FINAL LEAGUE TABLES 2007

UNDER 17 DIVISION

	Played	Won	Lost	Tied	Aban	Pts
Midsomer Norton	10	5	0	1	4	15
Claverham	10	5	2	0	3	13
Weston-super-Mare	10	4	1	0	5	13
Winscombe	10	4	3	0	3	11
Wrington	10	3	3	1	3	10
Uphill Castle	10	2	2	1	5	10
Brislington	10	2	3	1	4	9
Clevedon	10	3	4	0	3	9
Bristol (Optimists)	10	2	5	1	2	7
Nailsea	10	3	6	0	1	7
Backwell/F.Bourton	10	2	6	1	1	6

UNDER 15 (TRESCOTHICK NORTH) DIVISION UNDER 15 (BLACKWELL SOUTH) DIVISION

	Played	Won	Lost	Tied	Aban	Pts			Played	Won	Lost	Aban	Pts
Failand & Portbury	8	5	2	0	1	10		Claverham	7	6	1	0	12
Nailsea	8	5	1	0	2	10		Uphill Castle	7	4	1	2	10
Chew Magna	8	4	4	0	0	8		Cheddar Cavs	7	4	2	1	8
Bristol (Optimists)	8	4	1	0	3	8		WSM Wizards	7	3	1	3	7
Clevedon	8	3	1	2	2	8		Congresbury	7	2	3	2	5
Backwell/F.Bourton	8	2	3	1	2	6		Blagdon	7	2	4	1	5
Cheddar Cheetahs	8	2	3	1	2	5		Cleeve Comets	7	0	4	3	3
WSM Wonders	8	0	6	0	2	1		Winscombe	7	0	5	2	2
Barrow Gurney	8	0	4	0	4	0

Failand & Portbury beat Nailsea in the North Division play off

Failand & Portbury beat Claverham in the North v South Division play off to become U15 champions

UNDER 13 CADDICK (NORTH) DIVISION UNDER 13 PARSONS (SOUTH) DIVISION

	Played	Won	Lost	Aban	Pts			Played	Won	Lost	Tied	Aban	Pts
Blagdon	8	4	1	3	11		WSM Wizards	9	7	0	0	2	16
Nailsea	8	4	1	3	11		Wrington	9	4	1	0	4	12
F. & Portbury	8	2	1	5	9		Cheddar Cavs	9	4	1	0	4	12
Cleeve Comets	8	3	2	3	9		Cleeve Crus.	9	4	3	0	2	10
Clav. Cougars	8	3	2	3	8		Claverham Pu	9	2	1	0	6	10
Bristol (Opt)	8	2	0	6	7		Clevedon	9	2	2	1	4	9
Ched. Cheetahs	8	1	4	3	4		Winscombe	9	2	4	0	3	7
WSM Wonders	8	0	4	4	3		Congresbury	9	2	4	1	2	7
Barrow Gurney	8	0	4	4	2		Uphill	9	0	5	0	4	3
							Winford	9	0	6	0	3	2

Blagdon beat Nailsea in the North Division play off

WSM Wizards beat Blagdon in the North v South Division play off to become U13 champions

UNDER 11 DIVISION

	Played	Won	Lost	Aban	Tied	Pts
Weston Wizards	19	14	1	4	0	32
Nailsea	19	14	2	3	0	31
Claverham Pumas	19	15	3	1	0	31
Winscombe	19	12	2	5	0	29
Cheddar Cavaliers	18	12	3	2	1	27
Uphill Castle	19	8	4	7	0	23
Congresbury	19	10	7	2	0	22
Cleeve Comets	19	7	6	5	1	20
Failand & Portbury	18	6	4	8	0	19
Blagdon	19	6	9	4	0	16
Winford	19	5	8	6	0	16
Clevedon	17	5	7	5	0	15
Cheddar Cheetahs	18	5	8	5	0	15
Claverham Cougars	19	4	9	6	0	14
Long Ashton	19	4	10	5	0	12
Wrington	18	3	10	5	0	11
WSM Wonders	19	3	11	5	0	11
Barrow Gurney	18	2	9	7	0	10
Winscombe	19	2	12	5	0	8
Backwell FB	18	1	13	4	0	6

LEAGUE SECRETARY'S REPORT 2007

NORTH SOMERSET YOUTH CRICKET LEAGUE
The aim of the League shall be to promote, encourage and develop youth cricket.

In 2007, its 43rd consecutive year of offering school-age youngsters a competitive club junior cricket structure, the NSYCL divisions bulged with teams keen to participate. New member Long Ashton was welcomed to the League.

In total 67 separate teams entered the 4 League competitions, with separate Cup and Plate tournaments at each level except U11s. They had their ups and downs, fighting the weather, cancellations, hockey tours, scout camps and the twin-pronged attacks of football and school exams, but hard-pressed volunteer managers harnessed the enthusiasm of their youngsters and parents to get through a bumper season of matches.

At U17 level Winscombe and Backwell Flax Bourton were welcomed into an 11 strong League. These are good numbers at this age and the NSYCL is one of the few structures through which junior club cricket is available to youngsters after they have passed U15 age. Midsomer Norton ended as champions, going one better than last year, and remained unbeaten to win the title ahead of Claverham and last year’s winners Weston-super-Mare.

The winners of the U17 Cup were Nailsea who defeated Uphill Castle at Nailsea following rain postponements. The home side’s Matt Cornish scored 109*. Claverham beat Backwell Flax Bourton in the final of the Plate competition and it was good to see that long-standing League member amongst the winners this year.

The U15 league was once again split into 2 sections of 9 clubs each. In the Trescothick (North) Section, Failand & Portbury came out top after winning their play-off match against Nailsea. In the Blackwell (South) Section, the outright winners were Claverham with Uphill Castle being the runners up. Failand & Portbury went on the win the North v South play-off match to become 2007 U15 champions, repeating their last U15 League success of 1999.

Bristol (or Optimists as some still remember them) took the U15 Cup defeating Clevedon in the final played at Claverham on run rate, earning the right to go through to the county stages of the national competition. Uphill Castle beat Blagdon in the final of the Plate competition.

Because of the increased numbers of teams entering at U13 level, the division this year joined the U15s in having 2 sections of 9 teams each, resulting in fewer games for each team (for better or worse). In the Parsons (South) Section, Blagdon overcame Nailsea in their play-off match. In the Caddick (North) Section, the outright winners were Weston Wizards, with Wrington and Cheddar close behind. Weston Wizards went on to win the North v South play-off match to become U13 League champions and thereby remained undefeated for the entire season.

Bristol (Optimists) took the double in the area competition of the national tournaments by overwhelming Cheddar in the U13 Cup final played at Congresbury. They progressed to the national county stages but, as they had at U15 level, were immediately knocked out by Bath. Wrington beat Clevedon in the final of the U13 Plate.

The U11 league (they have no Cup competition) was a monster. Clubs went into it with their eyes open, as at the AGM they had chosen a single all-play-all league rather than splitting into 2 sections with resultant fewer matches. The leading contenders for honours were Claverham Pumas, Nailsea, Weston Wizards and Winscombe Wolves, with Cheddar Pumas in close pursuit, but they swapped around positions as the weeks went by. The picture kept changing as matches postponed by rain got replayed and in some cases defaults for various reasons occurred. Nailsea led into the final straight but were finally pipped at the post by 2007 champions Weston-super-Mare. Respect!

At representative level the NSYCL fielded a League team against the Bristol & District League at Portishead but on this occasion came second. Additional material from Representative Team Manager Peter Holdaway (Barrow Gurney) is not available at time of going to press.

The administration of the League changed somewhat this year as I moved more into the backseats. Fortunately Mark Walker (Failand & Portbury) enthusiastically and very efficiently took on the job of creating and administering the League’s results website at http://nsycl.play-cricket.com/ which was no easy task. We will have to wait for the AGM to hear users’ feedback on the change from a paper-based results system to an entirely electronic system but (from my perspective) it is a change that had to happen. Meanwhile, the League’s general website at http://nsycl.blogspot.com/ contained a complete copy of the 2007 Handbook, including League Rules and electronic links to other websites and email addresses.

The paper-based Handbook, that invaluable on-the-ground tool, continued as usual and once again the League’s sponsors Westcountry Ground Care of Axbridge kindly met the costs of its printing.

Junior Secretary John Waters (Nailsea) served another year looking after the U13s and U11s administratively. His responsibilities for results-processing this year were eased but he took on the organisation of the multiple finals (and their rain postponements) of all NSYCL Cup and Plate competitions. Chairman Stuart Dewer (Congresbury) once again supplied guidance and sanity when called upon.

