Victoria Park Community Cricket League
Home News Contact us About us Results+Fixtures League tables Constitution Rules	Back to news | Newham B withdraw from league Newham B withdrew from the league on Friday 11 May 2001. Under rule 11, all games played with them so far are declared void. The League tables have been amended to reflect this. Here follows an email from Newham's Asif Choudhary explaining why Newham B had to leave: "Last year the A team was staff & students and the B team, just students. The College funded both teams. "This year the College only has enough funds for one team. The students were all asked to contribute toward the fees so that both teams could still be entered.  "This has not happened and consequently we have to withdraw one of the teams so please can you withdraw the B team. "Newham C is an external team (ex-students) with no involvement with the A/B sides. "I have discussed the problem with the Sports co-ordinator here (Malcolm Lay) and if there is only one team which is funded by the College it is best that it is a student team, so unfortunately Sabi and I won't be playing unless they are short. :-( "He will be also be running the team and be the main contact. I have spoken to him and will be expecting communication from yourselves. "His contact details are: malcolm.lay@newham.ac.uk  tel: 020 8257 4288 "Sorry to mess you/the league about like this but with Sabi being off ill recently, communication with the students has been a bit of a problem. "It's a shame Sabi and I won't be playing regularly, it has been great fun over the years, hope you have a good season and if we do manage to get a few games in we may bump into each other again. "Cheers, Asif."     Nigel Richards (Vic Lounge) in the chair Sarah Barnard (Chats) Pete Hollman (Pacific) Dougal de Keller} Joe Phelan} Glen Schofer} (Hackney Grasshoppers I) Don Bodie (Hackney Grasshoppers II) Afzaul Chowdhury} Paul Williams} (Tower Ravens) Johnny Hodgkinson} Craig Callaghan} (Chats Palace) John Travers} Mick Reid} (Rose and Crown) Dan Bird (Vic Lounge) David Sultanti} Tim Castle} John Rooney} (Old Fallopians)   1: Apologies for absence Bert Vandermark and Shakeel Ahmed  2: Minutes of the last meeting were passed as read  3: Chair’s Report It was a good year. Congratulations to the winners, commiserations to the losers. The standard of cricket in the league was going up, which was mostly a good thing, but it remained important to foster the spirit of the league. Thanks to Pete and Sarah for all their efforts and to Bert for keeping his ear to the ground.  Mick proposed a vote of thanks, which was duly given. 4: Treasurer’s report To come 5: Secretary’s report It was a difficult year administratively for several reasons. ·        not having cricket balls bought at the beginning of the season ·        the usual difficulties of trying to maintain league tables when no one informs me about results without chasing ·        a lack of respect from certain teams, which just made everything more difficult and very tedious ·        pitch issues. Having said that, I was involved in some excellent games of cricket, particularly the Cup Final, which I thoroughly enjoyed umpiring. The End of Season bash was well attended and good fun. 6: Fixtures Secretary’s Report The park’s cancellation of the first week’s games and the loss of one pitch part of the way though the season was not enjoyable, with lots of pressure on the rearrange games. The Cup draw was done in advance and circulated, which worked well. Peter Hollman has drawn up fixture lists as a whole and team by team to make it easier for teams to circulate to their own members.  Don raised the question of what is happening with the pitches. Pete replied that one was taken out of action by Bert because of injuries to two players. Sarah is to write to TH to ascertain whether it is to be repaired. 7: Proposal by Chats Palace that we create a third division During the discussion of this proposal the following points were raised: ·        third division might work if we were clear on the reason for it, i.e. a lower division would foster a less competitive spirit ·        most teams were in favour but felt it would not be feasible with the current number of teams ·        playing each other three or four times a season (cf Scottish Premier League) would breed contempt ·        two issues involved were standards in the league generally and the lack of respect shown by some teams for others ·        it was suggested that there were actually separate issues, whether the league could cope with 3 divisions and “ungentlemanly” behaviour. ·        Behaviour issues should be dealt with by captains and umpires as required by the laws ·        The Committee is also there to deal with behavioural problems and issues should be reported to Committee as soon as they occur, cf. the fight involving Millwall in 1996. There is a precedent for removing teams who do not respect the spirit of the game from the league. ·        New teams should be made aware of the ethos of the league ·        It is difficult to motivate a team which is below the standard of the division and the current set up seems to run the risk of losing teams altogether ·        The motion was passed, but debate continued as this raised serious practical difficulties ·        Finally agreed that we would aim to implement this decision in 2002 and that it would be the responsibility of all teams to try to recruit other teams ·        (Since the AGM the team which was interested but didn’t show for the AGM have again expressed an interest and have been invited to enter a team for the Cup for this year with a view to joining properly next year. North London Muslims have suggested entering a youth team and there is a new team, Khalsa, just formed in the area who are being approached by former Chair Gary Horsman. It would be good to get them into the Cup this year so that a) we can make them aware of the league ethos and b) see whether they are likely to abide by that). ·        Stressed that it is important we make it clear that bad behaviour is not acceptable ·        Although example of bad behaviour punished by expulsion involved violence, it was also stressed that ridicule and offensive language was equally unacceptable. 