DEVON SENIORS CRICKET
CLUB AGM - Sunday 17th November 12 noon
A date for you to enter into your diary now, lest you forget. In line with the assurances given at the AGM in 2023, it is being held at Hatherleigh CC
This is geographically kinder to all of you who live west and north of Exeter who have in the past had to travel a long way to take part.
It will also be an opportunity to meet your new Secretary – no-one has yet seized this chance to be at the core of Devon Seniors Cricket, though obviously someone will over the course of the summer.
In addition we will be able to partake of the wonderful catering for which Hatherleigh is renowned.
The plan is to hold the AGM at about noon and then have lunch together afterwards.
This is geographically kinder to all of you who live west and north of Exeter who have in the past had to travel a long way to take part.
It will also be an opportunity to meet your new Secretary – no-one has yet seized this chance to be at the core of Devon Seniors Cricket, though obviously someone will over the course of the summer.
In addition we will be able to partake of the wonderful catering for which Hatherleigh is renowned.
The plan is to hold the AGM at about noon and then have lunch together afterwards.
PETE ROSE MEMORIAL GAME at Shobrooke
A fine-weather day saw a fitting turnout of old faces in tribute to a much-missed member of the Club.
A good number of the team who had famously lifted the National 50s trophy in 2002 were there along with more recent team-mates from his days in the 60s and 70s.
Chris Theedom recalled how crucial Pete’s contribution had been to the Final’s win – 9-2-14-2 – but also to his generous nature and his interest in fellow humans.
Barry Flicker shared even older memories of their days together as riotous youths in Somerset and even had a photo from the local paper dated almost exactly 50 years earlier showing both Pete ( unrecognisable) and Barry ( almost so) revelling in a day out at the cricket.
Pete and Sue’s twin boys Jamie and Martin spoke movingly of having such an astute cricketer for a father, and Jamie of the innings they once put together to rescue Shobrooke Park from relegation.
An abundant and appetising tea was put together by Sue and little remained by the end of the day.
A good number of the team who had famously lifted the National 50s trophy in 2002 were there along with more recent team-mates from his days in the 60s and 70s.
Chris Theedom recalled how crucial Pete’s contribution had been to the Final’s win – 9-2-14-2 – but also to his generous nature and his interest in fellow humans.
Barry Flicker shared even older memories of their days together as riotous youths in Somerset and even had a photo from the local paper dated almost exactly 50 years earlier showing both Pete ( unrecognisable) and Barry ( almost so) revelling in a day out at the cricket.
Pete and Sue’s twin boys Jamie and Martin spoke movingly of having such an astute cricketer for a father, and Jamie of the innings they once put together to rescue Shobrooke Park from relegation.
An abundant and appetising tea was put together by Sue and little remained by the end of the day.
Teams 70s team v Wiltshire at Melksham start 12.30
TEAM: J Baxter; J Goodwin; A Rose; P Berman ; T Stanton; N Botton; D Gambie; F Harding; R Page; K Evers; J Day; R Eames Scorer K Baxter NO Teas How do I get to the pavilion & grounds? – The pavilion is in Melksham town centre, SN12 6ES. You go into the centre and drive between the town hall & baileys employment. Go between the pillars down the drive. Melksham house is in front of you. Go right and follow road around back of bowls club then up lane towards the cricket green and the club is the new grey building. |
TeamsTeam selected for Over 60s 1s v Susex, Tuesday 30 July, 1pm start:
R Wensley, S Hunt, S Luffman, R Pyle, C Cook, M Heather, D Solomon+, K Bell, B Jeary, P Bates Scorer: Alan Webster, Umpire: J Gadie |
Latest Updates |
Match Reports |
Results w/c 15thJuly
More rain this week but good results for the 50s 2nds & 60s 1sts 50’S 2nd XI v Somerset Devon 218-2 (Ford 102*, Beaumont 55*) Dorset 217-7 Devon win by 8 wickets. 60’s 1st XI v Kent Devon 224-9 (Hunt 35, Luffman 39, Pyle 77) Kent 185-8 (Bell 3-42) Devon win by 39 runs 60’s 2nd XI v Somerset GAME CANCELLED 70’s 1st XI v Hampshire Devon 156-8 (Rose 65) Hampshire 160-3 Hampshire win by 7wickets |
wales_v_devon_4.7.24.doc Over 70s v Wales ~ Over 70s v Wilts ~ Over 70s v Somerset Over 70s v Gloucs
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CLUB SECRETARY
Well it’s Bank Holiday, the sun is shining and the season is finally under way.
