The following members were in attendance:

Acting Chair and Members' Rep

Peter Swain (PS)

Hon. Secretary

Colin Wouldham (CW)

Fixture Secretary

Peter Fisher (PF)

Hon. Treasurer

Richard Webber (RW)

Conor Mitchell (CM)
Greg Farrell (GF)
Clinton Van Rooyen (CVR)
Gary Bill (GB)
Andrew Young (AY)
Matthew Bulpitt (MB)
Bernie Boylan (BB)
Brad Frey (BF)
Mark Horak (MH)

Apologies for absence were received from the following members:

Daniel Pilling
Toby Hanington
Pad Venkatraman
Andy Redman
Lindsey Day
Daniel Osgood

No other business was raised that was not discussed elsewhere in the meeting.

The minutes of the previous AGM, held on Monday 28th March 2022, were agreed as an accurate representation of what was discussed and agreed.

Signed Shirt

MB confirmed that he was in possession of the signed shirt from Eltham's 150th anniversary year.  He would be able to provide it, should we wish to display it at Footscray, and Footscray are agreeable.

Dormant Santander Account

The dormant Santander account had not yet been reactivated.  CW had spoken to Santander and received paperwork which he thinks is aimed at corporate accounts rather than club accounts.  It has many pages to be completed by Directors and so on.

The meeting agreed that this was an important account as it contained around £1,900, most of which is within the Deposit Account.

It was agreed that CW and RW would look to review the required paperwork during the 2023 season and speak again to Santander in order to get the account reactivated.  

Club Archives

Although Andy Redman was not able to be at the AGM, he had notified us that he would be in a position to investigate the Eltham Archives, with assistance from ex-member (and previous Chairman) Henry Hicks.

Dormant Santander Account

CW and RW to review the Santander paperwork and speak again with Santander during 2023.

Club Archives

Andy Redman to lead on reviewing the position with respect to Eltham Archives.

The meeting noted that the outgoing Committee were very keen to encourage other members to take an active role in the running of the Club.  With that in mind, if any members felt they would like to be involved but were reluctant due to not really knowing what a role may entail, it was proposed that they "shadow" a committee member during the season to see if they felt they could perform a role in future seasons.  A number of members volunteered to act as "assistants" for 2023, and these are shown below.

The following officers were nominated and voted in for the 2023 season:

Club Chairman

Andrew Redman

Club Captain

Pad Venkatraman

Club Vice-Captain

George Boylan

Honorary Treasurer

Richard Webber

Honorary Secretary

Colin Wouldham (shadowed for 2023 by Andrew Young)

Fixture Secretary

Peter Fisher (with Colin Wouldham and Gary Bill taking responsibility for arranging fixtures during the season via the medium of Facebook)

Match Secretary

It was agreed that the position of Match Secretary was not required for the 2023 season from a practical perspective.

Team Secretary

Colin Wouldham (shadowed for 2023 by Mark Horak)

Members' Representative

Peter Swain

Safeguarding Officer

Andrew Young (this is a new position at the Club and Andrew agreed to now review what we need to do as a Club in order to adopt the ECB "Safe Hands" policy.  Matthew Bulpitt, who has wide experience of safeguarding in a professional capacity, also agreed to shadow Andrew for the 2023 season)

Eltham's Captain Pad Venkatraman was unable to attend the meeting but had provided the following report for members:

"My job as captain for the first full season was made easier thanks to our club ethos which is primarily to have fun while trying to win games.That and also that there were several wise heads (both experienced and budding) I could turn to for help at all times, especially on scorching sunny days.

There were a couple of unsavoury on-field incidents, which you can expect over the course of an entire season, but I will think of what I can do as Captain (with help from you all) to ensure that these incidents don't repeat themselves.

While some of our regular members missed out on the bulk of the season, it was pleasing to see new faces come and perform in the way that they did. A special mention to our Next-Gen pool who helped restore the average age of the group, while raising the intensity levels on the field and coming up with fresh, unconventional ideas.

While it may not always be possible, I have tried and will continue to try to get everyone involved during matches doing what they like, just hoping for commitment on field from everyone 😃 .

Keeping the report short - Let's have a cracking 2023 season!"

Colin Wouldham provided the following report to members:

Overall another enjoyable season with a good spread of matches and reasonable availability of players.