We very much appreciate the contribution of all those clubs who made their grounds available, without charge, for the Cup finals and play-offs that were required. We also owe a great deal to volunteer umpires, scorers, parents, groundsmen and others for keeping the League’s engine running once again.

It was good to see our President Brian Rose having such success with the Somerset county side this year – success gives everyone a lift.

Onward and upward for 2008.

Robert Humphreys
Secretary
North Somerset Youth Cricket League

23rd November 2007

Minutes of 2006 Annual General Meeting
held at Nailsea C.C.
on Tuesday 27th February 2007

In attendance
S Dewer (Chairman)
R Humphreys (League Secretary)
J Waters (U11/13 Secretary)
Long Ashton
Barrow Gurney
Brislington
Backwell/Flax Bourton
Cheddar
Blagdon
Claverham
Bristol
Clevedon
Chew Magna
Failand & Portbury
Cleeve
Nailsea
Congresbury
Uphill Castle
Midsomer Norton
Winford
Weston-super-Mare
Wrington
Winscombe

Apologies
Temple Cloud

1. The meeting opened at 7.45pm. Attendances and apologies were taken.

2. The holding of the AGM outside the period permitted under the Rules was approved.

3. The minutes of the previous meeting held 28th February 2006 were read and approved.

4. The Secretary/Treasurer delivered a report (attached).

5. The U13/U11 Secretary delivered a report (attached).

6. The 2006 accounts presented by the Treasurer (amended by hand to incorporate an arithmetical update) were approved and the levels of subscriptions/fines for the 2006 season were held as existing (subject though as below – para 19(4)).

7. Peter Holdaway delivered the report in relation to representative games played. The U15s and U13s had both won against the Bristol & District League. A U11 game against Somerset CB had been rained off. A U13 evening game against Nailsea had been lost. John Waters reported that no U17 game had been able to be arranged and that a U14 game against Bedfordshire had been lost. Payment of £50 match expenses to Peter Holdaway in relation to teas and ancillary expenses (though there was no element of ground hire charge) was approved.

8. There was a discussion of certain matters arising from the League Secretary’s and the Junior Secretary’s reports:

9. There was extensive discussion of a proposal by Failand & Portbury to change the rules to try to prevent the destination of leagues being affected by the failure of oppositions to play early-cancelled games. It was noted that on certain occasions clubs were said to have played later-cancelled games but were said to have declined or failed to play earlier-cancelled games. Rule 10 was explained and discussed. Its purpose is to balance the competing interests of (1) certainty and (2) getting games in, thereby playing more cricket.

10. Three schools of thought emerged from the discussions being those who favoured:

(1) the abolition of playing postponed games, with the result as per the fixture list on the day (win, lose or rain) standing;

(2) continuing with existing Rule 10 providing for defaulted or postponed games to be replayed; and

(3) to introduce additional rules to seek to oblige clubs to replay defaulted or postponed games.

11. It was appreciated that there will always be some perceived “unfairness” in whichever approach is taken. A vote was taken with 10 clubs being in favour of keeping Rule 10 as is, with 8 clubs voting against. Outcome: no change.

12. There was discussion of whether or not to award the League trophy in the U15 division given that the play-off between sections had not taken place. There was extensive debate following which it was determined to award the trophy on a shared basis to Chew Magna and Weston-super-Mare, but such being specifically not a precedent for an approach in future years. Clubs were reminded of the requirement to get finals and play-offs played.

13. There were no proposals for Rule changes other than as above. No proposal was made from those present to discuss the approach to the playing of over-age girls, which therefore remains as is viz the Rules apply save as varied by agreement between managers for specific games.

14. There was discussion as to the splitting of League divisions. The downside of splits is that a lower number of games is played. However, with too many participants in the League, scheduling fixtures becomes arithmetically impossible. A proposal was made and it was resolved that no splits would occur unless the entries in a division were more than 16, in which case 2 sections would be formed, such to be arranged geographically (save in the case of U11s for whom there is no cup competition).

15. The President Brian Rose, Chairman Stewart Dewer, League Secretary Robert Humphreys and U13/U11 Secretary John Waters were re-elected.

16. However, in the case of the League Secretary, the ambit of his role was reduced to exclude (1) dealing with results, (2) dealing with arrangements of cup finals and play-offs, (3) dealing with arrangements for trophies and (4) dealing with representative fixtures.

17. Peter Holdaway was appointed to the office of Representative Teams Organiser.

18. Mark Walker was appointed to the office of Results Officer.

19. Discussion of the approach to results reporting and fines in relation to reporting of results then took place. The requirement for the reporting of results by result cards (whether electronically or in hard copy) was discontinued. Instead, clubs are required, with effect from the commencement of the 2007 season, to report results exclusively via the League’s “Play-Cricket” website (“the Results Website”), such having been set up by the new Results Officer. After considerable discussion and voting, the new requirements are:

(1) each result to be caused to be entered into the Results Website;

(2) such to be in full scorecard form;

(3) the obligation for (1) and (2) above to be that of the winning club or in the case of weather-cancellation or other postponement the home club;

(4) the fine payable for default in each case in relation to any of (1), (2) and (3) above to be £5.00 on each occasion.

20. It was explained that not to enter details in complete form and in relation to all matches would render the statistics automatically generated by the Results Website incomplete and misleading.

21. An application to join the League by Long Ashton was considered and approved. Long Ashton were welcomed to the League.

22. All cups and trophies were brought to the meeting and redistributed.

23. Prior to the meeting all entries and cheques for subscriptions and unpaid fines in relation to the 2006 season were lodged.

24. Appreciation for the continued support of West Country Ground Care in relation to the Handbook was expressed.

25. There being no further business the meeting closed at 10.30pm.

…………… ........
Chairman Date

Minutes of 2005 Annual General Meeting
held at Nailsea C.C.
on Tuesday 28th February 2006

In attendance
S Dewer (Chairman)
R Humphreys (League Secretary)
J Waters (U11/13 Secretary)
Optimists & Clifton
Uphill Castle
Weston-super-Mare
Backwell/Flax Bourton
Winford
Barrow Gurney
Wrington
Blagdon
Chew Magna
Cheddar
Midsomer Norton
Claverham
Winscombe
Cleeve
Brislington
Clevedon
Temple Cloud
Congresbury
Failand & Portbury
Nailsea
Andrew Moulding (Somerset CB)

1. The meeting opened at 7.40pm. Attendances and apologies were taken.

2. The holding of the AGM outside the period permitted under the Rules was approved.

3. The minutes of the previous meeting held 10th February 2005 were read and approved.

4. The Secretary/Treasurer delivered a report (attached).

5. The U13/U11 Secretary delivered a report (attached).

6. The 2005 accounts presented by the Treasurer were approved and the levels of subscriptions/fines for the 2006 season were held as existing.

7. Certain of the representative team managers delivered short reports.

8. Matters arising from the reports above were discussed including:

9. There was discussion of practice in cases of cancellation of fixtures by teams and perceived refusal to replay. Discussion of a particular instance in which Cleeve had cancelled early season at U11 level against Failand & Portbury ensued. The meeting called upon managers in the spirit of cricket to provide as many opportunities to their players to play cricket as possible.

10. There was discussion of possible rule changes at U13 level. The following was determined:

- in U13s cup games there was to be no retirement of batsmen reaching any particular runs scored figure;

- in U13s cup games there was to be no change to the rules specifying maximum number of overs to be bowled by bowlers.

11. It was noted that in the accounts the League holds a substantial lump sum. There was discussion as to whether it should be spent but the Secretary pointed out that its investment generates income for the League which is valuable. It was determined that the matter would be looked at again next year.

12. The question of the League’s paying for the purchase of medals was discussed but was reserved to be looked at further next year. The current approach is that no medals are paid for by the League at senior levels but at junior levels in the League and in the cup 12 medals are paid for by the League for the winning side.

13. John Waters and Mike Fletcher reported that no representative games had been played during the year. A U17 and U13 levels, no oppositions had been willing to make themselves available.

14. There was a discussion of a possible change of the format at U17 level to 8 aside but not much support for it.

15. A proposal was put to split the League at U13 level into 2 divisions (north and south). After very considered and prolonged discussion, it was determined that the format should remain as it is in a single division, this being in the expectation that there would be 14 teams participating.

