Dodgers AGM and Awards 2019

Dodgers returned to the upstairs room of the Royal Oak in Tabard Street on 21 November for the 2019 AGM and Awards ceremony. Full minutes are included below, including grateful thanks to all those who made it such an enjoyable season. The awards can be announced as follows:

Bowler of the Year: Jack Pethick
Batsman of the Year: Mehboob Umarji
Fielder of the Year: Milind Adbol
Newcomer of the Year: Tom Blanchard
Most Improved Player: Tom Wragg
Kim & Jude Award: Tawhid Qureshi
Player of the Season: Tom Blanchard
Ken Block Trophy: Dodgers, for the fourth successive year

The bowling and batting awards are calculated according to averages, with a minimum qualifying threshold of 20 overs and 5 innings, respectively. The player of the season is an aggregate of all Man of the Match votes amassed during the season, while the best fielder is the result of a players' vote. The other three awards are at the discretion of the committee, and the Ken Block Trophy is of course our reward for beating Superstars in two out of three encounters over the season.

With apologies to those who had already left, here is the group photo from the end of the evening:





Minutes as follows (with thanks to Tim for taking them so assiduously)


DODGERS CRICKET CLUB
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
6.30pm, 21 November 2019
Upstairs Room, The Royal Oak, 44 Tabard Street, London SE1 4JU



Attendees
John Hilary
Phil McBarron
David Lowe
Mike Dollin
Charlie Smulian
Guy Westhead
Tim Laken
Jatinder Mohan
Jim Manning
John Carr (until 1900)
John Cooper (until 1900)

Apologies
Ralph Palmer
Tawhid Qureshi
Komal Korotana


1. Welcomes and apologies

John welcomed all to the meeting and noted the impressive moustache worn by Mike in aid of Men’s Health. Attendees were invited to contribute to his Just Giving page.
Apology from Ralph who is ill and Tawhid who is in Bangladesh to watch cricket.
John Cooper and John Carr who have to leave at 7pm.


2. Minutes of 2018 AGM, plus any matters arising

Minutes agreed and secretary congratulated as a good set, albeit late.


3. Chairman’s review of the 2019 season

John looked back on a great year of cricket, with the World Cup and Ashes to go alongside our own season. It was another successful year for Dodgers, in which we won 10, lost 7 and tied 1. Highlights included winning the Ken Block Trophy for the fourth year in a row; our first game in the wonderful surroundings of Windsor Great Park; and the Roehampton cliffhanger, won on the last ball by the Chairman after Komal’s brilliant maiden century for Dodgers. 

John thanked all who had played during the year, noting that we had enjoyed a core squad who turned out for the great majority of games, including a couple of excellent newcomers in Tom B and Jack. As a result, we had enormous strength in both the batting and bowling departments, and we fielded pretty well too. We also benefited from several occasional players, and from the summer return of Damian from the USA. John offered a particular vote of thanks to Ralph and to Mike for their tireless efforts, without whom we would have had no season at all.

Discussion
Guy stated that he saw that Dodgers were in safe hands with a new generation of players. He said that Ralph should bat more as he is a strong player. Previous captains did play themselves higher up the order and Ralph needs to decide what his role in the team is. Guy also noted the victory against Superstars with 8 players and was grateful for opposition to supply players. 


4. Captain’s review of the 2019 season

Ralph’s statement

Really enjoyed the season and is grateful to all who played for Dodgers during the year.
It was relatively easy to get players in conjunction with Mike, Charlie and others who brought friends along and attendance was generally strong including afternoon games which was a pleasant surprise.
Great to win to the Ken Block again!
Grateful to the committee who I feel are a great support.
T20’s – good fun with a slightly losing ration of 6 wins 7 losses. Many close games all of which were enjoyable.
Dodgers were undefeated in afternoon games which may be a first for us. Enjoyed all of the games we played, the highlight probably being the game against Milind’s crew at Windsor Great Park both for the setting and the hospitality shown to us on the day.


5. Fixtures 2020

Mike Dollin

Tried to have one evening game a week, and one a month at the weekend with no additional midweek afternoon. 
Looking to book 25 fixtures a season year. We do lose some games most of which are to the weather and we struggle to rearrange. We could try to go back to twice a week but that this required a robust squad to play Tuesday and Thursday in a week. 

Discussion
John Hilary said he feels it was exactly the right amount of games with a good balance between evening and day.
Charlie Smulian asked how many games were we turning people away, and said he suspected we would struggle to get enough players for a second game in a week.
Phil McBarron agreed it would be a struggle but might be possible in June and maybe we should trial it. Superstars play twice but have a squad of 40-50. We have 20 paid up members. If June is the peak season do people want to play 2 games a week
Mike Dollin couldn’t remember a time we’d have to turn people away.