I do not believe any games were called off last season due to our inability to get a team out. 

In terms of players:

• 27 players represented Eltham in 2022
• Of those,10 players played 3 or less games
• 6 players played 10 or more games
• 6 players scored fifties during the season
• 22 players bowled for Eltham in the season
• Of those 22, 9 players bowled 25 or more overs
• 3 of those players achieved 10 or more wickets during the season

It was particularly pleasing to see George Boylan stepping up to stand in as Captain on a couple of occasions during the season. George did an excellent job.

Availability is a potential issue for 2023.

In terms of results:

• We played 20 non-tour games, of which we won 11, lost 6 and drew 3
• We had our first tour for many years which was hugely enjoyable. We played four games (1 40 over match and 3 T20s). We won the 40 over game against Pylewell and lost the 3 T20s against Mudeford, Ferndown Strollers and Sway.

Awards for the season 

Batting Award: Pad Venkatraman - 399 runs @ 44.33 runs per completed innings, best of 83 not out against Ide Hill to set up the win by 4 wickets against our old friends.

Bowling Award: Colin Wouldham - 29 wickets @ 10.62 per wicket with a best of 5-10 against Kings Hill when we defended 91 all out to win

Fielding Award: George Boylan

Fred Hill Award (Player of the Season) - Pad Venkatraman (399 runs, 12 wickets and 2 catches)

Eric Bristow Award (Clubman of the Year) - Clinton Van Rooyen. Clinton only joined the club in recent years but has come to be an integral part of proceedings, not least in the Club Whatsapp group. His humour is well known to anyone who has played in any match with him. However, even when not selected, he often comes along to matches to watch and help out with any jobs that need doing. Along with Mark Horak (who also received a nomination for his part), Clinton did a fantastic job catering for the Club Day barbecue.

A note regarding our 2022 tour

Many thanks for all who organised this tour, our first for a number of years. From a social point of view the tour was fantastic, although Leon Bill may not agree after he got rather unwell at the end.

Player numbers were really not high enough for us to field full teams and rotate our Squad during the tour, and so this year we attempted to get a good feel for whether availability would be any higher. This will be covered under item 10 of the AGM. Nevertheless, the 2022 tour was still a huge success, and my thanks go out to the various committee members involved in organising it, particularly Ricky and our chairman Andy Redman.

My thanks go out to the Committee who do all of the behind-the-scenes work to keep the club running. But most of all my thanks go out to all of our members who play with such good humour, and keep this such a wonderful club to play for.

Peter Fisher provided the following report for members:

Last season, 25 games went ahead, including the successful club day and four tour games. Only one was cancelled due to lack of opposition.

Thanks again to everyone for their support in trying to find alternate fixtures and/or their understanding when this was not possible.

Peter Fisher provided the following summary of where things currently stood in terms of arranged fixtures for the 2023 season:

There are 24 weekends available for fixtures, starting on Sat 22nd April and finishing on Sat 30th Sept.

Following a review by the committee of last year's fixtures and opposition teams, I have tried to remove "unwanted teams" (mismatched by strength or by attitude) and seek out extra games against preferred opposition. Also, the tour games have been removed due to a lack of players.

There has been a major problem with home fixtures this year which will be detailed in item 9. Consequently, everything was on hold for a couple of months meaning some "regular" opposition teams have moved on rather than waiting. This also means there are more "blanks" than usual on the fixture card.

The Club Day has been retained for this year but brought forward a couple of weeks to Sunday 9th July.

At present, there are 10 blank weekends, but all other weekends have a confirmed fixture. We are likely to end up with a mix of 11 Home and 13 Away games. These will be played on 7 Saturdays and 14 Sundays, with 3 weekends still marked as Sat or Sun. There has been discussion about arranging a game on May 29 (Bank Holiday Monday) to make up for there being no tour. This relies on whether Footscray is available, player numbers are sufficient and opposition can be found.

Details of fixtures are given as below and will be on the website soon. Two other points regarding fixtures:

• As last year, all opposition have been informed about our decision not to provide teas for home games this coming season.
• Pitch hire has increased to £120 per home game. Again, more details in item 9.

NOTE: Peter provided a list of fixtures at the time of the AGM which we have not displayed here since the current view of fixtures is live on the Club website.

