2022 season review

Secretary's Report 2022

As delivered to the AGM, February 2023

I began last year’s report by hoping for a normal season in 2022 after the ‘Covid years’. We hoped that there would be no recurrence of the virus and no Covid cancellations so that our hankering for bygone days would be rewarded by cricket as we knew it. Well, to an extent that was the case but things are not always normal and we have to adapt. Primarily we had to adapt to the hottest and driest summer since the fabled 1976 season. Outfields resembled the desert scenes from the opening credits of Better Call Saul as the temperature hit an unprecedented 40 degrees, pitches required enough water to float a battleship and groundsmen had to contend with unique conditions. That they, mostly, managed was a testament to their resilience and commitment. More of that later. We also had to, again for the first time I think, allow matches to start earlier or to be cancelled if, for health reasons, the match conditions might be too onerous for some. It will be interesting to see how some outfields recover for the coming season. Watering them during the drought would have been, for many clubs, either impossible or unaffordable.

Congratulations to the winners and those who achieved promotion. Commiserations to those going the other way, but always remember that a new season brings fresh hopes and enthusiasms.

Richard Bayliss’s report on the season in the handbook contains the details of what happened on the pitch so I shall confine myself to recording the fact that Potters Bar won the Premier division. Radlett, who they pipped by a whisker to that title, aided by some out of character wet weather, got their revenge in the play-off final. The ‘Bar’ won the Premier T/20 and Old Owens replaced Hoddesdon in the Premier. The Sunday T/20 winners were Watford Town and the plate Old Elizabethans.

There may be a problem looming about the quality of the grounds we play on. Generally, the standards at the top of the league are very good. The established clubs have the facilities, the equipment, the groundsmen and finance to do what is necessary to maintain their grounds even in the most trying of conditions. That cannot always be said further down the structure. For the first time in my committee life, we had to suspend a team’s membership of the league due to the condition of their pitch. A match at Bushey in division 2a was abandoned by panel umpires because the pitch was dangerous. Both their first and second teams were withdrawn from their respective divisions and their third eleven was only allowed to play friendlies. This very difficult decision was taken by the committee as the facilities standards required by our constitution had not been met. The story has a happier outcome in that the club, with the help and advice of our pitch inspector, and the input of a local club’s groundsman undertook an extensive renovation of the square. Our committee’s inspection of the facility in October led to their re-admittance to the league albeit with a relegation. There is a more general point to this story and that is that many clubs rely on volunteer help to maintain their surfaces and that help is often from the older club members with time on their hands and enthusiasm to push them along. That may not always be so and there seems to be a lack of younger qualified groundsmen around that clubs can afford. The same problem exists in Council run grounds. Councils, starved of cash, are less likely to want to employ experienced cricket groundsmen when the time and money that they require can be more economically used elsewhere in their grounds maintenance departments. Add to that, the fact that in my local area in the last ten years three established cricket grounds are no longer used for cricket and for 2023 two of our member clubs have been thrown off their established grounds, so you can see that there may be a problem in finding suitable facilities to stage league cricket in the future. I cannot see any new cricket grounds appearing any time soon either. I offer no solutions to this problem save to remind clubs that they should never take for granted that their ground will be there for ever and you should do all that you can to preserve and maintain the standards of grounds that we have.

On that point we have also had to contact a few clubs who, in playing terms, are on the up. Our facilities requirements mandate that the higher a club rises up our structure the better its playing facilities need to be. We leisure activity or whether cancelled weddings, stag do’s, delayed holidays or pop concerts interrupted the normal life of an amateur cricketer we cannot say but the evidence was plain to see. As a league we have an obligation to ensure that our clubs have regular weekend cricket and if some clubs overreach their playing capabilities their opponents suffer. We took a number of teams out of the 2023 structure as a result and one or two clubs objected strongly to not being included. We hope to introduce a ‘Friendly’ division for 2023 to allow clubs, where availability allows teams to play some weeks but not others, to get cricket in and will seek to tighten our rules relating to removing sides when there are availability problems. have not always, in the past, given appropriate warnings that further progress may not be available if facilities do not match the level of cricket played. In the premier division the requirements come down to us from the ECB and are part of their requirements for receiving the grant money. Below that we rely on clause three of our constitution. Clubs will be reminded of this part of our rules. We cannot keep an eye on all of you all of the time so please acquaint (reacquaint) yourselves of that clause and strive to keep up with the standards required. There are grant monies available from various bodies and organisations and details are available in the handbook and through County associations.

