB had guaranteed a new income stream via The Hundred competition.

 There were a number of questions around the costs and the losses incurred so far by the Six Restaurant.

 RT stated that some of the cash reserves were used to part finance the ground developments rather than increasing borrowing.

Cricket Report - Mick Newell

 We thought we had improved the staff with four signings, and we produced pitches to suit Ravi Ashwin, and the expectation was that we play in Division One.

 The focus during the winter has been on improved red ball cricket. The club had reached the knockout stage in the 50 over competition six times in the last seven years. We had also reached the Vitality Blast quarter final for the ninth time in the last ten years, but the way the team blew up the 20/20 semi final was hard to explain. The T20 team has been very well led by Dan Christian over the last few years and the large crowds have a good impact.

 The aim now is to improve the playing staff, Joey Evison has been at the Under 19 world cup and Liam Patterson-White has earned his first professional deal. The next wave is the rookie contracts for Sol Budinger, Lyndon James, who captained the second eleven well, and Ben Compton.

 The club have recruited four new players in Haseeb Hameed, Mohammad Abbas Peter Trego and Tom Barber. We have recruited Kevin Shine to the coaching staff and strengthened the ‘Player Pathway’ by adding Andy Pick to that group.

 The club have introduced grass nets in a marquee at Lady Bay to enable players to practice on grass from February onwards, as they attempt to do things differently than in the past.

 Peter Moores then temporarily joined Mick Newell.

 PM stated that although it may have looked like the players did not care given the nature of some of the four day defeats, it was not the case. The loss of so many senior players in the last few years has had an effect, and the new players recruited struggled to play in division one.

 We need to try to build resilience and improve performance. Matt Wood has changed the way that pathways work, but players do have the choice between red and white ball cricket and many players will travel the world in the winter to earn money in white ball cricket, but we do need to sign new players to move forward. However it can take five or six years to develop a cricketer, and then perhaps another two years for them to become successful, so there is no quick fix.

 Liam Patterson-White has spent the winter in New Zealand, and Joey Evison has been abroad with the England Under 19 Team.

  PM was asked about the impact of losing Hutton, Milnes and Wood in recent years.

 He stated that all three had been offered contracts but chose to go elsewhere, so we cannot control that.

 MN was asked about the signing of Kolpak players in particular Dwaine Pretorius. He replied that he would not talk about players that he had not signed but did say that we might be interested in a Kolpak player but he will not sign too many.

 He was also asked about the signing of a large number of Nottinghamshire players by the Trent Rockets, and he stated that although he was part of the Trent Rockets team that it was Stephen Fleming who had signed the players.

 David Parker asked MN & PM about the quality of the four new signings especially as Peter Trego has not played much red ball cricket in the last three years, and the other three had not had good records last year.

PM stated that Peter Trego was a 38 year-old senior man, he is keen to play red ball cricket which has been shown by playing for Devon. He is super fit and will be a mentor to other players. Tom Barber has had a lot of injuries, but he has a lot of pace, and he knows that he has got to put the ball in the right places. Haseeb Hameed has the ability so we will have to see with him and Mohammad Abbas is an experienced international player who is good both on and off the field.

Strategic Update – Lisa Pursehouse

There is in place a revised itinerary for International cricket covering the period 2020 to 2024, and there is now in place a minimum wage for young players. There has also been an overhaul of the relationships with the ECB, with minimum standards. There is work nationwide to increase participation of younger players.

The club received an award from the ‘Chance to Shine’ Charity.  

 There are two pots of money that counties can bid for the period 2020 to 2024. The money will not be spread equally amongst the counties.

 The club has invested in its staff by increasing numbers in the Marketing and Community Development. This increase in staff will help meet those minimum standards set by the ECB, which must be in place by 2023.

 The club will only have one year without a test match during the period 2020 to 2024, and we are one of only six venues with allocated test matches.

 We need to generate non match day income all year round.

A question was asked about naming rights for Trent Bridge. LP said it was not her decision but she is not in favour and stated that Edgbaston have been looking for a suitable partner for a few years.

 LP stated that there had been a Cash Flow problem because World Cup match staging money from the ECB was not received until December, when it had been expected in the previous January.

 Bill Russell asked how much money, will the club be getting from the ECB for Recreational Cricket. LP stated that this was difficult to answer but there is a core funding pot for Recreational Cricket of £250,000 and a £20 million pot for counties to bid for. This will not be split equally amongst the counties and national cricket boards but can be used for example for women’s cricket and schools.

 

 John Chambers asked about the effect of ‘The Hundred’ competition on the 50 over competition and that counties would be forced to field weakened sides, and also that the final was very late in September. LP stated that the purpose of The Hundred is to attract a new audience, and that the ECB have a marketing plan for this competition and they will be putting money aside to promote it. Michael Temple will be involved from Nottinghamshire.