Richard Webber provided the following summary of the Club's financial position at the start of 2023:

Here are the Accounts for the 2022 calendar year. In summary, income stayed relatively similar to previous years however match subscriptions were up, largely due to the strong health of the squad meaning we had less guest players filling in for us who we would not charge a match fee for.

We paid for 12 squares at Footscray which now we pay in advance on a monthly basis, and is much easier from a logistical point of view if I am not at the game.

Equipment purchased includes balls, new flags and wicketkeeping gloves/pads etc.

We contributed £25 contribution to square preparation cost in one tour match (Ferndown Strollers)

We had 23 fully paid up memberships for the 2022 season.

Expenditure was slightly up however this was balanced out by an unexpected contra item which saved the Club £325.

We made nearly £750 more than we spent in 2022 (large portion of that is the contra item mentioned above, otherwise we would be slightly down on what we made the previous year).

I believe we will likely need to replace some bats in the near future so the club accounts should provide the finances to purchase these, plus any other equipment we may need during the season along with possible future increases in pitch hire either at FRC or elsewhere that the increased annual membership fee will not cover.

In summary the accounts are looking healthy at just over £4,000, however nearly half of this is in the dormant Santander account which myself and Mr Wouldham are addressing.

Lastly I intend to have the accounts independently audited before the next AGM in 2024.

Peter Swain reported on the ongoing situation with our Home Ground, Footscray.

Pitch availability for 2023 has been a problem over the winter.  Despite a few chases, we were unable to get confirmation for our desired home match dates until just prior to the AGM, which is a couple of months later than usual.  This means we were not in a position to confirm dates with oppositions, and in a few cases this means that those opponents were forced to look elsewhere for a confirmed fixture.

We had received an email from Footscray over the winter which raised the possibility that we would have to use the artificial pitch for the entire season due to the cost to Footscray of preparing the cut square for matches.  The committee did not feel that this was acceptable and requested a meeting with Footscray, which was attended by Peter Swain, Andy Redman and Ricky Webber on our behalf.  Footscray were receptive to our challenge regarding the pitch and agreed that we would be able to use the grass pitch as normal.

It was suggested at this meeting that Eltham should look to become more actively involved with the management of Footscray.  In practical terms, this means attendance at the monthly Footscray management meeting.  At the present time, we are trying to ascertain the dates for this meeting, and once we have this the Committee will decide on who will attend each meeting.

We have agreed to pay 19 annual subscriptions to Footscray for membership of the club (up from our previous agreement of 15).

We have also agreed to provide as much support as we can for any social activities at the club, whether that is in terms of attendance by our own members, advertising on our website, etc. There is an obligation on the part of Footscray to give us as much notice of any upcoming events as possible. As in recent years, we will look to use the club for our annual dinner also.

There is also the possibility that we have our own sign at the club to show that this is our home ground. This would be at our own expense, but it was felt that this could be a good investment given the high visibility of the football teams who use the ground.

Mark Horak offered to look into the possibility of JDM Estate Agents providing a framed Eltham Shirt (with JDM logo) to display in the Clubhouse to enhance our visibility there.

The cost of a home game would rise to £120 per game for 2023.

Committee - advertise upcoming Footscray social events by whatever means possible as and when they arise

Members  - provide as much support as possible during the year for Footscray social events

Committee - attend Footscray management meetings on behalf of Eltham and make sure that cricket is considered alongside other sports at those meetings

Mark Horak - make enquiries at JDM during the year regarding the possibility of purchasing a JDM-sponsored shirt via Serious Sports, getting it framed and displayed in the Footscray Clubhouse

Peter Swain reported that whilst the 2022 tour had been a successful one, in the light of relatively low numbers of players available players for each game in the tour, the committee had felt obliged to try to get an indication from members as to availability for a 2023 tour.

In order to make a four-match tour viable, the committee felt that we need a playing squad of around 15 players.

Having now collated the responses, we could not get close enough to that number, and so unfortunately it had been decided not to proceed with a 2023 tour.

There was a general feeling that we should repeat this exercise early next year, and see if we can arrange a tour in 2024, since the 2022 tour had been so enjoyable.

