AGM - recap and review

The AGM has taken place and was unfortunately very sparsely attended. From a a player perspective only Mick, Danny and Ibrar were present which is a shame as without the views of others, the 'regulars' risk missing out on issues that need addressing - a problem manifest last year!

Anyway, the magic of modern technology means I can provide an overview of the meeting below for everyone to read - enjoy.

Annual Review

The 2017 season was a difficult one for Riddlesden cricket club. Things didn’t go at all well, and many of the issues were due to our own failings. There were some highs, including what must be one of the most memorable cricketing events seen on this ground, but the lows were numerous.

Things began badly with two major mistakes by the club.

1) we messed up with Joe. The way we handled things with him was terrible - we screwed up. I’m not going to delve any deeper because there’s not much more to say except sorry.

2) we didn’t ensure we had the playing side of things set up early enough. By the time we realised that we had a major problem with availability of players, the season was underway. Again, I think everyone knows what problems that brought and ultimately it cost us the first team – certainly not something we desired but ultimately there wasn’t any other option.

Leading on from the decision to go to one team, I personally messed up in the blog explaining the situation. Part of the piece was badly written resulting in some people misinterpreting it and believing I was apportioning blame against them. This certainly wasn’t my intention – in fact I was trying to thank them and explain how good they were and important they were to the club – but my communication skills let me down on this occasion. I made my apologies at the time, and I offer them again – hopefully I have learned from that and will be more precise in future.

Then there was the break-in. Whilst not critically damaging in terms of what was taken as most of the contents and damages were covered by insurance, it still hit us emotionally and further distracted us from the cricket side of things. Especial pain regarding the strimmer – we had it less than twelve hours before it was stolen.

And, of course, almost all the machinery – mowers, roller – managed to break at some point during the summer...

As to the on-field season, the results and final league position of bottom place pretty much sum things up. We were generally poor, and on the occasions when we weren’t, fate conspired against us in the form of weather (Thornton in craven), or one member of the opposition having the game of his life (Bradford & Bingley away), or had one player who was vastly over-qualified for our level (B&B again – home), or simply lack of players in the early games (Eldwick away – 9 players, close game). For me the low was at Sandy Lane – they were terrible but we conspired to lose against them.

But there were highs too!

· We had surprisingly good weather despite what you may think. Saturdays tended to be dry. Only one match abandoned without play and one after starting!

· Akeel’s unbeaten century against Thornton in Craven with 11 fours and 8 sixes (weather ruined what would have been a win) + cup 50 following day

· Steve Kernan’s 67 with a bat he described as too heavy to use

· The first win at Cononley, with Shanny’s blistering assault sending their defensive fielding into disarray allowing Jamie and Ibrar to take us to victory (also one of Akeel’s most accomplished innings – playing anchor to Shanny and Steve, then attacking once they’d departed)

· Dale’s 91 v. Gargrave which left him absolutely shattered – wish I’d got the photo of him slumped in the changing room

· Jamie taking Arnie Raistrick to task…

· That six!!!

Off the field we’ve had several positives – I’m sure all the players have appreciated having nice dry changing rooms this year thanks to the new roof and ceilings. Then there’s the electric supply to the container which opens up new opportunities and eases jobs there. And the new lighting is excellent.

Plus there’s been several great events over the last 12 months. The annual bonfire which goes from strength to strength, the Christmas party/Santa’s grotto, co-op softball tournament, Manorlands fun day, and Halloween party, and a few other charity nights. Between them they have raised funds for a variety of good causes and made a bit of money to keep this club going and improving.

And a warm welcome to our three newest players – Ibrar, Rahim and Matty. Hopefully they will be with us for many years to come as all played full parts in the season. Rahim in particular brings an enthusiasm that cannot be beaten...

Well done also to the scorers – Chloe and Jack - for working out an acceptable solution to only having one team to score for.

Thanks to Rob Grillo’s book on local cricket, we now know more of our history. We were formed in 1882 and played at the top of Riddlesden (so we’re 135 years old!) We have played on current site since between 1889 and 1896, so over 120 year here! That’s a lot of weight of history on everyone’s shoulders. Think how many players have turned out for the club. How many fours and sixes hit. How many balls lost. How many catches dropped... Our turn now to lay the foundations for the next hundred years.

In summary, not the best of years but there’s always good times to be had. The game is meant to be fun, so enjoy the games win or lose. Coming last isn’t the end of the world if you can still smile afterwards – let’s learn from our mistakes and have a much better year next season.

Recap of awards

Bowler – Qaddy (though Shanny would have been right up there if he’d not needed knee surgery) Batter – Akeel (closely followed by Dale) - 7th in division 22nd overall for league (Dale 8th & 48th) Fielder - (Zain – class of his own – 10 catches, no drops!) Newcomer – Ibrar Player’s Player – Akeel Chairman’s award – Me !!!!!!

Other topics covered in the AGM included

The annual treasuer's report - in essence we had a bad year financially but as mentioned above we had a number of machinery breakages, plus the break-in. Hopefully next year we won't have as much bad luck so will reduce the losses there - although a note of warning was issued as we've been informed our insurance will rise significantly next year.

The committe were re-elected unopposed. Jamie Fullwood formally stepped down as 1st team captain - and was promptly elected club secretary. Three applications for captaincy have been received and we will be meeting all three over the next couple of weeks before deciding who takes on the responsibility. We hope to hold a session early next year where we invite Ann Coe to visit us so as many players as possible can apply for a DBS check in one go. This will help the club cover all the bases and is free so please try to be part of this - more details will follow next month.

We intend to learn from this season's problems by holding at least one 'player day' early next year - probably in February - to check everyone's availability, health and well-being, and simply to say hello after the long winter break. Of course, most of you will be reaquainted anyway by then as the winter nets will begin in January... (and there's nothing stopping you from keeping in touch during the winter!)

And finally, there's one item which I'm covering in more detail in a separate blog, but the official announcement occurred at the AGM. As of next season, Eldwick & Gilstead will be playing their home fixtures on our ground. Both clubs will retain their own identity, and we are fully committed to Riddlesden Cricket Club's continued existence (and hopefully success), but we do hope that this will prove beneficial to both clubs.