Abergavenny Cricket Club

Chairman Andy Timpson opened Abergavenny Cricket Club’s AGM by welcoming everyone and inviting the attendees to stand for a minute’s silence out of respect for deceased members.

In particular, their President of 30 years, Brian Shackleton, past players Mike Farr and Robin Williams, and a great friend and supporter of the club, Mr Gordon Thomas.

The minutes of the 2018 AGM were accepted as an accurate record of proceedings.

Treasurer Report- Nick Kinman

Nick indicated it was a pleasure to present the accounts, following a fantastic year for the club, having turned a loss last year of almost £700 into a healthy profit this year of £8k plus, this despite some large expenditure items including a new outfield mower, a new Cooling system for the cellar as well as other machinery totalling over £11k. He highlighted the improved fundraising as one of the key contributors and thanked all officers and members who had worked tirelessly to ensure the balance sheet was so healthy. The balance sheet was carried unanimously.

Chairman Report-Andy Timpson

Andy Timpson reported on the 2018 Year, from a management, playing and general activities viewpoint. He highlighted the good weather which is always a bonus for cricket, he congratulated the three teams and thanked the captains.

The First X1 retained the Status Quo in Division One, the Second X1 achieved promotion as did the Third X1. He linked the success on the field to the coaching system in place which has resulted in promising youngsters developing. Following the SEWCL AGM in November he reported on the new 12 Division League structure implemented with Abergavenny First X1 in Division One, The Second X1 in Division Five and the Third X1 in Division Eight. He then touched on the importance of Social events at the Club which are so important to the finances of the Club.

In 2019 there will be an experiment conducted on Sundays whereby the team will be selected from members who are either unable to play on Saturdays for whatever reason and those who don’t make selection, the team will be captained by Stuart Eccles, this will hopefully ensure most playing members get the opportunity to play in games. A Decision needs to be taken regarding entry into the Welsh Cup in 2019, Andy felt some assurances would be required relating to availability of players.

Other developments reported were the New state of the art security system which has been put in place, with the premises fully alarmed and covered by strategic CCTV cameras. The New Nets that have been agreed following a grant from the ECB, the planning permission is sorted and they should be fully functional by the start of the 2019 season. A defibrillator has been ordered and will be fitted shortly which will be a joint initiative with the Bowls club.

The Captains reported briefly on the 2018 Season as this item is covered on the end of season presentation night.

Geraint Leach reported that the First X1 had consolidated their place in Division One and won eight matches, of the 10 lost three of them were by 12 runs or less and he didn’t see any reason why in 2019 the team couldn’t push for promotion.

Steve Brown reported on a successful season for the Second X1 winning promotion and put this down to a really good team spirit with a blend of youth and experience, he thanked his team for their excellent availability throughout the season and in particular Gareth Powell, Lee Fury and Andy Timpson. The Second X1 were undefeated in the second half of the season and had five separate centurions.

There was no Third X1 report but it was noted that they completed an invincible season and are to be congratulated.

Youth Section- Geoff Shackleton

The youth section is extremely buoyant at present and had a very positive year with two Under 11 sides, Under 13s and Under 15s. The under 13s won the Plate Final at Sudbrook. There were 65 children enrolled in the All Stars scheme last year and the club will be pushing ahead with this in 2019. He hoped to progress an Under 9s X1 for next year. The winter academy is going well with the youngsters improving their skill and maintaining enthusiasm. Geoff thanked all the coaches for their hard work during the season and the ground staff for preparing wickets for the Juniors.

He highlighted the number of young people gaining representative honours For Gwent we had representation at Under 10, Under 11, Under 12, Under 14 and Under 15 levels. For Wales we had Under 11 and Under 17 level and one youngster [Tom Norton] has been selected for the Glamorgan Academy. He felt sure that the new nets would only help to keep the youngsters improving their game.

The following Officers were elected for 2019

President Vacant

Chairman Andy Timpson

Secretary Brian Mayers

Treasurer Nick Kinman

House Chair vacant

Cricket Chair Vacant

Youth Chair Geoff Shackleton

Ground Chair Dick Brown

Subs. Sec Kelly Evans

Fixture Sec Owain Bradley

1st team capt Will Glenn

2nd team capt Steve Brown

3rd team capt. Mark Winstanley

Sunday X1 capt S.Eccles

Welfare Officers- D.Kinman/ C.Knight