16. A similar discussion as regards a possible change of the format at U15 level took place, although with a number of different participants in the discussion. After careful and lengthy consideration it was determined that the League be split into 2 sections (north and south) with a play off between the 2 section winners to produce the League champion.

17. As part of the above discussion, the approach to eligibility of players from the same club playing for both the A team and the B team of that club was discussed. It was concluded that the integrity of managers should be relied upon in this regard.

18. The current officers were re-elected with thanks to Brian Rose for continuing as President.

19. Peter Holdaway agreed to take on the position of League Representative Co-ordinator, organising himself representative fixtures at U15, U13 and U11 level, assisted by John Waters organising at U17 level.

20. Applications to join the League were considered from and approved in respect of the following clubs: Temple Cloud, Midsomer Norton, Winscombe, Brislington and Chew Magna.

21. A proposal was put from the floor that the League should seek to make more of the winners of its various competitions, possibly through press coverage. The time-resources implications of this were discussed but the Chairman agreed to look into it.

22. Cups and trophies were brought to the meeting and redistributed, the League paying the costs of engraving the trophy in each case.

23. Andrew Moulding from the SCB delivered a short briefing.

24. There being no further business, the meeting concluded at 9.45pm.

…………………….. ……………..
Chairman Date

Minutes of 2004 Annual General Meeting
held at Weston Super Mare C.C
on 10th February 2005

Attendance
Nigel Cook (Acting Chairman for initial part of meeting)
Stewart Dewer (Chairman for second part of meeting)
Robert Humphreys (League Secretary)
John Waters (U11 and U13 Secretary)
Andrew Moulding (for second part of meeting) (Somerset Cricket Board)
Backwell Flax Bourton
Barrow Gurney
Blagdon
Cheddar
Claverham
Cleeve
Clevedon
Congresbury
Failand & Portbury
Nailsea
Optimists
Uphill Castle
Weston Super Mare
Winford
Wrington

1. The meeting commenced at 7.30pm after some (but not all) entry forms had been lodged and some (but by no means all) cheques had been paid.

2. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved.

3. Apologies and attendance were taken.

4. The League Secretary delivered his report, with accounts and the accounts were approved.

5. The U13/U11 Junior Secretary delivered his report.

6. Representative team managers delivered a report but they had been unable to arrange any games at all. This was a pity. Pembrokeshire had proved to be very difficult to make arrangements with and the Bristol & District League declined to play.

7. There was a discussion in relation to a proposal for a change to rule 5 such that at U17 level games all fixtures should be at an 8-a-side basis. There was a further discussion as to whether the rule should be changed to allow clubs on option of playing on an 8-a-side basis on election. Neither change was approved.

8. The meeting expressed the view that running of the U17 plate competition (for first round cup losers) was a good idea and had been successful.

9. A debate ensued following a proposal to split the U15 league into 2 sections. There was not sufficient support for this.

10. A proposal was made that entries from B teams should be accepted at both U13 and U11 levels. A proposal was also made that U13s league be split into 2 divisions.

11. Extensive debate and discussion of both proposals took place. To some extent one was dependent on the other, particularly at U13 level at which it was anticipated that there were as many as 17 teams which might wish to enter.

12. After a full discussion in which views of all kinds were expressed, it was determined:

- that entries from B teams would be accepted at U13 and U11 levels;

- managers of clubs involved would be relied on to ensure that players were not to switched between A and B teams with the effect of affecting results;

- there would be no split of the U13 division and all teams would play as one league.

13. Blagdon had notified the League Secretary prior to the meeting of its intention to ask for special dispensation for one Angus Yard, a slightly over-aged player, to be allowed to play nonetheless in the U13s section. Blagdon made a former proposal to such effect. After discussion it was accepted and the player was approved to play in both League and Cup competitions.

14. The following officers were elected or re-elected:

President Brian Rose
League Chairman Stewart Dewer
League Secretary and Treasurer Robert Humphreys
Junior (U13 and U11) Secretary John Waters

15. The following representative team managers offered to lend their services and were on that basis elected:

U17 John Waters
U11 Mike Fletcher

16. Formal applications that had been made by Backwell Flax Bourton and Winford to join the League were accepted.

17. Cups and trophies brought to the meeting were redistributed.

18. Andrew Moulding (Somerset Cricket Board) made the meeting aware (for information purposes only) of the SCB’s policy of formally allowing teams to play girls in divisions 2 years below their actual age. There was discussion as to whether a formal rule should be adopted and it was determined that such should not be the case. Clubs are entitled to agree matters with their oppositions on a case by case basis provided that proper advance notice of any out of the ordinary matter is given.

19. Andrew Moulding gave a short report on certain matters of general application. In particular he advised that formal child welfare policies will be the norm in a couple of years’ time. Clubs had been asked to take certain steps by the beginning of 2005 including the adoption of a formal child welfare policy, the identification of a club welfare officer who has been CRB checked and has attended a course, and who will attend a further NSPCC course. CRB checks are to become mandatory for qualified coaches, age group managers and regular umpires and scorers.

20. There being no further business the meeting ended at 10.00pm.

………………………….. …………………………..
Chairman Date

Minutes of 2003 Annual General Meeting
held at Claverham C.C
on Monday 23 February 2004

Attendance
D Grewcock (Chairman)
R Humphreys (Secretary)
J Waters (U11 & U13 Secretary)
Wrington
Optimists
Uphill
Weston-super-Mare
Cheddar
Failand & Portbury
Blagdon
Nailsea
Barrow Gurney
Claverham
Congresbury
Cleeve
Andrew Moulding (Somerset Cricket Board)

Apologies
Clevedon
Portishead

Did not attend
Lympsham

1. The meeting opened at 7.30pm. Attendances and apologies were taken.

2. The minutes of the previous meeting held 3rd December 2003 were read and approved.

3. The Secretary/Treasurer delivered a report (attached). The U13/U11 Secretary delivered a report (attached).

4. The 2003 accounts presented by the Treasurer were approved and the levels of subscriptions/fines for the 2004 season were held as existing.

5. Certain of the representative team managers delivered short reports. The U19s had played Pembrokeshire C. C. at 45 overs at Optimist & Clifton C.C. Pembrokeshire made 200 for 8 (G Vaughan) F & P 3 – 47, J Billows (Nailsea) 2 – 28, M Berridge (Nailsea) 2 – 40; NSYCL 201 for 4 (37 overs) H Hanchet ( F & P) 79*, A Vaughan (F & P) 41. NSCYL win. Mark Walker reported that a fixture at U11s had been played against Pembrokeshire with the result being a win. A win had also been recorded against Pembrokeshire at U15 level although that game had not been very satisfactory.

6. Discussion as to matters arising from the reports ensued. First, the holding of the AGM outside the period permitted under the Rules was approved.

7. Full discussion took place of the complaint raised by Portishead as to which club won the U15 league. The decision of the Secretary to the effect that there was no cut-off date under the existing rules for playing of matches, however late in the year, before the final cut-off date of that year’s AGM was upheld. On this basis Nailsea won the U15 league and Portishead were second. It was regretted that Portishead had determined not to enter teams into the league for the coming season, their reasoning being perceived as being in reaction to that expected decision.

8. Discussions took place as to whether a cut-off date in September should be introduced for the coming season and if so, as to what that date should be. Different views were expressed and it was determined that no change to the existing would be made.

9. There was discussion of the interpretation of rule 10 (defaults re rain).

10. Discussion took place of the mechanics of publishing league tables on the web. Blagdon confirmed that their site could be used for up-posting of league tables. Failand & Portbury said that they would publish on their site results for the U13 games.

11. There was extensive discussion of a possible rule change to convert the U17 competition to a 8 a-side competition and how in practice that would work. Various ideas were canvassed and in the end it was determined to leave the section as it is on an 11 a-side basis.

12. Barrow Gurney’s request for their player Chris Cosham to be allowed to play in the U13 section despite his being over-age was discussed. That individual’s playing in the 2004 season was approved but approval was not given for any other player in a similar position.

13. After discussion of the request by Pembrokeshire C.C. to play representative fixtures at multiple levels, it was decided to play at the League’s 4 historic age levels only.

14. A request was made by the Secretary for someone to volunteer as a co-ordinator for representative fixtures. There was a discussion on this but no one present was able to take this on.

15. The application for membership of Lympsham C.C. was approved.

16. A full discussion took place of whether or not to allow our B teams to enter competitions and maximum numbers practical for each division. It was felt that last year numbers had been too high at the U13 level. It was left to the Secretary’s discretion to take a view depending on what entries were received. Clubs were encouraged to make their entries early rather than leaving it late.