A fractured radius leaves me with time on my hands – well one hand – so I thought it was a good moment to remind you all that I am standing down as Secretary this November and someone needs to take on the role if the Club is to continue functioning.
I have uploaded a job description for you to contemplate and I will be happy to expand on any aspects of it that candidates may seek clarification about.
secretary_job_description.doc
A fractured radius leaves me with time on my hands – well one hand – so I thought it was a good moment to remind you all that I am standing down as Secretary this November and someone needs to take on the role if the Club is to continue functioning.
I have uploaded a job description for you to contemplate and I will be happy to expand on any aspects of it that candidates may seek clarification about.
secretary_job_description.doc
Ron Hedley's Walk for Prostate Cancer UK and the Bob Willis Fun
On Saturday 20 April Devon County Seniors CC members rose to the challenge set by Ron Hedley for every Seniors County to walk for his chosen charities. Ron himself came with his wife and two friends and in total twenty made the five and a half mile journey from South Devon CC Newton Abbot to Bovey Tracey CC along the cycle path up the Teign Valley. After a warm welcome at South Devon, where Ron gave out T-shirts, caps and badges, we made a short detour through town where some of the public made donations. The day was perfect for walking, the sun shining and a light breeze. All enjoyed the walk and it was a good opportunity to catch up and reminisce after the winter break. On arrival at Bovey Tracey the Cricket committee there provided us with pasties and opened the bar for much needed refreshments. Thanks to them, Nigel Mountford and also South Devon and Neil Matthews for their willingness to get involved from the outset and ensure everything ran smoothly on the day.
Originally I had hoped we might raise four figures which we did, but I was amazed at the final total. Some of the walkers had arranged personal sponsorship which boosted the sum raised. All donations from the Devon contingent, their families and friends, with Gift Aid pledges included, raised £2126.25, a truly magnificent sum. This will go to Prostate Cancer UK and the Bob Willis Fund, also a prostate cancer charity. These are the causes for which Ron Hedley the organiser nationally set up the challenge.
My thanks to all who participated on the day and to those who supported financially. I think we did Devon proud.
Andy Rose
Devon County Seniors CC Treasurer
Originally I had hoped we might raise four figures which we did, but I was amazed at the final total. Some of the walkers had arranged personal sponsorship which boosted the sum raised. All donations from the Devon contingent, their families and friends, with Gift Aid pledges included, raised £2126.25, a truly magnificent sum. This will go to Prostate Cancer UK and the Bob Willis Fund, also a prostate cancer charity. These are the causes for which Ron Hedley the organiser nationally set up the challenge.
My thanks to all who participated on the day and to those who supported financially. I think we did Devon proud.
Andy Rose
Devon County Seniors CC Treasurer
Club AGM 2023
The AGM was attended by 20 players. There were apologies from 20 players and from 6 officials and vice-Presidents. The Chairman’s report has already been made available on the website.
The Secretary presented his report. The chief item in it was that he will be standing down in 2024 after 7 years to make way for someone younger to take on the role at the next AGM. The Treasurer’s report had been circulated to all members prior to the AGM. The Club is in a healthy state financially at the moment, partly due to one-off payments from the ECB and DCB. There were 87 Subscriptions paid for 2023. But the defibrillators need refurbishing in 2024 which is a large expense.
