OXFORDSHIRE CRICKET ASSOCIATION
Treasurers Report to the AGM November 2015
I am sure it has already been mentioned but I would like to welcome you all this evening and once again I offer
my apologies for not being present.
I want to start off this report with a comment about generosity. In this day and age this is a commodity that appears
in short supply. It is always sad when we lose clubs from the Association and even sadder when we lose valued
colleagues. In 2014 we lost two, good friends, Frank Eley and Tony Pullinger. Over many years they freely gave
of their time to further the development of cricket within the county. At the 2014 presentation dinner a raffle was
held with the proceeds going to the prostate cancer charity. Through member generosity, £500 was given in their
memory.
Clubs come, clubs go. It is just the nature of cricket. Some move on to ‘better’ things such as the Cherwell League
and we wish Westbury every success. Some, unfortunately, disappear as is what happened to Cassington/Oxford
Rescue. Both clubs have struggled over the years and it seemed a merger would allow them to continue playing
cricket. Sadly, it was not to be. To their credit, the club have donated their remaining funds to the Association
with the express instruction that the money should be used for the benefit of member clubs through equipment
grants and, not as some may think, the holiday fund of our Chairman. Although the club may not exist, their
generosity will benefit others for years to come.
I talk about them every year and I will do so again. Gordon Clack has once again not only contributed to handbook
advertising but has again provided cricket balls for all cup finals played during the season and provided two
trophies for presentation at the annual dinner. He is well supported by others such as Lords International,
Trysports and Affinity cricket to name just a few. My thanks go to all those who have supported the Association
this year allowing for £850 of the £1276 cost of the handbook to be recovered through advertising.
I would also like to thank my fellow members on the committee. Once again, due to work commitments, I have
not been able to devote the time I would like to the Association. During the year, they have again made my job
that little bit easier. I would personally like to thank Colin for again making the presentation dinner a resounding
success and to Nick with his help in preparing these accounts
At this time last year I was bemoaning the fact that the trophies presented by the Association were late in being
returned to me even though the dates are in the handbook and reminders are sent to those clubs concerned and
posted on the website. This year, for whatever reason, has been even worse. Trophies were still being returned
in the week before the dinner and one was not returned until the evening of the dinner and so remains un-engraved.
This is totally unacceptable. Next year I will again make every effort to remind clubs of their obligations and that
their trophies need to be returned by the 1st July for cup competitions and 1st October for ALL trophies. On those
dates, if I have not heard from recipient clubs, they will be fined. Please, please, please make sure that if your
club is in possession of ANY trophy that you are aware of when it needs to be returned. Additionally, clubs with
trophies are obligated to sign an acceptance form which covers them for insurance purposes in the event of loss
or damage. Please return this to me. If this does not happen, any subsequent damage will be repaired at the
clubs expense.
Hopefully by now you will have all seen a copy of the accounts for the 2014-2015 season.
At first glance, very little seems to have changed. I talk about fines every year and will do so again here. Although
there was a slight reduction in the amount of fines collected, it is still too high and results from clubs not following
the rules. A lot of money came from clubs playing players they were not entitled to play. Hopefully there will not
be a recurrence of this in the 2016 season. But with a small amount of effort this total could be reduced
significantly; enter your results on the website, name your umpires, advise your ground availability, fill in ground
assessments. These are simple things that can save you a lot of money.
As in 2013-2014, give or take a little, the Association made a loss this year of £1921. Unfortunately, this is a
continuing trend with the Association now having just under £12000 of available funds. If this continues, within a
couple of years we will be forced to increase subscriptions or find new revenue streams. The Association
continued to give grants of £1460 to those clubs wishing to improve their facilities and this will continue in 2016.
A payment of £670 was again made to allow the Association to operate their very successful website facility.
Although another great success, the Annual presentation dinner again recorded a loss of £598. Although well
attended, the revenue from the dinner is not sufficient to cover all costs, with the speaker alone costing between
£1000-2000. To attend the dinner costs just £27.50 which, I think, is good value for a 3 course meal and excellent
guest speakers. Even though you may not be receiving a trophy, I ask all of you to make every effort to attend not
only to applaud those winners but to renew sporting friendships which may lay dormant for 7 months of the year.
And, as they say, that is that. There is very little else to talk about. Thank you once again for your patience.
As last year, I have no plans to raise subscription costs for the 2017 season but this will now be reconsidered for
future meetings in light of the losses the Association is experiencing. The fining system will again be monitored
and tailored to target persistent offenders.
If there any issues relating to any aspect of these accounts, please let me know and I will try and answer them.
Lastly, I would just like to wish you all the very best Christmas and New Year you can have and that 2016 brings
with it the success you deserve on the cricket field. It just remains for me to formerly propose that the accounts
for 2014-2015 season be accepted.
Steve Oliver
(Honorary Treasurer)