17. The Chairman explained his personal position which is that he is likely to be moving to Australia at the end of the year. He was he was willing to continue as Chairman for the 2004 season but would advise as to details of his plans when they become known. In the meantime, the League needs to make soundings with regard to a potential successor.

18. It was suggested that, as to position of president, the current Chairman of Somerset C B, who apparently lives in Wrington, could be approached for future years. In the meantime, Brian Rose was re-elected. Peter Doherty offered to investigate.

19. The following representative team managers were agreed to be appointed and were elected:

U17 – It was suggested that Nigel Cook or Mark Gardiner of Uphill Castle might be approached.
U15 – John Waters
U13 – Mark Walker
U11 – Mike Fletcher

20. Rule 8 was addressed. It was determined that the words “… or bad light” should be added in the first line after the words “… due to rain”.

21. It was felt that steps should be taken if at all possible to ensure that independent umpires stand at all cup finals and the Secretary and the U11/U13 Secretary will do their best in this connection.

22. Andrew Moulding on behalf of the SCB spoke about various topics. He raised the importance of girls cricket and suggested one possible route for incorporating them into the main Leagues would be for them to play at an age 2 years younger than their actual age.

23. He went on to explain the ECB’s child welfare policy but pointed out that this was not something to be implemented by clubs immediately. He explained that many clubs were working towards a “club mark” accreditation, the necessary elements of which can be adopted on a step-by-step basis. There were 9 “focus clubs” in the North Somerset area. The intention is that all clubs with a youth section will eventually become “focus clubs” and be “accredited”.

24. Andrew Moulding explained that the policy of the SCB is to promote the best possible pitches and for this purpose they have a pitch adviser scheme. There is a slight cost for this but it is not huge. For £50 a full report on the pitch and advice on what to do about can be obtained.

25. He went on to mention the Cricket Foundation draw, which is a free activity which could be beneficial.

26. Finally, he explained that the SCB would be very pleased to invite any club with juniors to the County Ground in Taunton during the school holidays (groups of 30 to 40 children perhaps) for a free day watching and a couple of hours coaching.

27. There being no further business the meeting ended at 9.52pm

………………………….. …………………………..
Chairman Date

Minutes of 2002 AGM
held on Tuesday 3rd December 2002
at 7.30pm at Portishead Cricket Club

Present:
D Grewcock (Chairman)
R Humphreys (Secretary/Treasurer)
J Waters (U13/U11 Secretary)
A Fishman (Portishead)
D Lee (Optimists & Clifton)
D Turner (WSM)
P Doherty (Wrington)
L Harrison (Bladgon)
G Osborne (Clevedon)
P Holdworth (Barrow Gurney)
K Berridge (Nailsea)
M Robson (Nailsea)
S Dewar (Congresbury)
B Purkiss (Cheddar)

Also present later in meeting:
A Moulding (SCB)

Absent:
Cleeve
Uphill Castle

1. Attendances and apologies were taken. The minutes of the previous meeting held 15th January 2002 (the 2001 AGM) were then read and approved. Matters arising from those minutes were dealt with.

2. The secretary/treasurer then delivered his report (copy report and accounts attached) and the accounts were approved.

3. The treasurer explained that he incurred expenditure of £350 on 10 large weekly advertisements in a local newspaper at a cost of £35 each plus VAT. This had seemed to him to be a useful form of expenditure. The views of members were canvassed as to whether this should be repeated next year and no strong views were expressed. It was left for the treasurer to take a sensible decision.

4. John Waters then delivered his report as U13/U11 secretary (copies attached). There was a discussion of discipline at the younger ages and it was regretted that on a number of occasions this had not been all that might have been expected. One particular game was commented on. In this incident, whatever the rights and wrongs, it was a pity that the managers on the day had been able to take the necessary disciplinary steps to snuff out the difficulties at source.

5. There was a discussion of the application of the LBW rule at U11 level. The League Rule is at the laws of cricket apply save insofar as any may be modified in the League Rules or by agreement by managers on the day. There is nothing in the League Rules disapplying the LBW rule and so, save by agreement otherwise of managers on the day, the LBW law is to be applied. If managers agree on the day to disapply this law, they need to be aware of the consequential effect of this change on other aspects of the game.

6. One of these is the removal of risk to a batsman from taking an off-stump guard. Managers need to be aware of this. It would be open to them to agree that no batsman should be given an off-stump guard.

7. Representative team managers gave their reports. At U13 level John Waters reported that neither the Bath & District League nor the Taunton League had been interested in games and Pembroke had not toured. However, a game was played against the Bristol & District League at Chipping Sodbury. It was an excellent game which the NSYCL had won by 41.

8. The U15 representative manager Adrian Fishman reported that he had received no interest in a game from the Bath & District League. A game had been played against the Bristol & District League away. Again it was an excellent game albeit a loss. Boys from 5 clubs had played. The return game at Portishead had been rained off.

9. No games have been played at U17 level.

10. There was a short discussion of the rules regarding allocation of points. Some points were made as to whether there should be a change but it was felt that they should be left as they are.

11. The secretary canvassed two proposals for possible rule changes. One of these involved a move at U17 level to playing games on an 8 players per side basis. A discussion of this ensued but it was decided to leave the current playing conditions and make no changes.

12. The second proposed rule change involved a tidying up of the contents of rules 13 and 5 by moving some existing text and making a consequential amendment. This proposal was passed and the rules were changed accordingly.

13. Election of officers then took place. The following were re-elected:

Brian Rose (President)
Doug Grewcock (Chairman)
Robert Humphreys (Secretary/Treasurer)
John Waters (U13/U11 Secretary).

14. The following representative team managers were then elected:

Keith Berridge (U17)
Greg Van Laun (U15)
John Waters (U13)
Mark Walker (U11).

15. An application was considered from Barrow Gurney to join the League by entering a U13 side. The application was welcomed and approved.

16. Trophies were brought to the meeting and redistributed. In particular, the U15 knock-out cup had been located by Keith Berridge of Nailsea who kindly brought it to the meeting.

17. John Waters gave a short report on the progress of the NSYCL teams in the national knock-out competitions. The WSM U15 side went a long way in the competition. The Cleeve U13 side also performed creditably but did not go so far.

18. There was a discussion of the practicality of the movement of players between multiple teams entered by one club at a single age group (e.g. Cleeve running 2 U13s sides). It appeared that some players had played for both sides. The discussion was left on the basis that it would have to be up to the manager to act reasonably as it was difficult to formulate a rule which would not have the negative effect of banning some players from participating. However, in cup games the rule remains that a player who has played for one team may not thereafter play for another.

19. Andrew Moulding of the Somerset Cricket Board then gave an interesting presentation on various projects and initiatives, the benefits of which could be of advantage to member clubs. His information was appreciated.

20. There being no further business the meeting was closed at 10.10pm.

…………………………. ………………………
Chairman Date

Minutes of 2001 Annual General Meeting
held on Tuesday 15th January 2002
(in respect of the 2001 season)
at 7.30 p.m. at Portishead Cricket Club

Present:
D Grewcock (Chairman)
R Humphreys (Secretary and Treasurer)
J Waters (U13/U11 Secretary)
Robin Brees (Clevedon)
Martin Robson (Nailsea)
Lodway C.C.
Keith Berridge (Nailsea)
Hutton C.C.
Derek Turner (WSM)
David Lee (Optimists)
Peter Doherty (Wrington)
Lionel Harrison (Blagdon)
Mike Thome (Cleeve)
Greg Van Laun (Portishead)
Nigel Cook (Uphill Castle)
Dave Banham (Clevedon)
Rick Hutchison (Congresbury)
Luke Parfitt (Cheddar)

Apologies:
Andrew Moulding (SCB)
Winscombe C.C.

Absent: Worle C.C.

1. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved.

2. The Secretary and Treasurer delivered his report and accounts (copy attached) and the accounts were accepted.

3. John Waters delivered his report as U13 and Ull Secretary (see attached).

4. Rates for subscriptions/fines were fixed at the same rate as for the previous year.

5. There was a discussion of the new system of allocating points with relation to defaulted games, which had been put into practice for the first year (2001). Points had arisen on the implementation of the new rules and, as always, there were incidents on which the administrative officers of the league had had to take a view. Those present at the meeting stressed that it was incumbent on clubs to make sure that when they enter the league the person running a team is able to fulfil his commitment to play the games. It was recognised, however, that individuals are volunteers doing their best within their limitations and issues are
never black and white.

