Sussex Cricket Limited AGM Minutes

Sussex Cricket Limited 

MINUTES of the 8th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

held on Tuesday 28th March 2023 at 7pm

SPEN CAMA PAVILION, THE 1ST CENTRAL COUNTY GROUND, HOVE

The Chair, Jon Filby, called the meeting to order at 7.00pm and welcomed all those present, including the Board Directors, Vice Presidents, Individual Members and Affiliated Club Members. Jon Filby asked for a minute’s silence in memory of the following individuals who had passed away during the previous year:

Vice Presidents:

Laurie Claydon

Robin Marlar 

Jim Parks

Recreational Clubs:

Rob Cooke                  (Smallfield Manor CC)

Nick Collins                 (Rustington)

Geoff Chalcraft            (Steyning CC)

John Dunn                  (Worthing CC)

Mervyn Fuller              (Horsham Trinity CC) 

Neil Gamble                (East Dean and Friston)

Mick Hodges               (Steyning CC)

David Lockyer             (Eastbourne), 

Peter Matthews           (Rye Cricket Club)

Barbara Monk             (Newick Cricket Club)

Patrick "Patch" Nolan (Ditchling Cricket Club)

Damian Piper              (Selmeston & Alciston)

Ron Riches                 (Newick Cricket Club)

David Silverson           (Henfield CC)

Ken Vickery                (Wisborough Green CC)

Individual Members: 

David Barry

John Bartlett

Derek Birch

Brian Blaber

John Cox

David Colman

Brian Collins

Ian Dunk

Garry Dunn

John Earthey

Andrew Franks

Andy Hillburn

David Harper

Dennis Hills

Brian Long

Lawrence Marshall

John Morgan

Allen Maxwell

Robin Penwarden

Brian Penwarden

Colin Perry

Mary Rice

Barry Russell

Mike Stephens

David Sherwood 

Michael Townsend

Brian Winter

The Chief Executive, Rob Andrew, then formally convened the meeting through the following announcement: “Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of Sussex Cricket will be held in the Spen Cama Pavilion, The 1st Central County Ground, Hove, Tuesday 28th March 2023 at 7pm.” 

Apologies for absence. 

Apologies were received from:

• Bob Warren
• Dave Brooks
• Terry Burstow
• Holly Colvin
• Chris Snell

Minutes of the Last Meeting

The Chair requested that the minutes of the following meeting should be approved as read:

• Sussex Cricket Limited Annual General Meeting held on 29th March 2022

Proposed by Tony Lewis and seconded by David Bowden. Accepted without dissent. There were no matters arising from the meeting. 

Chair’s Board report

Jon Filby drew the meetings attention to his Chair’s report, which highlighted the successes and challenges of all areas of the club over the past year. 

Treasurer’s Report

The Honorary Treasurer, Fiona Richards, presented the Sussex Cricket Limited Accounts for the year ending 31st Oct 2022.  Fiona informed the meeting of the Financial Strategy:

The organisation’s strategy is to: 

• Invest in projects which generate a recurring increase in income.
• Continue to invest in professional cricket – squad, coaching staff, facilities; the pathway; recreational cricket.
• Maintain a solvent financial position to withstand unpredictable macro-economic environment.
• Continue to raise money to support Sussex Cricket Foundation activities.

Fiona clarified the accounts’ structure and confirmed that the accounts of Sussex Cricket Limited are consolidated showing the results of Sussex Cricket Limited, Sussex Cricket Foundation and Sussex Cricket Estates Limited (both wholly owned subsidiaries of Sussex Cricket Ltd). She explained that the Sussex Cricket Limited Consolidated Profit and Loss statement reflects the Sussex Cricket Limited, Sussex Cricket Foundation and Sussex Cricket Estates Limited accounts combined well as a separate standalone Sussex Cricket Limited Profit and Loss statement. The Balance Sheet included a combined statement from Sussex Cricket Limited, the Sussex Cricket Foundation and Sussex Cricket Estates Limited as well as a separate standalone Sussex Cricket Limited Balance Sheet. The Sussex Cricket Foundation and Sussex Cricket Estates Limited subsidiary accounts are also available separately which is typical of many businesses. 