Last season also saw the most concessions we have ever had arising out of lack of player availability. After 2020 and 2021 most of us suspected that there would be a return to normality and players would champ at the bit to get back on the field. That wasn’t the case sadly and many teams failed to meet their playing obligations. Whether the lockdowns gave players an introduction to other forms of

There may be another way of dealing with the problem of availability and that is the possibility of using Sundays for league matches. We allowed this in the regional structure during Covid restrictions and continued the policy in 2022. That not many clubs availed themselves of this option should not, I believe, close our eyes to its potential. We have become used to the fact that league cricket is played on Saturdays, it is true, but playing some matches on Sundays has the potential to tick a few boxes. Sunday cricket has died out for a lot of clubs over the last twenty or thirty years so playing the odd league match on a Sunday would help to increase use of grounds and push up income. It would also help potential players who have to work on Saturdays to enjoy the cut and thrust of league cricket. My earlier remarks about the problem of the lack of availability of suitable grounds on Saturdays could also be partly solved if established grounds were used for Sunday league matches. I accept that clubs often have to commit to regular payments for additional grounds on Saturdays and there are weather considerations, but I really do believe that flexibility is the key here. The committee will look at the possibilities going forward but it would help if clubs discussed this internally and offered suggestions. This is not unrelated to the campaign, launched last season by Ben Wilson of Bayford and Hertford Nondescripts CC, ‘Save Village Cricket’ . Their own problems with finding enough players are symptomatic of the problems many clubs faced last season and some of our committee met with Ben and Dominic Chatfield of the County Association to see if we could help. Their club’s problem is mirrored by many of those who cancelled elsewhere in the league last season. We all have to look at the causes and, again, flexibility may be part of the answer. The type of game we play, the distances we have to travel to play that game and the amount of red tape with which all clubs now have to comply may prevent the ‘waverer’ from becoming involved. A quiet life elsewhere may be preferable. Two other problems reared their ugly heads last season. The first problem concerned the but the offences mentioned above will not be tolerated. This is especially the case with racism. Last year I reported the issues raised by Azeem Rafiq and those issues are still with us. The hearing into the matter is due to be held in the Spring, in public, but already its efficacy is likely to be questioned as four of those accused of racism are refusing to take part. Whilst that is not our league’s concern its implications are. Our committee have all had to take part in an ECB online training course in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. We all need to be aware of this elephant in our room and, as I said in 2021’s report, be mindful of the views of others in this area. question of discipline, or rather the lack of it, on the field and will be dealt with in a special article on the subject in the handbook. But I cannot let this report pass without referring to it here. I shall not name the people, or the clubs concerned because that is not the point. The point is that misbehaviour on the field should not be tolerated and whilst we might disagree over the level of that behaviour, we must all agree that seriously bad behaviour deserves a swift and commensurate action. Thirty-six pages of discipline rules at Premier level hit my in-box from the ECB before Christmas and another 11 pages for cricket at a lower level accompanied them. But whatever those rules say, nothing can excuse racism, threats of violence, drinking on the field and during play and the use of recreational drugs on or off the field. One player has been banned for two years and others will be if they transgress again. In addition, one club was demoted. All of this is unacceptable. It shouldn’t be beyond the wit of man to impose, within clubs, a code of conduct that prevents such things happening or if they do, to remove those players from membership. I fully accept that a ban for a level one offence, for example, questioning an umpire’s eyesight or hearing, should not result in such action

The second problem related to our policy of not allowing players to be paid for playing below the level of the championship. Again, I do not propose to name those involved, but it is the principle again that is important. Whilst we had ‘evidence’ that a particular player had received payment for playing, the club and the player denied it. We have no power to obtain bank statements, HMRC records nor take sworn statements from those involved nor can we demand the production of the brown paper bag. So, we were stuck. Proving transgression is difficult but the principle of the rule is still important, and should we ever be able to prove a breach of that rule we will not hesitate to take action which may include expelling the club from the league.

I realise that this report has descended into the realms of criticism and dismay at some of last season’s goings on and wish to stress that most of what is in our garden is still rosy.

We have the vast majority of the games proceeding in an uneventful manner with good humour, competitive cricket and plenty of bon homie. We have the support of the best and perhaps longest serving sponsor a league could ever wish for in the Saracens Foundation with additional sponsorship for our cup competitions from Readers. As a result of that our finances are sound. Our umpiring panel is envied by many other leagues for its breadth of coverage and the standards to which it adheres. Their numbers may have fallen slightly last season, which may be a hangover from Covid and anno domini, but we are trying to address this. Our committee works tirelessly to uphold our principles and I hope our administration from its dedicated volunteers is, whilst not always faultless, honest and committed. The increasing bureaucracy with which we are bombarded from above sometimes irritates but we cope and smile.

I must also mention Richard Bayliss, our handbook editor, and my predecessor as secretary (what a glutton for punishment!) who does a brilliant job, not only in putting together a wonderful book but also in producing his own entertaining and thorough diary of the season. We have people across the country asking for copies for their cricket collection and I wonder whether there is anybody out there who has all the copies from 1994?

So with ‘Bazball’, the England’s men’s team holding both world limited overs titles, and Australia coming over in the summer there is a lot to look forward to. We should embrace that and make sure that we enjoy our league and cup cricket to the full and always try to see the others’ point of view over a beer or three afterwards. We are not always right!

Barry Hellewell , January 2023.

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