6. There had been no representative games at U17 level.

7. At U15 level Keith Berridge (Nailsea) reported a win against the Bristol & District League. The NSYCL had made 204 for 7 with R Samsun scoring well. The Bristol & District League had made 81 for 7 (Nick Doherty 2-9). There had also been a win against the North Somerset Academy. The Academy had made 244-4 (E Humphreys 104*) and the NSYCL had made 246-7 (T Excel batting well). Eight league clubs had been represented in this game.

8. At U13 representative 11, John Waters reported that the Bath & District League could not produce a side. The Bristol & District League had to decline a fixture on the grounds of insufficient notice. There had been a win against the North Somerset Academy. The NSYCL had scored 194-8 (D Phillips batting well) and the Academy had been 85 all out.

9. At U11 level John Waters also reported on a win against the North Somerset Academy.

10. The efforts of the representative managers during the year were greatly appreciated.

11. The following volunteered to be representative team managers for 2002:

U17s: Sue Edwards (Wrington) (assisted by Keith Berridge)
U15s: Adrian Fishman (Portishead)
U13s: John Waters (Nailsea)
U11s: Greg Van Laun (Portishead)

12. Cleeve asked whether there would be scope during 2002 for entering B sides in the league. A full discussion took place. It was determined that the relevant secretary would accept entries from youth organisers of their clubs' B sides provided that these had proper management and appeared likely (at the discretion of the relevant secretary) to be able to fulfil its fixtures.

13. There was a discussion of the rules which could apply to the composition of an A side and a B side from the same club and it was left to the Secretary to formulate a rule as considered best balancing the interests of both clubs seeking to win their relevant divisions and rule 15 (the aim being to play cricket). It was pointed out by the Secretary, though, it might not be possible to frame a rule which was more than a general guide, leaving the onus of implementation on the managers concerned.

14. It was determined that the U11 rules be altered by deleting references to U13s.

15. The Secretary reminded the meeting that the handbook had not reflected the change made at the last AGM to rule 7 in respect of Barrington rules being the preferred option for U11s. This change was to be introduced into the rules for 2002.

16. There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.05 p.m.

Chairman .............................. Dated 2002 .........................

2001 League Secretary's Report

Once again I am pleased to report that an enormous amount of what the professionals call “recreational” cricket (otherwise known as “real cricket”) was played up in the North Somerset area under the aegis of the league. Star performers in this respect were the clubs’ youth organisers: Lionel Harrison (Blagdon), Ken Langford (Cheddar), Bill Woodley (Claverham), Mike Thorne (Cleave), Robin Brees (Clevedon), Stuart Dewer (Congresbury), Mary Martin/Brian Peat (Hutton), Simon Hopkinson (Nailsea), David Lee (Optimists), Adrian Fishman (Portishead), Nigel Cook (Uphill Castle), Derek Turner (WSM), Peter Short (Worle), Peter Doherty (Wrington) and Mark Walker and others (Failand & Portbury).

The U17 division was back up to a reasonable strength after several lean years on numbers. The top four teams were a long way ahead of the rest and Uphill Castle emerged well-deserved winners with an unbeaten record. This was their first trophy at any level and well done indeed to those at the club who work so hard at youth cricket. Players to feature with good performances (and remember that the best players at most clubs do not necessarily always do all the batting and all the bowling) included J Davidson, C Davidson, E Bliss and A Gardener (Uphill Castle), H Hanchet, P Hart, G & A Vaughan, G Humphreys and A Chapman (Failand & Portbury), A Blower, J Wilcox, D Booth, A Bamber, A Robson, and M Ashfold (Nailsea) and P Ball, M Weaver, W Stafford and S Green (WSM).

Uphill Castle also collected the trophy as U17 cup winners overcoming Nailsea in a tight game to secure the double. Double congratulations to them. Winners of the U15 cup final were Nailsea who defeated Old Bristolians to go on to the county stages of the Sun Life of Canada National knockout competition.

Nailsea looked odds on to win the U15 league outright as well but Uphill Castle kept plugging away and when Nailsea were unable to get an early season game which they had defaulted replayed, the two clubs finished level on points and shared the trophy. Well done to Nailsea, joint league winners the previous year, and well done also to Uphill Castle for adding a half share in some more silverware to this season’s haul. Regular performers on the field for the clubs in this division were: M Berridge, A Robson and R Baker (Nailsea), J Davidson, A Dodgson and C Davidson (Uphill Castle), J Samsum, D Van Grudgings, S Wheeler and L Whittaker (Clevedon), G Howse, S Ahmed and J Lane (WSM), N King (Cheddar), E Humphreys, J Sykes and D Chapman (F&P), N Doherty and C Dunning (Wrington), A Gooding and B Leadbetter (Optimists).

John Waters will report separately on the progress of the U13s and U11s.

The feature of the year from the administrative side was the radical change to the points scoring approach agreed at the last AGM. Under this, for the first time ever, points were awarded (and forfeited) in cases where clubs defaulted on fixtures. It was recognised at the last AGM that the change might lead to some increased pressure on administrators (with possible differing versions of events leading up to a default) and with perhaps a loss of incentive to replay games missed first time round. However, the perceived benefits included pressure on clubs to play on the required date not on other dates which suited them or their league aspirations better; also finite ends to the season for hard pressed managers who all too often faced a seemingly endless late summer of asking or being asked to play rearranged games.

Clubs’ views on how the new system worked out in practice would be welcome. Purely personally, I thought that in the U17 and U15 divisions it was a successful experiment. I think it resulted in more games being played.

During the course of the year I transferred £2,001 to a deposit account with Sun Bank which offered a higher rate of interest than is offered by our current account at HSBC. For several years I have been trying to find a bank willing to take an account in the name of an association of clubs (the league) (i.e. neither an individual nor a limited company nor a partnership) and when the ECB circulated details of Sun Bank’s facility I thought it best to take the opportunity of higher interest without further market investigations. In the event, because interest rates are so low the interest generated is negligible but in the future when rates rise again some extra income should be produced.

Great appreciation is due to John Waters for the enormous work put in by him during the year once again as U11/U13 secretary, to the clubs (and their groundsmen) who kindly offered use of their grounds for cup finals at no charge, to umpires who stood on the same basis, to chairman Doug Grewcock for his every present sanity and last but no means least to the long standing sponsors of the league’s handbook Westcountry Groundcare (specialist sports ground maintenance, domestic and commercial grass cutting, landscaping and fencing: call Rod Cooper now on 07860 517 290).

14th January 2002
R A Humphreys
Hon. Secretary

Minutes of 2000 AGM
held on Wednesday 6th December 2000
at Portishead C.C.

Present:
D Grewcock (Chairman)
R Humphreys (Secretary and Treasurer)
J Waters (U13/U11 Secretary)
Kevin Stafford (WSM)
Derek Turner (WSM)
Bron Purkiss (Cheddar)
David Lee (Optimists)
Robin Brees (Clevedon)
Bill Woodley (Claverham)
Keith Berridge (Nailsea)
Martin Robson (Nailsea)
Adrian Fishman (Portishead)
Roger Snelling (SCB)
John Packham (Lodway)
Lionel Harrison (Blagdon)
Dave Kelley (Uphill)
Peter Short (Worle)
Larry Hallett (Worle
Stuart Dewar (Congresbury)

Apologies:
Nigel Cook (Uphill Castle)
Peter Sanderson (SCB)

Absent:
Cleeve
Wrington

1. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved.

2. The secretary and treasurer delivered his report and accounts (copy attached) and the accounts were accepted.

3. John Waters delivered his report as U13 and U11 secretary (see attached).

4. There was a discussion of an issue which had arisen in respect of the rules for U11 games in relation to bowling. Specifically, it was whether games were to be played under Barrington rules and in any event whether or not everyone should bowl. After discussion it was determined that there should be a change reflected in an addition to Rule 7 to the effect that U11s games shall be played under Barrington rules as printed in the handbook unless agreed otherwise by managers before the game, with the home manager to decide in default of agreement.

5. Keith Berridge reported on a win for the U14s league representative side against the Bristol & District League at Keynsham and John Waters reported on two league representatives games at U13 level being a win against Pembrokeshire and a loss against the Bristol & District League.

6. There was extensive discussion as to a proposal by the secretary for a change of playing days with U15s switching to Sunday evenings and U17s switching to Monday evenings. It was determined however to make no change and rely upon the flexibility inherent in the rules to take account of clubs’ individual difficulties with dates as far as possible. Cheddar, however, advised that they would be unable to enter a U17 team for Sunday fixtures.