Trent Bridge Community Trust - Mandy Wright (MW) & Mark Clifford (MC)

 MW is the Community and Development manager and has a team of fourteen. During the last year 3000 hours of direct activity has been used and 400 new coaches have been trained. Nottinghamshire are the first county nationally to be 100 per cent accredited for ‘Safeguarding’ £50,000 has been invested into grass roots cricket. We need to improve women and girls recreational cricket, and the team are always welcome to receive help from volunteers for the ‘Happy to Help team’ for visitors attending large attendance matches at Trent Bridge.

 The team showed two short videos on their work in the last year, including the Haydn Road Community Cricket Club, and Cricket for people suffering from Dementia. There were contributions in the videos from the club captain Steven Mullaney and Kate Davies from the Nottinghamshire committee. As in previous years there were updates on a number of schemes including ‘Chance to Shine, All Stars Cricket, Positive Futures, and ‘Forget Me Notts’ (targets people with Dementia), and ‘Healthy Hearts’.

 The amendments to the Governance

 RT thanked members for their support of meetings on this subject and that it had taken two years to re-align. He thanked the efforts of fellow committee members Jeff Moore and Kate Davies, and for help from Derek Brewer at the ECB and Penny Huggard. He also reported that of those members that voted 74% voted in favour and as that exceeded the requirements of a two-thirds majority, it had now been passed.

 John Evans proposed three changes, which were discussed at the meeting, the first two were rejected, but the third one was passed and this will see ‘A board detailing the names of the Club’s president and General Committee Members alongside their individual head and shoulders photograph is to be displayed in a prominent position within the Members’ Area for all members to be able to access. The board will be updated annually within six weeks of the Annual General Meeting taking place.’

Confirmation of four members elected to the General Committee.

 LP said that there were six candidates and those elected were Peter Wright, Jeff Moore, Paul Ford-Murphy and Penelope Huggard.

To appoint a President for 2020 in accordance with clause 7.1 of the club’s constitution 

 The former Nottinghamshire player Basher Hassan was appointed.

To appoint Vice Presidents

 Bill Taylor and Stuart Foster were appointed.

To appoint an Honorary Life Member

Peter Wright proposed Peter Johnson who had been involved with cricket in Nottinghamshire since 1968, playing for Notts Colts, Gedling Colliery, representative sides, and he was also the leading person in setting up the Nottinghamshire Premier league, which took four years to implement.

 This proposal was accepted.

Any Other Business

 A question was asked about what would happen if Nottinghamshire performed well in the 2020 season and achieved a Home Quarter Final, because due to the dates clashing with the Trent Bridge Test match then we would not be able to play it at Trent Bridge, and in 2019 Lancashire were in the same situation and had to play their home match at Chester-Le-Street.

 LP stated that if the situation did arise then she did not know where the game would be played, but a suitable compensation claim has been raised.

The meeting closed after 2 hours 57 minutes at 21.57.

This is how the Trent Bridge spin-doctors saw it...

Basher Hassan was confirmed as Nottinghamshire's new President at the club's Annual General Meeting on Monday evening.

Hassan enjoyed a 19-year playing career at Trent Bridge, scoring over 20,000 runs in all formats and playing a vital role in Notts’ Championship win of 1981.

He went on to serve on the club’s General Committee between 2005 and 2017, and also enjoyed a stint as Honorary President of the Nottinghamshire Premier League.

Meanwhile, retiring President Bill Taylor was bestowed a Vice-Presidency in recognition of his service to the club as a player, committee member and President.

Taylor, a fast-bowler in his playing career, represented Nottinghamshire in First-Class cricket on 95 occasions between 1971 and 1977. After retirement, he pursued a career in business, was elected to the General Committee in 2010 and named President in 2018.

Stuart Foster’s 30 years on the General Committee were also recognised by a Vice-Presidency, while Peter Johnson was announced as an Honorary Life Member of the club in recognition of his service to the recreational game.

The club’s members voted in favour of a new model of governance, which intends to ensure the mix of skills, experience, knowledge and diversity on the committee are optimised. This model will also bring Nottinghamshire into line with the recommended best practice of Sport England and the ECB.

Penny Huggard, Head of Governance and Compliance at Futures Housing, is a newcomer to the General Committee – with Paul Ford-Murphy, Jeff Moore and Peter Wright maintaining their positions.

Nottinghamshire were able to announce to the members a pre-tax surplus of £20,631 despite the absence of Test cricket from Trent Bridge’s 2019 international schedule – retaining the annual average profit at £403k over a three-year cycle spanning from 2017 to 2019.