Anyone who has a project involving Club members is invited to pitch it to the Committee.
The Treasurer confirmed that he will be standing down in 2025, thereby avoiding there being a simultaneous change in the Club’s two administrators. He proposed that Subs and Match fees should remain unchanged, at £10, for the 2024 season. This was accepted unanimously.
The President, Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Fixture Secretary, Webmaster and 60s 1st XI captain were all re-elected unopposed.
Steve Broad and Jeff Baxter have agreed to take on 50s 2nds and 70s respectively. At the time of writing, Steve Moore has taken on the 50s 1st XI and Neil Mattews Captain for the 60s 2nd XI.
The Chairman reported that it had been a difficult decision to make when choosing the DCB /Shrey kit deal. He proposed that it be reviewed at the end of the 2024 season.
The Secretary referred to the impending National 60s AGM and the balls due to be used in 2024, after this season’s terrible choice of a Stonehill ball. The meeting indicated that it would support a proposal to spend a little more on balls if it meant sourcing a better quality item.
After exactly one hour the Meeting was closed and all present enjoyed a hearty meal at the Carvery.
The Secretary presented his report. The chief item in it was that he will be standing down in 2024 after 7 years to make way for someone younger to take on the role at the next AGM. The Treasurer’s report had been circulated to all members prior to the AGM. The Club is in a healthy state financially at the moment, partly due to one-off payments from the ECB and DCB. There were 87 Subscriptions paid for 2023. But the defibrillators need refurbishing in 2024 which is a large expense.
Anyone who has a project involving Club members is invited to pitch it to the Committee.
The Treasurer confirmed that he will be standing down in 2025, thereby avoiding there being a simultaneous change in the Club’s two administrators. He proposed that Subs and Match fees should remain unchanged, at £10, for the 2024 season. This was accepted unanimously.
The President, Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Fixture Secretary, Webmaster and 60s 1st XI captain were all re-elected unopposed.
Steve Broad and Jeff Baxter have agreed to take on 50s 2nds and 70s respectively. At the time of writing, Steve Moore has taken on the 50s 1st XI and Neil Mattews Captain for the 60s 2nd XI.
The Chairman reported that it had been a difficult decision to make when choosing the DCB /Shrey kit deal. He proposed that it be reviewed at the end of the 2024 season.
The Secretary referred to the impending National 60s AGM and the balls due to be used in 2024, after this season’s terrible choice of a Stonehill ball. The meeting indicated that it would support a proposal to spend a little more on balls if it meant sourcing a better quality item.
After exactly one hour the Meeting was closed and all present enjoyed a hearty meal at the Carvery.
New Captains for 2024 |
Latest Stats 2002 - 2023 |
End of season reports |
The Captains for the 2024 season:
Over 50s 1st XI captain for 2024 will be Steve Moore. Over 50s 2nd XI captain for 2024 will be Steve Broad. Over 60s 1st XI captain for 2024 will be Roger Wensley Over 60s 2nd XI captain for 2024 will be Neil Matthews. Over 70s captain for 2024 will be Jeff Baxter. Congratulations and good luck to all the captains. |
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National 60s/70s AGM 30th November
The customary preliminaries were followed by the appointment of a President and Vice-Presidents: Scyld Berry, Henry Blofeld, Roland Butcher, Paul Farbrace, Barry Hearn OBE and Sir Tim Rice.
The Treasurer reported that in view of the £14000 held in reserve, the Subs for next year’s competitions could remain the same.
Paul Bradley reported on what had been a very successful season for the England 60s team, most notably beating Australia 3-2.Chris Lowe had similar news from the 70s, beating Australia 2-0 and one game tied, played in England.
Proposed Amendments to the Constitution were designed to clarify the role of the Committee and to avoid some of the issues which had arisen this year. Regarding selection of players dropping down a level, it is now compulsory for the permission of the Competition organiser to be obtained beforehand. If there is a question of the weather being a problem, it is the Met Office prediction which should be referred to. All the amendments were approved en bloc unanimously.