7. Extensive discussion took place of a proposal by the secretary for points to be awarded in the case of cancellations/defaults. The proposals were carried and changes to rules 9 to 13 were accordingly made.

8. Election of officers took place. Brian Rose was re-elected as President and Messrs Grewcock, Humphreys and Waters were also re-elected.

9. The following volunteered to be league representative managers for the coming year:

U11s: Doug Grewcock
U13s: John Waters
U15s: Keith Berridge

At U17s level it was left that Kevin Stafford and Bob Humphreys would liaise in the absence of a volunteer manager.

10. No new clubs had applied to enter the league but it was left to the secretary’s discretion to admit extra clubs who applied before the fixtures were confirmed.

11. Roger Snelling on behalf of the SCB gave a presentation.

12. The sharing of the league title at U17s, U15s and U11s level was ratified.

13. Trophies were brought to the meeting and exchanged.

14. It was with great regret that a serious illness of Keith Board (Blagdon) a past Chairman of the league was reported. Current Chairman Doug Grewcock reminded those present of the great contribution in years gone by of Keith Board to youth cricket in the area and asked the Blagdon representative to convey the deepest sympathies of all those present to his family.

15. There being no further business the meeting closed.

Chairman………………………… Dated .......................

Minutes of 1999 annual general meeting
held at 7.30pm on Wednesday 15th December 1999
at Portishead C.C.

Present:
D Grewcock (Chairman)
R Humphreys (Secretary and Treasurer)
J Waters (U13/U11 Secretary)
Wrington
Nailsea
Congresbury
Blagdon
Claverham
Clevedon
Portishead
Cheddar
Uphill Castle
Worle
Winscombe
Optimists (David Lee)
Failand & Portbury
Peter Sanderson (SCB)

Absent:
Cleeve
Weston-super-Mare

Apologies:
Tony Willoughby
Simon Hopkinson

1. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved.

2. Matters arising: discussion of the new U11s league format. It had been a well balanced league with a good standard.

3. The Secretary then delivered his report (see later).

4. The U13/U11 Secretary then delivered his report (see later).

5. Discussion of the reports then ensued. In particular the issue of clubs fielding over-age players was addressed. The Chairman summed up the position: The rule as to age qualification is the rule. An opposing manager may object to an over-age player being fielded. It is open to managers, having regard to the issue of safety, to agree to allow an over-age player to participate but it is not fair to put this point to the opposing manager on the day. Prior consultation in all respects is encouraged.

6. John Waters observed that in his view the non-fulfilment by the U11 clubs of all fixtures was not because of the change to the league format.

7. The Treasurer presented the accounts which were accepted. He raised the point that he had been unable, despite enquiries, to identify an account which paid a reasonable rate of interest on deposits at the level required which was available to an unincorporated association (of which the League is an example).

8. There was discussion of trophies and the extent to which the costs of supplying these is justifiable. After discussion it was determined that, whilst cups would continue to be presented as at present, individual player trophies would be purchased by the League and presented only to:

(a) the U11s league winners;
(b) the U13 cup winners;
(c) the U13 cup runners up.

9. The level of subscriptions and fines was discussed and no change was made to these.

10. The representative team managers reported an extensive programme of games played:

(1) Sue Edwards had taken a U14s team on a tour to Northampton. They had played a 2 day game and a time game. The U14s had also played and won games against the Bristol & District League and the Bath & District League.

(2) Derek Blower reported two games by an U15s representative XI the first at Long Ashton against Bristol & District League was won (best performances from League players Simon Green (W-S-M), Hugo Hanchet (F&P) and Warren Stafford (W-S-M); also a win against Pembrokeshire in which Hanchet, Butler (Cheddar) and Booth had performed well.

(3) John Waters reported two U11s games. First a win against Pembrokeshire with good performances from Edmunds (Wrington), Lyons (Blagdon), Gilmour (F&P) and Miles (W-S-M). Second a win against the Bath & District League at Temple Cloud.

(4) Keith Berridge delivered a written report of a U13s game narrowly lost against the Bristol & District League (see later for further details).

11. A change was made to rule 5 by the deletion of the second sentence: "the initial stages of the competition for players under the age of 11 shall be run on a friendly basis with the later stages run competitively."

12. The following officers were elected:
Brian Rose (President)
Doug Grewcock (Chairman)
Robert Humphreys (Secretary and Treasurer)
John Waters (U13/U11 Secretary).

13. The following representative managers volunteered and were elected:

U11s: Nigel Cook (Uphill)
U13s: John Waters (Nailsea)
U15s: Sue Edwards (Wrington)
U17s: (it was determined to wait to see which teams entered before selecting a manager).

14. The Secretary was asked how many fixtures the U17 teams would have and he advised those present that, irrespective of the number of entries, there would be at least 9 or 10 games scheduled for each club.

15. Optimists applied to enter a team at U15 level and their application to join theLeague was accepted.

16. Details of a new U13 Sunday League had been circulated to members. Some concerns were expressed about this and it was noted that Somerset Cricket Board had started the League without any reference at all to the NSYCL. The Secretary was concerned that the resources of volunteer managers, already in short supply, might be stretched to the detriment of NSYCL teams. Peter Sanderson (SCB) said that the League was intended only to generate 3 or 4 matches between participating clubs. John Waters explained that Nailsea would be entering but purely in place of existing friendlies. The Secretary reported that his understanding, from the organiser of the new League Mark Naylor, was that its aim was mainly to fill the gap in 11-a-side cricket in the North East Somerset area which arose because the Bath & District League only ran 8-a-side games at U13 level.

17. There was discussion of the School of Excellence which Nailsea C.C. are hoping to build. John Waters explained that it was hoped to raise £500,000 but there was no guarantee that this could be done. The Chairman indicated that the League would be willing to make a small contribution but nearer the time.

18. The contents of the police notice warning clubs to be careful of people they allow to be in charge of youngsters was noted.

19. Peter Sanderson (SCB) explained some changes in the SCB's junior organisation. Julian Wyatt had been moved to taking charge of the County 2nd XI and he Peter Sanderson had been given the job of getting the corner competition running better. He accepted that the competition lacked credibility and that it had lacked attendance by county youth coaches. Part of the difficulty, he explained, is that he (like others) is a self-employed coach and is only available to put in the hours which SCB are prepared to engage him to spend on their behalf.

20. He said that he had circulated all clubs and schools asking for nominations for county trials and had had over 700 nominations at 5 levels. The county squads for year 2000 had already been chosen and boys would have to do exceptionally well in the corner games to get into those squads this year. Corner coaching was being arranged for corner squads, to be selected from those nominated, each of which was to be supplied with a qualified coach. Year 2000 corner matches would be trials for county squads in year 2000.

21. Peter Sanderson provided details of various coaching courses run by the SCB as well as a scheme called "active sports" intended to be partly lottery funded and established to give opportunities for players at district level. In response to questions from the Secretary, he accepted that the aim of the SCB youth organisation was solely to identify excellent players as possible entrants into a professional career structure.

22. John Waters observed, with support from the meeting, that North Somerset youngsters were generally not in Somerset squads when they were established at the U11 age and that, once established, the Somerset squads were difficult forNorth Somerset youngsters to get into.

23. Derek Blower appreciated what had been said but expressed the concern that concentration on excellence alone would not motivate people to watch county games; too few youngsters at primary school age were receiving coaching or indeed any kind of introduction to cricket at schools. Peter Sanderson explainedthat the SCB did not have enough coaches in the North West area to provide comprehensive coverage. Coaching is a relatively poorly paid job and so there are not as many coaches available as were needed. Conversely, the SCB did not have enough funds to put more coaches into the North West area.

24. The meeting concluded with the hope for a long, hot, dry summer.

Chairman.........................Dated.....................2000

MINUTES OF 1998 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
HELD AT 7.45pm ON MONDAY 15th JANUARY 1999
AT NAILSEA C.C.

