Present: David Banner (chairman), Matthew Stevenson, David Peters, Simon Gooch,
Zamir Khan, Rahul Punj, Saqib Ahmed, Mike Burge, Phil Noot

Apologies: Murray Scott, Andrew Amor


Matters Arising From Previous Minutes

- 2001 subscription debtors: John Cooper, Richard Heath and Matthew Woods. There has been no further progress on this one. David Banner said that he would speak to John Cooper, about a joint payment for this and last season. This item will now be removed from the matters arising.
- 2002 subscription debtors: Shahid Din is the only notable debtor from this season. Matthew Stevenson said that he would chase this up, and also that he would speak to various people, who have played just a handful of games, about a part payment.
- Sir Ali funds: the outstanding £100, from the merger with Sir Ali, has still not been transferred into the club account. Zamir Khan said that this will be sorted out, but he could not guarantee when. The problem relates to authorised signatures on the Sir Ali bank account. It was agreed that this item should, in the meantime, be taken off the matters arising.
- CCC match: this was sadly ruined by poor weather, with only three overs of play possible. However, the day was a great success socially, with an excellent tea and an Indian barbecue in the evening.


Cricket Report

- Results: Matthew Stevenson said that Saturday 1st XI results over the last month had improved and we have a good chance of finishing second in Division 2B of the TVL. Sunday 1st XI results have remained good, and we have reached the final of the Skinner Cup plate competition. The Saturday 2nd XI are currently placed third in Division 5A of the TVL and need a win in the final match, and favourable results elsewhere, to achieve promotion. The Sunday 2nd XI have continued to struggle on the field of play, with the batting especially weak, but did have a good win against Tring Park III at the weekend.
- Availability: this has been very good on recent Saturdays, with the success on the field of play undoubtedly a factor. Sunday availability has also held up well, and we have consistently fielded two teams throughout the season.
- Sunday leagues: the standard of cricket in Sunday 1st XI matches this season has been very disappointing, and we have been let down several times by clubs unable to raise teams. It was agreed that we should try to join a Sunday league next season, the main reasons being to improve the standard of cricket available, and to get a guaranteed fixture list.
- Midweek cricket: several club members have expressed an interest in midweek cricket next season. It was agreed that Matthew Stevenson would try to arrange a couple of matches next season as a trial.
- Selection policy: bearing in mind that availability for the Skinner Cup plate final is very good, Matthew Stevenson proposed that the criteria for selection should be a) at least one appearance in one of the earlier rounds and b) cricketing merit. This was agreed.
- Overseas players: there have been some problems with transporting the overseas players from their accomodation to the ground, with the burden falling largely on Zamir Khan. There was a general discussion on whether or not we should have an overseas player in 2003, but the debate was not conclusive.
- Disciplinary incident: Tony Hewston has received a one match ban, suspended until June, 2003, after an incident in the Skinner Cup plate semi final match at Great Kingshill.



Ground Report

- Square and outfield: we have continued to receive very good marks from the opposition captains, and everyone reiterated their thanks to David Banner for doing such a great job on the ground.
- Covers: David Banner said that we could either make them ourselves, with work parties over the winter, or try to negotiate a deal with a third party. Zamir Khan has a contact at Black & Decker, who might be interested in buying the covers for us, in return for free use of the ground, say ten evening matches a season over a three year period, and free advertising on the covers themselves. Saqib Ahmed said that he favoured the latter approach, because the response to work parties was generally poor, with the same committee stalwarts doing all the work. Without expressing a preference for either option, Simon Gooch said that he was concerned about the overhead, on at least one club member, of opening and closing the clubhouse, and running the bar, for the free matches. It was agreed that Zamir Khan would try to negotiate a provisional deal with Black & Decker, and report back to the committee.
- Astroturf: this will be stored in the containers for the foreseeable future. There are longer term plans to remove or relocate the containers, but these plans are not likely to come to fruition for at least a year.
- Levelling the outfield: David Banner said that he was planning to level the outfield in the area of the bowlers' run ups. He explained that there was some risk in this, but it was agreed that he should proceed. The longer term plan is to do the same thing to the square, which has a noticeable down slope in the middle of each pitch.


Treasurer's Report

- Match fees: Matthew Stevenson said that the match fees were up to date, apart from one missing Sunday 2nd XI match, against Prestcold, on 18th August.
- Current balance: Murray Scott was unable to attend the meeting, but reported that the current balance is £953. He said that he had recently transferred £2,800 to the CPSA bank account.


Social Events

- Departure of overseas players: Mike Burge will send out an email to all cricket members, asking them to come down to the club on Saturday evening, for an informal drink, to say goodbye to Nouman Habib and Adnan Khan, who are going home next week.
- Curry night: Mike Burge is organising the curry evening in early November.
- Annual Dinner Dance: Mike Burge will confirm the plans for the CPSA Annual Dinner Dance at the next social committee meeting.


Any Other Business

- Sir Ali vice presidents and life members: Matthew Stevenson said that it would be great to nominate some Sir Ali stalwarts as life members and vice presidents. Zamir Khan will give this some thought and report back at the next meeting.
- Mike Burge suggested some coaching sessions, for all club members, at the Lord's nets during the winter, and volunteered to organise this himself.
- Next meeting: this will be on Wednesday, 9th October, 8.00pm, in the clubhouse.