Amendments to the Rules – 5.1.3; 7; 8 - were put forward by the Committee. The most important was the need to communicate between teams where there was substantial distance to travel and the weather was looking dodgy. In addition there is now a Rule that home counties “must make every effort to minimise the travelling distance of the opposition” The aim is a maximum of 120 miles between designated central towns for each County.
Disappointingly the proposal by Devon that for 70s “either team requests the game be 40 overs” was voted down by 10 to 15. It was clear from the short debate that many delegates had either not read the proposal or didn’t understand it. The only bright spot is that at least three of our likely opponents in the matrix are pro-40. And for the future, even the England 60s are looking to play 40 over games.
The Committee were elected en bloc in the absence of any challenges for the roles.
There will be 33 Counties in the 60s 1sts Competition and Yorkshire and Wiltshire will bring the 2nds up to 30.
A preliminary indication from the Meeting suggested that the majority are in favour of the 1sts being 3 X 8 and 1 X 9 with the extra games meaning a start to the calendar in the middle of April. Durham seemed to think this was a good idea, which was interesting.
The 70s will have the addition of Middlesex, Lancashire and Bucks. It might mean that the matrix changes but this is to be preferred to having fixed groups.
There is a plan to replace the existing website with the aim of giving more people access to upload reports and results and most particularly venues.
There is now a dedicated page for the Prostate Cancer Awareness walks being organised by Ron Hedley. Wiltshire intervened to say that it was imperative that as many people as possible ask for a PSA test even if they are not exhibiting potential symptoms.
It is crucial that results are logged on to Play-Cricket on the day. In fact most games are now scored in this way so not a problem generally. The reason for this is that in the later stages there is pressure of time to organise venues.
The survey on the quality of the 2023 balls had been analysed and there are three options being considered for 2024. The supplier will be either Stonehill, Reader or Dukes. Hunts had offered a pink ball but this was ruled out. The ball will be red. The main criteria are Quality against Price. There are some Counties which do not want to pay a bit more for a better ball.
There will be a push for distribution to be directly to the Counties. This year had been problematic due to games early on being cancelled.
Meeting closed without there being any contentious issues given an airing.
In a conversation with Chris Swadkin after the meeting closed, I suggested that in view of the poor decision that had been made for the 2023 balls it would be good to have clear transparency over the decision-making process for 2024.
The Treasurer reported that in view of the £14000 held in reserve, the Subs for next year’s competitions could remain the same.
Paul Bradley reported on what had been a very successful season for the England 60s team, most notably beating Australia 3-2.Chris Lowe had similar news from the 70s, beating Australia 2-0 and one game tied, played in England.
Proposed Amendments to the Constitution were designed to clarify the role of the Committee and to avoid some of the issues which had arisen this year. Regarding selection of players dropping down a level, it is now compulsory for the permission of the Competition organiser to be obtained beforehand. If there is a question of the weather being a problem, it is the Met Office prediction which should be referred to. All the amendments were approved en bloc unanimously.
Amendments to the Rules – 5.1.3; 7; 8 - were put forward by the Committee. The most important was the need to communicate between teams where there was substantial distance to travel and the weather was looking dodgy. In addition there is now a Rule that home counties “must make every effort to minimise the travelling distance of the opposition” The aim is a maximum of 120 miles between designated central towns for each County.
Disappointingly the proposal by Devon that for 70s “either team requests the game be 40 overs” was voted down by 10 to 15. It was clear from the short debate that many delegates had either not read the proposal or didn’t understand it. The only bright spot is that at least three of our likely opponents in the matrix are pro-40. And for the future, even the England 60s are looking to play 40 over games.
The Committee were elected en bloc in the absence of any challenges for the roles.
There will be 33 Counties in the 60s 1sts Competition and Yorkshire and Wiltshire will bring the 2nds up to 30.