Committee - to continue to guage interest in future tours

The meeting agreed that the Club would now formally adopt the ECB's Safeguarding Policy.

Andrew Young, our new Safeguarding Officer, agreed to reivew the ECB guidance and prepare a statement on our adoption of it, to be published as part of the Club's adoption of the policy.  This would be published on the Club's website in an accessible and highly visible way once ready.

Andrew Young - to review the ECB Safe Hands guidance and prepare the Club's Safeguarding Statement

Colin Wouldham - to include this statement on the Safeguarding page of the club website.

The meeting had already discussed the increase in costs of hiring our home pitch at Footcray, to £120 a match.  In order to help cover this, it was agreed that annual subscriptions for club membership would increase from £35 to £50. Those present felt that this still represented good value for money, especially if compared to many other clubs.

It was confirmed that match fees would remain at £10 per match for salaried members.  Non-salaried members would continue to pay £5 per match.

Andy Redman had agreed prior to the meeting to update the Club Handbook to reflect the agreed subscription levels.

It ws further agreed that the Committee would be open to possible rebates for any "fringe" players who played less than a handful of games during the season. It was agreed that this would be an agenda item for a late-season or end-of-season Committee meeting to review.

Andy Redman - to update the Club Handbook to reflect the agreed subscription levels (£50 annual subscription, £10 match subscription)

Committee - to review number of games played for each member at the end of the season, with a view to potentially giving a refund or discount for the following season's subscription for any player not felt to be getting full value-for-money.

Colin Wouldham reported it had been necessary to fully rewrite the entire Eltham club website due to an upgrade of the underlying software used (our website had been written originally in 2008). Colin notified the meeting that the rewrite of the new website was now progressing well, and he expected the site to be fully operational prior to the start of the 2023 season.

Colin Wouldham - to continue working on the website so that it is ready for the start of the 2023 season

Colin Wouldham agreed to purchase a new scorebook prior to the start of the season.

It was unclear if the medical kit was still fit for purpose.  Matthew Bulpitt agreed to check if he had it, and if not, purchase a new one for the new season.

It was further agreed that we need to purchase a new set of balls for the season.  Richard Webber confirmed that he had just purchased 30 new balls for the season, so we would divide them up amongst regular players early on in the season so that we always have a selection at away games when they are needed.

The kit bag was locked up securely at Footscray so nobody had been able to check the contents.  Although there was a feeling that a couple of new bats may be needed, it was agreed that we would check at the first game of the season and discuss potential purchases at that point.

Bernie Boylan offered to pick the bag up from Footscray in time for the first match.

Colin Wouldham - purchase scorebook before first game

Matthew Bulpitt - check on medical kit and purchase new one if necessary

The meeting felt that the 2022 dinner had once again been a great success. The food had been good, but those present felt it was time for a different caterer for the next annual Dinner.  Peter Swain agreed to investigate possibilities. On that note, Conor Mitchell offered to put Pete Swain in touch with some good caterers from his Rugby experience.

It was agreed that we would once again look to use the Footscray hall for our annual dinner, as part of showing our support for the club wherever we can.

Conor Mitchell - pass caterer details on to Peter Swain

Peter Swain - review possible new catering options

The winter nets had been booked by Richard Webber for four weeks, and had started on the previous evening, with good attendance.  Richard was thanked for this booking.

Assuming all goes well with the remaining bookings, we would look to repeat this for 2024.

The meeting heard that the 2022 Legends golf day had been enjoyed by all, and we would look to hold this again at Cray Valley on Saturday 14th October 2023.  Peter Swain agreed to once again carry out the booking. He agreed to try to book a slightly earlier set of tee times if at all possible.

Pete Swain - to book Cray Valley for Saturday, 14th October, 2023.

Clinton Van Rooyen raised the matter of any potential barbecue at this year's Club Day.  He felt that, if we go ahead with a barbecue, we would have to increase the food budget as it was not really enough last year (though the meeting felt he'd done a fantastic job in catering.)

The meeting agreed to provide the necessary funds for Clinton to proceed.  However, before we do that, it would be necessary for us to talk to Footscray, since they do now place restrictions on catering at the club, and we may need to provide evidence of insurance etc.

With no other business arising, the meeting concluded.

Committee - talk to Footscray regarding any potential barbecue to find out what standards we have to meet.