Committee Tony Buck (Treasurer), Andy Burman (Secretary), Sanjay Patel (Vice-Captain) and Stuart Snelling (Captain)

Members and associate members Damian Evans, Eddie Fitch, Graham Heap, Dhruv Patel, Ian Richmond (acting Chairman), Mark Sciberras and Jim Wright

Guest Max Minhas.

2 Apologies for Absence

These were received from Mark Ashton, Nick Boddington (Chairman), Mark Burville, Ian Dallas, Keith Dimond, Jason Irvin, Colin Jones, Bill Murphy, Colin Naish, Simon Rix, Andy Robinson and Daniel Todd (President). Chris Beaumont, Steve Bignell, Gavin Fryer-Kelsey, Phil Hill and John Townley failed to attend and did not offer apologies.

3 Minutes of the 1999 AGM

These were issued in January 2000 and were agreed as an accurate record.

4 Treasurer's Report

Tony explained that the balance carried forward was reduced by just £6 from 1999, indicating that subscriptions and match fees were about right. The club underwrote the tour and tour match fees on tour should be raised to £5. Income included some goodwill subscriptions from non-playing members that could not be relied on in the future.

5 Secretary's Report

I note that some of the fourteen people whose lives had never been blighted by The Gents before the start of last season are here tonight. It is good to see you. For those who have not attended a Gents AGM before, all committee posts are elected annually, so if you feel it is time for a change, you can do something about it. Stuart will talk about the on-pitch performances, this is the part of the evening when I share my view from the back office.

First, may I pass on apologies for absence from Nick Boddington, whose wife is ill, Mark Burville, who has bought a house in Lancashire. He and Carol’s third child is imminent. Other absentees who sent their apologies are Mark Ashton, with a fantastic excuse involving the sale of his flash Fiat to a "man from Gloucester" at eleven o’clock tomorrow morning, Ian Dallas, Keith Dimond, Jason Irvin, Bill Murphy and Andy Robinson. There is one other apology for absence to which I shall return later.

There were few changes to the fixture list in 2000, though bad weather dictated that we did not play the powerful Exiles and Urban Associates sides. Robin Hood would have been played but they contacted us too late. Church Street Nomads disappeared and Chad effectively folded. In their place, we added Norwich CSC, Plums, the tour teams Enville and Bedouins, London Owls and Virgin, against whom we were rained off in 1999. There cannot be much doubt that they were mostly good fun to play against, though I would expect some discussion about one or two of our opponents later.

In 2000 The Gents had 13 full and nine associate members, down from with 16 and nine respectively in 1999. Of the 1999 membership, Mark Ashton, Mark Burville, Larry Flack, Mike Hughes and Bill Murphy did not play at all, which vindicated the recruitment drive, while Chris Beaumont, Keith Dimond and Graham Heap upgraded to full membership. It was refreshing to have new players who were helpful in informing me of their availability. New associate members Damian Beepath, Damian Evans, Eddie Fitch and Mark Sciberras, who missed only two games, played 43 times in all. Appearances by the rump of the 1999 membership were down from 186 to 165. The associate membership option has once again been vindicated and tonight we shall elect last year’s associate members to full members.

In the waifs and strays department, otherwise known as guests, there were 22 appearances, down from 27 in 1999. Thanks to West XI, Twelve Angry Men, Norwich CSC, Enterprise, FC Chad and the Patel family for coming up with the goods when we were short. The administration of teams was easier than for some years, though August and September remain troublesome. Nevertheless, it was disappointing that on two occasions we only fielded ten men, both games being narrowly lost. Thirty-six players were used in total, down from 42 in 1999 and 39 in 1998. No fewer than fourteen players made their club debut last season. I believe that we still need to add to the squad. Injury and attrition will always be with us, and the occasions on which we have a surplus of players are rare.

Kingston’s pitches were compacted by hot May sunshine and were very good for batting. The council’s administration was slick. We must, however, start on time and vacate the park by 8pm, otherwise we incur unspecified penalty charges. The Gents were actually more successful on away grounds, whose quality was excellent, averaging 190 per innings when we got the chance to bat first. Only one away fixture was lost all year.

Thanks to those Gents and oppo, particularly West XI, who supplied guests and to new treasurer Tony Buck for taking a lot of the pressure off me. He, Victor Richmond and Jim Wright did some sterling work in making the tour happen. It was good to see the newer players helping out with umpiring and scoring. The lbw law was less abused than in some previous years but I would urge you all to study this complex area. I was able to issue timely match reports and was greatly assisted in this area by Stuart Snelling, who debuted the word metre and exclamation mark friendly Jim Wright.