A preliminary indication from the Meeting suggested that the majority are in favour of the 1sts being 3 X 8 and 1 X 9 with the extra games meaning a start to the calendar in the middle of April. Durham seemed to think this was a good idea, which was interesting.
The 70s will have the addition of Middlesex, Lancashire and Bucks. It might mean that the matrix changes but this is to be preferred to having fixed groups.
There is a plan to replace the existing website with the aim of giving more people access to upload reports and results and most particularly venues.
There is now a dedicated page for the Prostate Cancer Awareness walks being organised by Ron Hedley. Wiltshire intervened to say that it was imperative that as many people as possible ask for a PSA test even if they are not exhibiting potential symptoms.
It is crucial that results are logged on to Play-Cricket on the day. In fact most games are now scored in this way so not a problem generally. The reason for this is that in the later stages there is pressure of time to organise venues.
The survey on the quality of the 2023 balls had been analysed and there are three options being considered for 2024. The supplier will be either Stonehill, Reader or Dukes. Hunts had offered a pink ball but this was ruled out. The ball will be red. The main criteria are Quality against Price. There are some Counties which do not want to pay a bit more for a better ball.
There will be a push for distribution to be directly to the Counties. This year had been problematic due to games early on being cancelled.
Meeting closed without there being any contentious issues given an airing.
In a conversation with Chris Swadkin after the meeting closed, I suggested that in view of the poor decision that had been made for the 2023 balls it would be good to have clear transparency over the decision-making process for 2024.
Chairman's Report 2023
Another season comes to a close. One of varied degrees of success and disappointment. I will leave the detail for the captains to cover in their reports, keeping my rambling to a minimum.
Sincere thanks from the Committee for the work of everyone involved from the Sponsors, Vice- Presidents, Umpires, Scorers, Captains, Clubs & Venues, Spectators & Supporters and not forgetting the Players and long suffering Partners.
As has been the case over the last few years, availability has been a big issue. The captains have again been magnificent, doing a very difficult job to an excellent standard. Thanks guys, you may not feel it at times but that effort is much appreciated by everyone within our club.
It has been a privilege to be Chairman this year although I must apologise for not being around more. My season was cut short in June after tearing a calf muscle and ending up in plaster. Injury sustained? You guessed it, agreeing to play at the last minute for Filleigh. Will I never learn?
Our club continues to be in a strong position, both financially and in player numbers. However, we shouldn’t sit on our laurels and members must continue to encourage new players to join. Remember, it’s a privilege to play for your county, something most of us never dreamed of happening in our early playing years.
Hopefully there will be a large turnout at this week’s AGM and dinner. We will attempt to get as many reports out to the membership as we can prior to the meeting. Thus keeping the AGM short and allowing more time to eat and socialise.
Dave Hart
Chairman
Golf Day
Despite the gloomy forecast 17 members attended the inaugural Devon Seniors CC Golf Day at Downes Crediton Golf Club, with a mixture of golf (good & bad), dodging the odd shower and convivial good, humoured chat, all those that attended appeared to have enjoyed the day and meal afterwards, with conversations continuing well after the final putt was holed. It is certainly hoped that this will be an annual event or even a pre-season warm up fixture!
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Thursday 31st August Home (Shobrooke Park) v Hollywood Golden Oldies - Hollywood 105-3 ( 25 overs) Devon 93-9. Hollywood won by 12 runs
Despite a horrendous forecast and torrential rain in the morning, the game eventually started at 2.30 though reduced to 25 overs. It was completed without any breaks for rain and the evening remained fine.
The game was followed by a substantial BBQ that was soon consumed to a background of buzzing intercontinental chat.
Despite a horrendous forecast and torrential rain in the morning, the game eventually started at 2.30 though reduced to 25 overs. It was completed without any breaks for rain and the evening remained fine.
The game was followed by a substantial BBQ that was soon consumed to a background of buzzing intercontinental chat.