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Here is the Committee's Report for 2018 -

Last year the Committee reported on an extraordinarily successful year for the Club. This year we can report that the Club has built on that success and had another very good year. Our most talented younger players have achieved high honours, two of our five Senior teams won their leagues while the three others more than held their own, and our Juniors won championships indoors and competed strongly in their leagues through the summer.
There’s no room for complacency, however. The year ahead is going to be a challenging one. But first, let’s look back at what we achieved in 2018.

On the field

1. The Club congratulates our young stars:
• Ethan Bamber and Luke Hollman played for England in the Under 19 World Cup in New Zealand in January and were also selected to play against South Africa in the summer. It is unprecedented for one club to have two players in the same England U19 team and, as the Secretary of the Middlesex County Cricket League said in his report on the season, “The Junior administration/coaching staff at North Middlesex deserve special recognition for this”.
• Ethan subsequently signed a contract with Middlesex CCC and made an impressive start to his county career.
• The Middlesex County Cricket League voted Luke as both the League’s Young Cricketer of the Year and Cricketer of the Year, an extraordinary accolade.
• Max Harris was invited to join the Middlesex Emerging Players Group, following in the footsteps of Luke, Ethan and Joe Cracknell.
• Joe received special mention in the Middlesex Youth Cricket report for his innings for the County one day team of 207 not out from 130 balls and a season average of 118.
• Gayatri Gole was a member of the Middlesex team that won the Vitality Women’s T20, the leading competition for women cricketers, and played for Surrey in the Kia Super league.

2. All our Senior teams had successful seasons:
• The Firsts under new skipper Joel Hughes again competed strongly to again finish third in the Middlesex Premier League. James Parslow was the leading runscoring overseas player in the League. Although the team again made it through to the finals of both the Middlesex Cup and T20 competitions, sadly we had to relinquish both trophies. Given the wide points margin by which Richmond won the League this year, it’s clear that we shall have to work very hard to up our game over the coming seasons if we are to compete.
• The Seconds, playing in the first division of their tier, dominated the league again, winning it with four matches to spare.
• The Thirds, also playing in the first division of their tier and under new captain Will Cracknell, topped their league also.
• One division down, playing against other clubs’ third teams, our Fourths held their own to finish mid-table. Kyle Pittman led the team by example, scoring two fine centuries.
• And our Fifths, newly-promoted, competed well against stiffer opposition while continuing to give capable junior players their first experience of adult cricket. Skipper Charles Martland won the award for best batsman in the division.
For the fifth year running our outfield was voted the best in the Middlesex League by the Umpires Panel, another great achievement for groundsman, Brian ‘Oz’ Cohen. The money we have spent on improving the pitches is also paying off in better marks for them too; it is no longer fatal to play back on the North Midd track.

3. Our Junior teams notched up significant successes. Our immensely strong Under 19s, managed by Doug Teesdale over many years, won the T20 final against Teddington. The under 17s retained the county indoor trophy and then went on to win the National final in Birmingham. Seven colts were selected to represent Indoor Cricket England in the 2018 Junior World Series in New Zealand: Ollie Morgan, Billy Blyghton, Alfie Buxton, Louis Hayward, Tom Francis, Will Frais and Sebbie Sydenham. Not surprisingly, Luke Hollmann won our Junior Player of the Year award, while Nico Smith won the Georgie Willett trophy for the junior making the greatest all round contribution to the club.

4. Our Junior membership (both boys and girls) stands at over 250.

5. The Girls section continued to build on the success of previous years. We are discussing a pathway into women’s cricket with North London CC and will be hosting two Sunday matches for a joint team in 2019. Alexei Marshall won the Georgia Morris cup for best girl batter of the season.

8. The summer cricket camps continued to prove popular. We ran 4 of these in 2018. As well as providing opportunities for our youngest players to improve their skills, the camps made a healthy contribution of some £6,000 to the Club’s finances. We also participated again in the ECB’s AllStars initiative, which enabled us to give 30 boys and girls in Years 1 to 4 their first experience of organised cricket.

The Juniors’ summer season ended with the hugely popular Club Day, blessed this year with fine September weather. Over 100 juniors played tournament matches, a splendid sight.

Off the field

1. The Committee met at bi-monthly intervals through the year. Regular meetings were also held by Executive Committee members with Play On, the sub-leaseholders of the Park Road premises.

2. The obtaining of several substantial grants enabled us to purchase a new roller in time for the season and also a new outfield mower that will be delivered in February. This will mean that we will have replaced all of our essential ground maintenance equipment within the last three years.

3. Our finances were boosted during the year by sponsorship from Dexters estate agents, some generous donations from members, revenues from the summer camps and from pitch hirings, members’ subscriptions and improvements in the collection of match fees.

4. The Committee expresses its thanks to everyone who has contributed during the year to the running of the Club’s activities. Your efforts are deeply appreciated and make the Club the special place it is.

5. Rob Brand, who has served as Club Secretary for over ten years, is standing down in January. Much of what Rob has done day by day, week by week, summer and winter over the years is unseen by members, but is reflected in the success story recounted in this report. The Club owes him an immense debt of gratitude for all he has done to bring the Club to the position it is in today.

The challenges ahead

1. Finding a successor to Rob Brand is our first challenge for 2019. We shall need members to step forward to take on some of the roles that Rob has performed so well.

2. I have mentioned above the need to up our game at First XI level if we are to compete for the Premier League title. Joel Hughes and the relevant committee members are considering what steps – including a focus on training and availability - we can take to ensure this happens.

3. Raising funds to enable us to meet our ambitions will present another challenge in the year ahead. We want to engage more paid coaches (including possibly a head coach), to erect ball stop netting at the entrance to the ground and in front of the adjacent houses, and to continue to invest in necessary ground maintenance equipment. The search is on for new sponsors to replace those we had in 2018, as part of an overall effort to consistently generate the higher level of income from external and internal sources that the Club now needs.

4. Our neighbouring clubs have upped their game in terms of media publicity and attracting new players and sponsors. We have started a campaign to improve our own performance in these respects.

I am therefore ending this report with a request to all members to consider what contributions they can make to help the Club build on all the achievements of recent years so that next year’s report can once again be a report of outstanding success both on and off the field.
Steve Edwards
Chair
January 2019

Here is the Agenda -

AGENDA

1. Approval of minutes of the 2018 AGM

2. Annual report of the Committee

3. Presentation of 2017/2018 Annual Accounts and update on current financial position.

4. Election of Officers -
Chairman
Secretary
Treasurer
Juniors Secretary
Juniors Treasurer
Social Secretary
Juniors Social Secretary
Club Welfare Officer
Juniors Parents Representative
1s Captain
2s Captain
3s Captain
4s Captain
5s Captain
Selection Co-Ordinator
1s Match Manager
Fixtures Secretary
Junior Fixtures Secretary
5. Any other business.