Present:
Tony Willoughby (Chairman)
Robert Humphreys (Secretary)
John Waters (Junior Secretary)
Sue Edwards (Wrington)
D Grewcock (Claverham)
D Turner (Weston-super-Mare)
K Berridge (Nailsea)
P Bush (Bristol & District League)
S Donaldson (Bristol & District League)
M Ball (WestCountry Ground Care)
R Cooper (WestCountry Ground Care)
Portishead
Wrington
Worle Airways
Congresbury
Cleeve
Clevedon
Blagdon
Cheddar
Winscombe

Apologies:
Uphill Castle
Clifton Flax Bourton
Keynsham


1. The minutes of the previous annual general meeting with read and approved.

2. The Secretary /Treasurer delivered his report (see ante). As regards finances,the League continued to be entirely self funding and to remain on a stable,though modest, footing. Subscriptions were not recommended to increase forthe coming year. The accounts presented were accepted.

3. John Waters (U13/U11 Secretary) delivered his report (see ante). He added the observation that very few spin bowlers had been used in U13 and Ull gamesand he asked team managers in the coming season to try to encourage their use more.

4. The Secretary did not recommend any changes to the rules and no rule change proposals from members been notified to him beforehand.

5. Derek Turner (W-S-M) raised a suggestion from the floor that points be awarded when games are rained off but that there had been no requirement to re-arrange and play. The Secretary observed that this was an issue which had been fully discussed and voted on at the 1996 AGM but had been rejected. The reasoning at that time, which was still felt to apply, was that the object of running the League was to "promote, develop and encourage youth cricket" not to get points. What was sought to be achieved was the playing of the games rather than the cosmetic appearance of league tables in which all clubs appear to have fulfilled all their fixtures.

6. Rod Cooper (WestCountry Ground Care, the League's sponsors) delivered a tribute to Chairman Tony Willoughby who had declined to allow his name to be put forward for re-election. For over 30 years he had held the League together and ensured that the cricket was offered through the clubs to local youngsters; he had undertaken this onerous task with energy and enjoyment throughout. Members of the press were present and a series of photographs were taken.

7. Election of officers then took place:

President: Brian Rose
Chairman: Doug Grewcock
Secretary/Treasurer: Robert Humphreys
U13/U11 Secretary: John Waters

8. Tony Willoughby then gave a brief report on the U17 festival hosted by the League and held at Lodway C.C. South Somerset had been the winners. Bath & District had dropped out at the last minute and the League had fielded a 2nd XI Unfortunately the League's Ist XI had been weakened (absence of the W-S-M top players) and had been eliminated in the first round, leaving it to win the 3rd place play-off with its 2nd XI. Wins in additional representative games against Pembroke and Bombay Touring XIs had been achieved.

9. John Scott (W-S-M) delivered the following report as U15 representative manager:

The side had two fixtures - one against Bath & District and one against Bristol & District. The first game was played at Lansdown and we as the visitors totalled 153, which at the time I did not think was nearly enough. The main contributor was Nick Moore who scored an excellent 52 before unaccountably being bowled. The Home Side made a steady, if slow, start but collapsed to the bowling of Crawford and Weber who each took 3 wickets and we secured victory by a very comfortable 70 runs.

Two days later, we played a very strong Bristol S District side at Weston-s-Mare and Gloucestershire & West of England Young Cricketers Pick and Pearson both scored 50s which allowed the visitors to score 188 for 5 in their 40 overs. Crawford again bowled well taking 2 wickets as did Shepherd. In reply, we started sleadily and with the score past 150 for loss of only 2 wickets it seemed only a light touch on the accelerator would see us home. However, we could not manage to do this and although the first 4 batsmen, Moore 30, Weber 18. Perry 34 and Crawford 54, all batted well we ended 13 runs short of the target with 5 wickets standing.

For representative games, I think it as well to involve as many people as possible and basically, only 2 games does not allow this. However, as a Corner Manager also, I effectively had 5 games for the squad and over the 5 games, 20 individuals played at least 1 game. However, the Corner Manager and the Representative Manager will not always be one and the same and I would recommend if possible that more representative games be arranged.

10. Sue Edwards (Wrington) reported that the U13 representative XI had played one game against Bath which it won. There had been a mix up with the Bristol &District over venue and so the game against them had not been played. The match played had been a successful method of getting players opportunities.

11. The Secretary reported that in attempting to arrange oppositions for the League's representative XI he had endeavoured to arrange fixtures with some ofthe Corner XIs run without success by the SCB. He had received a consistent reaction from Corner XI managers summed up in a letter from the South East11l Corner manager which observed:

"The Corner games are prescribed and any games outside that remit are not encouraged. So I will have to cancel the fixture for Monday 27* July at Portishead. Please accept my sincere apologies."

Derek Turner (in his capacity as North West Corner administrator) said he was astounded to hear this.

12. The following representative managers were elected for the coming season:
U11 John Waters (Nailsea)
U13 Keith Berridge (Nailsea)
U15 Derek Blower (Nailsea)
U17 This was left open with a view to making an appointment after the meeting.

13. The experiment of bolstering the U13 fixture list with two additional 40 over fixtures had not been a success, observed Derek Blower (Nailsea). There was some sympathy for this view at the meeting and it was felt best not to continue the experiment.

14. Matthew Govan (Clevedon) expressed the view that with the establishment bythe SCB (via its North West Corner administration) of the Sunday afternoonWoodspring League (offering league points to clubs fielding up to three U17s) our own U17 league should be disbanded. Whilst it appeared, somewhat unfortunately, that the effect of this points incentive by the Woodspring League was to discourage clubs with smaller pools of U17 players from running full U17 teams (e.g. Clifton Flax Bourton, Clevedon, Winscombe, Portishead), many of those present considered that our own U17 division continues to be successful and worthwhile and necessary.

15. Phil Bush (Bristol & District League) reported that some clubs in his league were considering forming a U17 super-league. The Secretary observed that this proposal did not seem to him to accord with the aim of our league of promoting a framework for all within our geographical area.

16. John Waters (Junior Secretary) proposed that the U11 division move from its long standing status as a "friendly competition" with, in recent years, an end of season play-off for final places amongst the top four clubs, to a straight league basis without play-offs. After discussion, this proposal was carried.

17. There being no other business the meeting concluded at 9.40pm.

Chairman............................. Dated 15th January 1999

MINUTES OF 1997 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
HELD AT 7.45pm ON MONDAY 8th DECEMBER 1997
AT CONGRESBURY C.C.

Present:
Tony Willoughby (Chairman)
Robert Humphreys (Secretary)
John Waters (Junior Secretary)
Andrew Moulding (Somerset Development Office)
Pat Colbourne (Chairman Somerset Youth Committee)
Blagdon
Clevedon
Claverham
Cleeve
Clifton Flax Bourton
Congresbury
Nailsea
Lodway
Uphill Castle
Worle Airways
Wrington
Keynsham
Portishead

Apologies:
Weston-super-Mare
Wells
Wedmore
Cheddar
Imperial
Old Bristolians
Barrow Gurney

Absent:
Winscombe

1. The minutes of the previous annual general meeting were read andapproved.

2. There were no matters arising from the previous year's minutes save thatthe Chairman reported that the Ull trophy had been purchased andpresented.

3. The Treasurer reported that the finances of the League were in a healthy position. The accounts which he presented (see end) were accepted.

4. The Secretary then delivered his report. The report was accepted.

5. At the conclusion of this, Peter Rose of Portishead commented that the League had the money to run nets, along the lines which had been discussed the previous year. The Secretary replied that, although this was the case, he thought that in view of the limited number of sources from which the League received income it should be careful before committing to significant expenditure. Further, the main difficulty with nets was that they would need organising. Somebody would need to take up responsibility for this. No-one present volunteered. Further, nets were being organised by the North West Somerset Development Group and these were apparently envisaged to be run between January and March.

6. The Junior Secretary delivered his report. At the conclusion of this, he also added that he had been asked by Will Weber (WSM) to convey his apologies to the meeting for WSM's failure to perform to expectations inthe National Finals of the U13 Subaru competition. Although this was not his fault, particularly as a couple of his best players were missing in a County competition, he had clearly taken it personally. The Secretary was asked to respond to him on behalf of the meeting expressing its support for him at a time of serious illness. The Junior Secretary's report was accepted.

7. Rates of subscription and fines were determined to be unchanged for the1998 season.

8. John Waters reported on the U17 representative team. The inter-league event had been disappointing. The team had been in effect a second string and had paid for it. The League had the players but six of the County players for one reason or another were not available. Mark Hopkinson had done well. He went on to report that the Bristol & District had pulled out of a 40 over game but that a game had been played against the Indian touring side SLPT. The League fielded an under strength side and although Jason Neave (WSM)(an agreed over-age player) had scored 99, the League had finished 7 runs short. Simon Doherty (Wrington) had bowled well.