Fiona presented the 2021/2022 accounts and advised that whilst the financial position is gradually improving, the organisation will need to ensure that it does not become complacent. She informed that budgets in 2023 are tight to ensure that the club has sufficient continually rolling surplus to manage any risks. These risks include, revenue income, ECB funding, commercial income, rising costs of maintaining the ground and running a professional cricket team. 

Fiona advised that whilst the Club needs to continue to be prudent, there is still a lot of elements to be positive about, including key elements of the management accounts showing significant growth following the pandemic, the Tate Residence development progress, solid financial controls, and effective utilisation of budget to secure a balanced team.

The Chair asked for the adoption of the SCL accounts. 

Proposed by Dick Holste and seconded by David Stoner  

Accepted without dissent.

Resolution to amend the SCL Rules 

 The Chair drew attention the 2021/2022 Accounts Booklet which included information and explanation of the proposed changes to the Sussex Cricket Limited Rules. He suggested that this information would be taken as read and invited questions from the members. No questions were received. 

The Chair therefore read out the proposed resolution and invited votes for and against:

It is hereby resolved that the SCL Rules shall be adopted as indicated in the 2021/2022 SCL Accounts Booklet

The resolution was carried with 46 votes for vs 3 votes against (via proxy voting)

Re-election of Vice Presidents

The Chair proposed that the current Vice Presidents are re-elected en bloc:

Proposed by Tony Lewis and seconded by Nigel Russell. Agreed without dissent.

Election of New Vice Presidents

The Chair proposed that the following are elected as Sussex Cricket Vice Presidents due to their overwhelming commitment to cricket in Sussex:

Alison Bruce

Holly Colvin

Norman Epps

Caroline Foster

Luke Wright 

Proposed by Terry Burton and seconded by Brenda Lower. Agreed without dissent.

President for 2023-2024

The Chair reminded the meeting that John Barclay DL was elected as President for two years from 2022 and therefore will stand down as President at the 2024 AGM. 

Election of Directors to the Board 

The Chief Executive, Rob Andrew, noted that there was no election as only one nomination was received for the vacant Board position. The Governance, Nominations and Elections Committee have reviewed the nomination form, and the candidate is considered entirely appropriate for election. The nomination was therefore uncontested.

Mr Martin Richards has been elected on behalf of the Individual Members for a term of three years. Mr Richards was proposed by John Barclay and seconded by Jon Filby.

Appointment of Appointed and Co-opted Directors

The Chair advised the members that following a recommendation from the Governance, Nomination and Election Committee (GNEC) the SCL Board have agreed to re-appoint Jacqui Bandy and Bibi Lees as Appointed Directors to the SCL Board for a further period of three years. Both were initially appointed in 2020 as ‘co-opted independent directors’ of the Board for a three-year period, expiring at in March 2023. The terminology has been changed to accord with the ECB County Governance Framework and now call these directors ‘appointed’.

Proposed by Jim May and seconded by Bryan Bedson. Agreed without dissent.

The Chair further advised members that a recruitment process was undertaken by the GNEC in late 2022 to enhance diversity on the Board.  34 applications were received, and 5 persons were interviewed. The panel, and subsequently the GNEC, have recommended that the following 3 candidates be ‘co-opted’ as Board Directors, initially for one year but with the option of extension up to a total of three years, with effect from April 2023. The SCL Board support the GNEC’s recommendation. 

It is recommended that these three candidates be ‘co-opted’, rather than ‘appointed’, so as to comply with the requirements of the ECB County Governance Framework. This approach means that the Board will consist of 14 persons in the short term to enable the requirements on gender balance and ethnicity to be met. It is intended to reduce the Board back to a maximum of 12 persons as soon as is practicable (and by March 2025 at the latest), but without reducing the range of skills existing on the Board. This approach is supported by the ECB. 

The three candidates are:

Jatin PATEL 

Varadarajan KALIDASAN 

Chiara KHAN 

Proposed by Jim May and seconded by Mary Gallivan. Agreed without dissent.

Appointment of Auditors

The Treasurer proposed that Mazars be appointed as the Organisation’s auditors. 

Seconded by Mick Robertson. Accepted without dissent. 

Other Business 

The Chair, Jon Filby, stated that there had been no formal request for any specific item 

to be raised under ‘Other Business’. 

Mr Filby thanked everyone for their attendance and closed the meeting at 20.04.