Finally, I would like to pass on apologies for absence from Simon Rix, who will probably be moving to Norway with Rita, following the tragic loss of both of Rita’s parents to cancer this year. His last deed for us was smashing the winning runs against Twelve Angry Men, and of this and of his other deeds for the club, not least his pacy but sometimes short-pitched bowling, we will always have fond memories. There is a large Asian community in Oslo so his cricketing days may not be over. A future tour possibility? Good luck to Simon and Rita in the future.

5.1 Point arising

Sanjay said that the club should organise a memento to send to Simon Rix and Rita.

6 Motions

6.1 Proposals for full membership

Damian Evans was proposed by Jim Wright, seconded by Tony Buck and duly elected. Eddie Fitch was proposed by Stuart Snelling, seconded by Sanjay Patel and duly elected. Max Minhas was proposed by Sanjay Patel, seconded by Tony Buck and duly elected. Mark Sciberras was proposed by Dhruv patel, seconded by Sanjay Patel and duly elected.

6.2 Proposals for associate membership

Ian Dallas was proposed by Tony Buck, seconded by Jim Wright and duly elected. Dave Fitzgerald was proposed by Andy Burman, seconded by Jim Wright and duly elected. Simon Whittaker was proposed by Max Minhas, seconded by Stuart Snelling and duly elected.

6.3 Point arising

Tony Buck pointed out that Colin Jones had not played very often as he felt he was likely to let The Gents down with his fielding. Sanjay Patel said that Colin was a great chap, would always be welcome to play and should be encouraged more. Andy Burman said that the club had not handled the situation well.

7 2001 season

The main decisions reached during extensive discussion of this item were;

7.1 Home venue

Home matches would again be played at Victoria Recreation Ground. Jim Wright requested that The Gents and West XI try to arrange a more prestigious venue, perhaps Berkhamsted CC, for the third match in the Bob Ashton Memorial Cup.

7.2 Number of matches

This would be held constant in 2001 at one a week with a maximum of two double-header weekends.

7.3 Opponents

Opponents would be as 2000 with the exception of FC Chad, who had folded but would be welcomed back if they could raise a team. Several players expressed consternation at the attitude of Wandham. Andy Burman said that they should be retained but watched carefully in future.

7.4 Start times

These were a cause of real concern. Two o’clock should mean two o’clock. Graham Heap was "frustrated by having to hang around for an hour." Mark Sciberras said that the club "did not give a good account of itself." It was agreed to try to arrive at one thirty for prompt two o’clock starts.

7.5 Subscriptions and match fees

These would be held at £35 full membership, £10 associate membership and £3 match fee. Tour match fees would be increased to £5.

7.6 Tour

Keith Dimond passed on in absentia his thanks to those who organised the 2000 tour. Ian Richmond said that the status of the tour was unchanged from a year before. It could happen again but would need close co-ordination between Enville, Bedouins and The Gents. The Bedouins fixture could not be moved to the Saturday as they only have use of their pitch on Wednesdays and Sundays.

8 Captain’s Report

Stuart Snelling reviewed the season in detail and thanked everybody for their efforts. In a witty address he thanks the gathering for making the journey down to Goldsworth Park, a name derived from the Latin parcus orvalorum, which, he said, translates as ‘shitty housing estate on the end of a crappy suburban town and oh my God I want to slit my wrists.’ Stuart admitted to using his dismissal of Weasel Andy Smith – middle stump knocked out of the ground and six feet back – as mental stimulation for an act of sexual intercourse later the same day, though he was silent on whether anyone was with him at the time. He then publicly demanded of Jim Wright whether he had "slipped Jessica a portion" after his various hundreds and fifties. Mr Wright was silent on the matter.

At the beginning of his speech Stuart paid tribute to Mark Ashton, who had captained "a squad arguably less capable than the one I have at my disposal quite brilliantly for eleven years." He proposed a toast in absentia to Mark.

9 Election of committee members

The Chairman said that as it had been such a successful season and each Committee member was prepared to stand again, then he proposed that the committee be re-elected en bloc. This was seconded by Dhruv Patel and passed on a show of hands. The 2001 committee will therefore be

President Daniel Todd

Chairman Nick Boddington

Captain Stuart Snelling

Vice-Captain Sanjay Patel

Treasurer Tony Buck

Secretary Andy Burman.

10 The 2000 awards

The 2000 Awards were voted for as follows

All Rounder Jim Wright

Batsman Jim Wright

Bowler Sanjay Patel

Fielder Mark Sciberras

Most Improved Player Jim Wright

Special Award Andy Burman.

11 Impromptu speech

Sanjay Patel had disappeared during the meeting but was found asleep in the back seat of his car. On rejoining the meeting, he reprised his 1999 speech, saying that he loved the club dearly.