9. John Waters reported that the League was hosting this year's inter-league competition and he said he would take charge of the arrangement of a venue. Uphill Castle/WSM was suggested as a possibility.

10. Derek Blower (Nailsea) delivered a report on an U15 representative match which he had managed against the Bath & District League XI. This had been won by 76 runs. Ian Simmonds (Failand & Portbury) had scored 57.

11. The Secretary reported that Kevin Stafford (WSM) had match managed a representative game against Taunton & District League which had been lost.

12. As regards U13 and U11 representative games, the Secretary referred to his report which covered these.

13. Peter Rose (Portishead) canvassed a possible rule change for U11 s to award 2 runs for a wide but not an extra ball. This was along the lines of a rule applying in the Bristol & District League. There was some support for it but there were also objections. The Secretary observed that wides would be cut down if 19 yard pitches for U11s were played on, as the rules provide. After discussion, it was determined to leave the question of rules for U11 games to the discretion of the managers.

14. The following officers were elected:

Brian Rose (President)
Tony Willoughby (Chairman)
Robert Humphreys (Secretary)
John Waters (Junior Secretary).

The Chairman observed that he had held his position for some 5 years or so and he would like to see a volunteer from another club take it on next year.

15. The appointment of representative managers was made as follows:

U17 Pete Williams (WSM), Simon Hopkinson (Nailsea) offering to assist
U15 John Scott (WSM)
U13 Sue Edwards (Wrington), with scope for Will Weber to assist as his circumstances allowed
U11 Russ Yandell (Failand & Portbury) and John Waters (Nailsea)

16. No applications to join the League were received. The Secretary reported that he had been notified that Old Bristolians, Barrow Gurney, Wedmore and Wells would not be entering teams next year.

17. Andrew Moulding, Youth Development Officer for Somerset Cricket Board, then gave a short presentation bringing to the attention of the meeting the ECB manuals which had recently been published. He explained their contents, particularly as they applied to youth sections. He encouraged clubs to think about their own development plans, in particular encouraging young coaches to get coaching qualifications and encouraging people to go on groundsmanship courses. He pointed out that National Lottery money was still available and encouraged clubs to apply for it. He was able and willing to assist with such applications.

18. Pat Colbourne (Chairman Somerset Youth Committee) gave a short presentation. He commented that over the years very few local youngsters had come through to play professional cricket for Somerset C.C.C. The aim of the Somerset Development plan was to try to identify and push through the best young cricketers. He said that his own experience of involvement over many years with youth cricket was that it was unproductive to wait for volunteers to do things; conscription and persuasion were more effective and those conscripted were often only waiting to be asked. He confirmed that the idea of the Corner games was to have a serious of games participated in by the best players at a standard above that of ordinary school/clubs.

19. Clive Dixon (Keynsham) asked if the U17 League could be divided geographically, particularly because of the difficulties of travelling. Discussion occurred but the general view of the meeting was that a geographical split would be undesirable.

20. The Secretary explained the need for clubs to have their own insurance to cover their own players and managers. The League's insurance only covered officers of the League and managers and representative XIs.

21. John Waters reported that the 1998 Subaru U13 competition would be runon an 11-a-side basis. A discussion took place as to whether the League should run its own area qualifying competition under the new rules or should stick to the current 8-a-side rules. Very little enthusiasm for the 8-a-side rules was shown by those present and accordingly the 1998 competition would be run on an 11-a-side basis.

22. The Chairman concluded by thanking Congresbury for hosting the meeting and Portishead, Congresbury and Clifton Flax Bourton for hosting the finals of the Cup competitions.

The meeting concluded at 10.30pm approx.

Chairman............... Date......................

MINUTES OF THE 1996 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
HELD AT NAILSEA C.C.
ON 11th NOVEMBER 1996 @ 7.30PM

Present:
Claverham
Congresbury
Uphill Castle
Worle Airways
Clifton Flax Bourton
Portishead
Winscombe
Blagdon
Failand & Portbury
Nailsea
Weston-super-Mare
Cheddar
Imperial
Wells
Wrington
Clevedon

Also present:
Tony Willoughby (Chairman)
Robert Humphreys (Secretary)
John Waters (Junior Secretary)

Apologies:
Brian Rose (President)
Terry Brown (Secretary North Development Development Group)
Doug Grewcock
Keynsham
Wedmore

Absent:
Barrow Gurney
Cleeve
Lodway

1. The minutes of 1995 AGM were read and approved. There were no matters arising from those minutes.

2. The Secretary delivered a report on the U17 and U15 sections. The Junior Secretary delivered a report on the U13 and U11 sections. [SEE REPORTS]

3. The Treasurer delivered accounts for the 1996 year and these were approved and accepted. No change was made to the level of subscriptions/fines for 1997.

4. John Waters reported on the League U17 Representative XI which he had managed. Unfortunately, the inter-league competition had been rained off entirely but the XI had played a fixture against the Bristol & District League winning comfortably. Scores were NSYCL 270-6: B&DYCL 125. The team had been a credit to the League both on and off the field.

5. Simon Hopkinson (Nailsea) reported that he had managed a League Representative U15 XI which had won a close game against the Bristol & District League. Scores were: B&DYCL 180: NSYCL 181-6. It had been an excellent game. The team, which comprised players representing eight different clubs, had been a credit to the League.

6. Peter Williams (WSM) reported that the U13 and U11 representative games against Somerset S.C.A., which in recent years have been played as League fixtures, did not take place this year. Unfortunately other representative fixtures at U13 and U11 level had not in the event taken place.

7. There was discussion of the League's representative fixtures generally and the Secretary hoped to carry out more groundwork for getting fixtures at all levels early in the year so as to ensure that the games were played. The objective for representative managers was reconfirmed: the UI7 XI is selected to be the strongest available team; the teams at the remaining levels are selected so as to be sufficiently strong but to represent as far as possible the member clubs in the League.

8. A proposal, and amendments to it, to change rule 9 so as to award points in circumstances where games are not played was discussed extensively. An amendment proposed by Clifton Flax Bourton was as follows: "All games must be played on or before the due date. Where a game is not played, the team not in default shall be awarded the 2 points. In the event of a game not being played owing to weather, each team will be awarded 1 point." The Chairman put this proposed amendment to the meeting but after a vote it was not accepted.

9. The Secretary then made the following proposal: ''A team which fails to fulfil or a home team which fails to arrange a ground for a fixture or postponed fixture shall be deemed to have lost the game." The Chairman put the proposal to the meeting and, after a vote, it was not accepted.

10. A proposal by the Secretary for the following amendment to rule 10 was accepted: "A postponed fixture shall be rearranged by the Clubs involved within 7 days and for a date before 23rd August....".

11. An amendment was made to rule 12 such that the responsibility for return of a result card be that of the winning or if tied the home team.

12. The following amendment to rule 5 in respect of the U11 section was accepted: "The initial stages of the competition ... shall be run on a friendly basis with the later stages run competitively."

13. After discussion, it was agreed that a trophy should be purchased and awarded to the winner of the U11 competition and the Chairman agreed to arrange this.

14. The possibility of changing U17 games to Monday evenings was discussed but insufficient support for this was evidenced and no change was proposed or made.

15. Election of the following officers took place:

Brian Rose: President
Tony Willoughby: Chairman
Robert Humphreys: Secretary
John Waters: Junior Secretary

Tony Willoughby expressed the wish to retire from the office of Chairman for the 1998 year and hoped that a proposed replacement would emerge during the course of the year.

16. The following were elected as representative team managers:
U17 John Waters (Nailsea)
U15 John Munden (Winscombe)
U13 to be filled
U11 to be filled

17. Applications to join the League were made on behalf of Keynsham, Blagdon and Wedmore and, after consideration, these applications were accepted.

18. A short report on the activities of the North Somerset Development Group was given by Peter Williams (WSM). Grant Sheppard was a qualified coach supplied by Somerset C.A. to the Development Group so as to organise coaching and in particular winter nets at WSM.

19. The Chairman proposed a vote of thanks to WestCountry Ground Care, the League's sponsors for the last 15 years and this was passed unanimously.

20. The Chairman noted that the League's accounts showed a healthy credit balance and he expressed the view that part of these funds could be usefully be allocated to coaching. Discussion ensued and Peter Williams (WSM) and Peter Rose (Portishead) agreed to make suggestions to the Secretary with a view to initiating a League coaching programme and the meeting authorised expenditure of up to £500 for coaching.

The meeting ended at 10.30pm.

Chairman................... Date: 8th December 1997