Minutes of the BTTL Committee meeting held at 7.30pm on 21^st February 2019 at the Hilton Centre

Present: Messrs. Barker, Bradshaw, Caswell, Chauhan, Rothwell,

D Scowcroft (in the chair), J Scowcroft. Mrs Barker, Mrs Smart & Mrs Scowcroft.

Apologies for absence: Messrs. Bolton, Bradbury, McCormick & Tatlock.

Minutes of the last meeting: These had been circulated and were agreed.

Matters Arising: A discussion took place re Cup Handicaps. The General Secretary had produced a scatter graph and there were roughly an equal number of teams winning that had a start to those that didn’t. When all the points were added up for all the matches available so far, there was only 0.005% in favour of the teams without the start.  However, while there were many close matches there were some way off the mark. This was difficult to comprehend. Some further mathematical analysis will be needed particularly perhaps in regard to teams from different divisions playing each other.

Correspondence: Some concerns had been received from P*** B**** of F****** Cricket Club re Ram******* Town’s match card results which can be read by clicking on the Correspondence heading.

As regards R*** Ch****’s name appearing on the match card for Ram******* Town B when he had had an injury at school and had not played, the Match Secretary admitted this had slipped under the radar. The General Secretary had contacted the Team Secretary who confirmed that although he himself was away that night that R*** had not attended the match and his name should have been removed from the card. Therefore his name was removed, forfeits inserted and a £3 fine added to the fines list. No results had been entered.

As regards R*** now having been moved to the ‘A’ team, a very long discussion ensued. It was agreed that the addition of League Set Up rule 12 (c) (iv) last year could be considered as ambiguous and will need to be reviewed at the next AGM. This was added last year so that players playing in a lower division to their ability could not be asked to step up and help different teams in the higher division.

However, all the Step Up rules 12 (c) have to be taken as a whole and not one part pulled out in isolation.

After further discussion and a vote of nine to one it was decided that under its authority given in Administration & Management Rule 2, the correct interpretation of the rule is the same that has been applied previously to teams in other divisions to stop teams unnecessarily being penalised by the Committee and give them some leeway is as follows:

Step Up Rule 12 (c) (i) had been broken because R***’s average was above the third placed player in the ‘A’ team. However, under 12 (c) (iii) the team has the option of losing the points and paying a £3 fine or transferring the player permanently to the higher team. As soon as the General Secretary had found out that R*** had played for the ‘A’ team he immediately contacted the Secretary of the ‘B’ team and asked for their choice. This was to permanently transfer the player to the ‘A’ team.
Therefore the 80% rule does not apply as he is deemed to be a permanent member of the A team from that match onward inclusive and will be for the rest of the season.

General Secretary’s Report: Far****** SC A had forfeited a Cup match but had also forfeited two league matches and a Match Card from the week before against H***** D was missing. It had been said that Hilton D had just won.
J*** H********* the Secretary of the ‘A’ team was poorly in hospital and had been there for some weeks and another player had had a parental bereavement. It was decided that the £12 fines for the two league matches should be waved under the circumstances.
We would try and get results of the Hilton D match but if not we will assess a result based on league positions.

It was decided to get pasties and peas again for presentation night, but a reduced number of 50 instead of eighty.

We had not invited a guest presenter and our Chairman would be away. Mrs Smart said she would ask Mrs Christine Crumblehulme and if not available it was agreed for her to present them instead.

Match Secretary’s Report: There were a couple of outstanding cards but little else to report.

Treasurer’s Report: We had issued invoices for adverts and the money was coming in. Brookes had said they did not want the advert next year. The bank balance was £4,467 and PayPal was £1,485. It was suggested the around £1,000 should be moved from PayPal to the bank.

Tournament Secretary: The logistics of covering the Tournament were discussed.

Inter-league Secretary’s Report: None

AOB: None

Date and venue of next meeting: It did not seem feasible to get another meeting in before the May rules meeting. We did not have time due to other matters to consider the special awards. This would have to be done by email. So at the moment, the next meeting would be in May.

The meeting closed at 9.15pm.