[Interlude for drinks order from James the barman]

Guy Westhead asked whether core players feel we are playing enough and said we should go to the membership to ask whether we are playing enough. We have had periods when we have played 2 games per week 
Mike Dollin said he aims to book a game a week until the end of august from late May
John Hilary suggested we test two games per week May/June


6. Finance

Statement from Ralph

Cash at bank as of today is £1,048.91. At present we have a slight profit on the year of £73.66 though that doesn’t take into account bar bill for this eve so likely to be a slight loss in the end which is similar to previous years.
Recommend match fees £6/£10 and annual subs £25 stay the same.
No call for annual subs now but will do so in the New Year.
We had 20 fully paid up members this year which boosted our coffers nicely.
Appreciate the increase in folks paying online during the season which has made my life a lot easier.
In terms of kit, we’re still fine and only likely to need a few new balls which I’ll also sort in the new year. 
Really sorry to miss tonight as I was very much looking forward to catching up with everyone, but I feel like absolute death and also don’t want to pass on whatever I have.
Discussion
John Hilary noted his thanks to Treasurer.
Mike Dollin said he had £65 in match fees to add to the balance.
Tim Laken asked if we knew how much pitches will cost next season. Mike Dollin said now but we plan to block book with LT Dinos at around last season’s price of £130 per match.
Phil asked if all fees were weather dependent apart from Greenwich is the only one.
Tim Laken asked if £1000 was the right float? Mike said that it was the amount required to avoid cashflow reliance on treasurer.


7. Membership and how to increase it

We have a solid core of 20, how can we continue with excellent player recruitment?
Posters used in past years have been discontinued – should we do this? Try to design simple poster (action John Hilary).
It was agreed that having some old members back this season has been wonderful.
Jatinder Mohan said that Superstars advertise through weekend teams and we should do the same.


8. Websites and communications

The experiment using Doodle was successful. The two websites both maintained by John Cooper work well. The template statistics site is ugly but works. The Twitter feed continues to add value and we should aim to use this more. And the WhatsApp group is very useful.

9. Dodgers caps

Guy Westhead admitted he failed miserably as his heart just wasn’t in it. 
Mike Dollin said he would send link on co that provides this service on kit (Action Mike).
Jim Manning noted that team caps serve as a common identity.


10. Committee 2020

The current committee was confirmed for 2020 (unopposed):

John Hilary – Chair
Ralph Palmer (Treasurer and Captain)
Tim Laken (Secretary)
Mike Dollin (Fixtures)
NJ Shimoga (Players Secretary)
Tawid Qureshi (without portfolio)

The following were added to the committee to join in leadership role as members without portfolio:

Charlie Smulian
Jatinder Mohan
Jim Manning


11. Chairmanship 2020

John Hilary was unanimously re-elected as chairman

12. Nets for 2020

We should aim for nets March from late March 2020.
Mike Dollin offered nets with Southbank CC at Dulwich College and also noted the free net at BEIS.
It might not be necessary this year to net at the Oval.


13. Socials 

Dates for 2020 were prearranged as 6th February, 23rd April and 24th September with the first at the Lahore Kebab House.
There was only one social in 2019 though that was an excellent Lebanese meal on the Edgeware Road


14. AOB 

There is good news that NJ is planning to play in 2020 


15. Awards for 2019 season

Action to get awards back from NJ.
We have won the Ken Block Trophy for the 4th year.
Bowling – special commendation to Tom Wragg with 12 wickets and commendation to Charlie Smulian, Ralph Palmer and Bilal with 9 wickets. The award goes to best average with min 20 overs. NJ averaged 11 off 14 overs, Jim 12 off 10 overs but with an average of 13.14 off 20 overs with 7 wickets Jack Pethick wins. Other averages were Charlie 13.5, Tom Wragg 23, Ralph Palmer 30, Bilal 23, Jatinder 24.5.
Batting was exceptionally strong this year. Komal 329 runs in 10 innings (including 114) at an average of 82.25; Tom Blanchard 248 from 9 innings at an average of 82.67; NJ 164 runs at an average of 164 from 4 innings; Mehboob scored 162 off 6 innings at an average of 162 and wins batsman of the year.
Fielder of the year done by peoples vote. Commendations for excellent fielding by Tom Blanchard, Jim Manning and Ralph Palmer but the clear winner was Milind.
Newcomer of the year. There were two choices – Jack Pethick but Tom Blanchard was outstanding with so many runs scored so is the worthy winner.
Most improved player. Tom Wragg with 12 wickets.
Memory of Kim and Jude award for contribution to the club. Tawid Qureshi has served club well over the year (and not run anyone out).
Player of the season based on MOTM votes Milind 16, Adam 15, Komal 22, but the winner with 23 votes was Tom Blanchard.

Meeting Closed


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