Present: Mike Burge, Tony Hewston, Zamir Khan, David Peters, Rahul Punj, Matthew Stevenson, Dan Webb

Apologies: Saqib Ahmed, Simon Gooch, Murray Scott


Matters Arising From Previous Minutes

• CPSA Spring Ball: Matthew Stevenson said that all debts for this had finally been settled.
• Sir Ali memorabilia for the club web site: there has been no progress on this.


Cricket Report

• TVL report: the 1st XI finished 9th out of 10 in Division 2B and now faces an anxious wait to see if it has been relegated to Division 3; Zamir Khan said that it had been a very disappointing season, and highlighted poor availability, weakness in seam bowling and bad fielding as the three main shortcomings. The 2nd XI finished 7th out of 10 in Division 4B, a creditable performance after promotion the previous season; David Peters said that fighting for every bonus point, in matches which we drew and lost, was the outstanding feature of the season.
• Other matches: availability in the Sunday 1st XI has continued to be a problem; we have only cried off a couple of matches, but Rahul Punj has been twisting the arms of Saturday 1st XI players to play Sundays too, and this does not seem sustainable for much longer. The Sunday 2nd XI has continued to enjoy a great season, with ten victories so far already.
• MASL review: Matthew Stevenson said that the Sunday league had been a slight disappointment, with three opposition teams crying off, and several opposition teams being very weak.
• Midweek review: Matthew Stevenson said that the matches had been a success, although getting teams out had been difficult. Dan Webb said that it would be nice to have some 2nd XI midweek matches next season.
• Disciplinary incident: Matthew Stevenson reported that a disciplinary sub committee had banned Neal Collins from all matches at the club for two weeks, following an unpleasant incident during the Skinner Cup match against Chesham.
• Juniors: in the absence of Phil Noot, there was no report.


Treasurer’s Report

• Match fees: these are all up to date.
• Annual subscriptions: there is only one outstanding debtor and Dan Webb will chase him for payment.
• ECB raffle: Matthew Stevenson said that this had made a profit of £318.
• ECB funding: Matthew Stevenson said that he had applied for the latest funding available from the ECB but had received a letter to say that our application had been unsuccessful.
• Compensation from Tiddington C.C.: Matthew Stevenson said that he had received a cheque for £30 re the late cancellation of our MASL match on Sunday, 27th July.
• Teas and bar proposal: Matthew Stevenson said that the CPSA board is proposing to use external caterers for the bar and teas effective from the start of the hockey season. There was a very long and heated debate on this issue, the main concern being the cost of the cricket teas. The committee asked Matthew Stevenson to discuss this matter further with the CPSA board.


Ground Report

• Covers: the welding work is still in progress. There will be some manpower required, and some costs, to buy and fit the wheels and guttering, when the basic framework has been delivered to the ground (see below).
• Square: the square has played poorly this season and plans are afoot to deal with this in the end of season work (see below).
• Outfield: this remains in good condition despite the hot, dry weather but it needs to be treated with weedkiller and fed.
• Ground projects: Matthew Stevenson said that he had had a meeting with David Banner to discuss what needs to be done during the winter; the committee then prioritised the tasks, see below:


Ground Project Priorities

1. End of season work: scarify, top soil, seed and fertilize the square as normal. The cost of the materials will be approximately £500.
2. Thatch: it is David Banner’s opinion that the layer of thatch two inches below the surface, which prevents the grass roots from holding the surface together, is what is causing the uneven bounce. To confirm this, he proposes to take some soil samples to a) identify how much thatch there is and b) locate the railway sleepers on which the square was laid. To remove the thatch, he proposes to hire a machine @ £200 to apply a chemical @ £280, but this cannot be done until we have a significant amount of rain.
3. Roller: the engine is leaking oil at the moment and needs to be repaired. A basic repair, such as fitting a sheet of metal to catch the leaked oil, could be done for £50, but this is hardly worth considering. The cost of a new engine will be approximately £300 including labour (David Banner would do the work himself). A professional overhaul, which effectively means a mechanic taking the roller away and fitting a new engine, would cost £2000.
4. Covers: David Banner estimates that the costs will be £80 for the wheels, £120 for the guttering and anything between £200 and £1000 for the tarpaulin. We will have to organise work parties to fit the wheels, guttering and tarpaulin cover when the steel frames have been completed.
5. Outfield: David Banner said that the golf club will spray the weedkiller onto the outfield at a cost of £100, but this also needs rain beforehand. David Banner will feed the outfield by hand after the weedkiller has been applied. This will cost a further £100.
6. Bowl effect on cricket square: thirty years of repairing the ends with top soil has created a bowl effect on the square, which makes it especially difficult for bowlers to run up properly. David Banner said that we could either hire a “graden” from the golf club @ £290, or do the job manually over a longer period of time.


Social Report

Forthcoming events: Mike Burge reported that there were a number of social events coming up, namely a hockey event on Saturday, 27th September; a five-a-side football tournament on Sunday, 19th October; a curry and fireworks evening on Saturday, 8th November and a Christmas party on Saturday, 13th September.


Any Other Business

• Next meeting: this will take place on Wednesday, 8th October, 8.00pm, in the clubhouse.