7: The use of Wray Crescent This was proposed as a third pitch to avoid having to play shortened games in bad light too late in the season.  The ground is currently undergoing £100 000 facelift and promises to have good facilities. Islington Council will match TH’s prices so we will not be out of pocket. Pete had canvassed opinion and only Mola Jutt had declared themselves unwilling to play any games at WC.  Proposed by Pete and seconded, presumably, but I didn’t note the name  Passed 8: Tower Hamlets to be asked to improve boundaries, pitch markings and mow the grass more often Proposed Sarah Seconded  David  Passed 9: Umpiring During a discussion on standards of umpiring in the league the following points were raised:  ·        Another issue about sportsmanship. Results are being affected by umpiring – causes problem if you know you’re not going to win because of umpires ·        People have unrealistic expectations of standard of umpiring. Not going to get first class umpires at our level. Most you can expect is fairness and knowledge of the laws ·        1st division expect umpiring to be hard. There is a difference between some rough umpiring and unfairness. ·        Issue for the captains to deal with before the game ·        Last year guidelines were issued for no-balls and wides. A consensus can be reached if captains talk to each other. ·        Some people standing as umpire felt intimidated by opposing players ·        The usefulness of Bert’s role, just wandering round, able to act as a neutral observer ·        Suggested that 1st Div. Teams provided neutral umpires for games they are not playing in as seems to be more a 1st Div issue. ·        If players felt that an umpire was not just making errors of judgement, but cheating, it was a matter for a disciplinary committee  10: New Teams There were none at the meeting, but subsequently one new team has been entered for the Cup and two other possible teams have presented themselves so we have a possible 17 teams for 2002.  It was stressed that it is everybody’s responsibility to help promote the league and encourage new teams to join, particularly from the local communities.  The website is a good way of doing this and Tim Castle was proposed to take over from Sarah as webmaster.  Prop. Pete 2nd     David Passed. 11: More umpiring Copies of the 2000 Code of Laws to distributed to each team Prop. Dan 2nd      Mick Passed. Sarah to arrange Alan Flook from Middlesex ACUAS to give a talk about the Laws Sarah will arrange before the start of season  Guidelines on how Laws apply to the league to be drawn up and circulated to all teams   after the above talk takes place  Prop. Mick 2nd.    Afzaul Passed. 12: Awards for batting/bowling The current system to rewarding hundreds and hat-tricks should be changed to make one award per Division for the highest run-scorer and wicket-taker. Teams to take responsibility for maintaining their own records  Prop. Pete 2nd.    Johnny            Passed 13: Presidents Game To be played in the same format as last year 14: Election of Officers            Chair: Nigel (prop. Mick,  2nd. Craig. Elected unopposed.) Treasurer: Sarah  (prop. Mick,  2nd. Craig. Elected unopposed.)  Sarah announced that she was not able to take on the role of Admin Secretary this year. This is due to the need to move house and prepare for her forthcoming marriage to Afzaul Chowdhury of Tower Ravens. (VPCCL a hotbed of romance and passion!!) The job was broken down into its constituent parts as no one felt able to take on the whole lot.  Results Secretary:  Glen (Grasshoppers I)  (prop. Mick,  2nd. Sarah. Elected unopposed.) Contacts List: Afzaul Webmaster: Tim Castle  The arrangement of meetings was left to be settled in the future. Non Executive Officers:  Don (prop. Dougal,  2nd. Pete. Elected unopposed.) Mick (prop. Sarah,  2nd. Someone else. Elected unopposed.)  NB Results should be sent to Glen as soon as possible after the match is played. He can be contacted at: Glen.schofer@gs.com Wk : 020 7552 3743 Hm:  020 7263 4180 Mob:  07950 821444 15: Change of bank It was agreed that Sarah could change the League’s bank account as service from Barclays had been unsatisfactory 16: League Fees League fees will be kept at £200 this year as expenditure had not risen significantly and the League still has a healthy bank balance The following teams have paid in full: Chats Palace Grasshoppers I Pacific Victoria Lounge Grasshoppers II have paid £100 Will all other teams please arrange for their fees to reach Sarah at 4 Leabank Square, E9 5LP as soon as possible and certainly no later than 19th April. If you have not paid by then you will be considered ineligible to play this season. 17: Any Other Business  ·        Any email addresses to be given to Pete and Sarah for ease of contact. Pete can be found at Peter_Hollman@londonelec.co.uk and Sarah at googlygirl@ukonline.co.uk ·        Cricket balls have been arranged by Bert and will be available at the start of the season ·        Standards of behaviour required to be reinforced with all new teams  Meeting was closed at 10.10 pm   Back to top | back to home