Cardiff Cavaliers Cricket Club

2005 season review

Chairman’s report

As you are all aware, after 3 very enjoyable years, I am standing down.  Since this is my last report, I reserve the right to break with tradition and briefly reflect over the past 3 years, as well as reviewing the 2005 season. By happy coincidence, the last 3 years has seen the following sequence of silverware:

2003  -  Willow League Cup winners ( in the 25^th Anniversary  of the Club)

2004  -  Willow League Plate and C & H Trophy

2005  -  Willow League Plate

Clearly, whoever said “I didn’t join the Cavaliers to win trophies” must seriously consider their future membership since 2005 saw yet more silverware winging our way! The Willow League Plate once again sits proudly in the Cavaliers Trophy Cabinet – although it has to be said that the shelves are rather dusty where the Challenge Cup (v. Chartered Trust) and the C & H Trophy (v. Highways Hurricanes) once used to reside on a regular basis.

While it may not have been the most successful season in terms of results, it certainly was entertaining.  Everyone has said how much they have enjoyed the friendly atmosphere and team spirit this season.  Throughout all the fixtures organised by the Willow League we have been very competitive and some of the defeats were by very narrow margins.  Indeed, I can only recall one or two occasions (usually the weekend fixtures) when we were completely blown away! A vote of thanks must be extended to the Willow League Committee (with Jeremy at the helm this year) in appreciation of all the voluntary background work the various individuals carry out to ensure that the various competitions are in place and results recorded - all for our benefit!

There are a number of issues we will need to look at during the coming season :-

(1) We must take advantage of the tremendous interest in cricket on the back of England’s success in the Ashes series and continue to recruit new members – preferably younger ones, ie. under 45!  Many of us will recall the poem from our own Poet Laureate, Guido, which frighteningly confirmed that the average age of the Minehead Touring Party was 45! Our aim must be to recruit new members to bring that average down for this year’s tour to Bournemouth where, ironically, the average age of the local population is known to be 65!  Many thanks to Graeme for organising the Minehead trip and for volunteering to take on the same duties for this year’s tour.

(2) We should continue to strengthen our links with Llandaff Rugby Club for all our games at Llandaff Oval and our weekend fixtures – thereby creating a “home base” for our social events.  One social event which should become a regular fixture is the end of season skittles against the Hurricanes – we nearly regained the C&H Trophy, losing narrowly in the last visit to the alley.

(3) We need to resolve the issue of the number of weekend fixtures and to decide whether we want to play friendly matches or play competitive matches against established clubs. 

On a personal note, the highlight of the season was the Annual Dinner attended by 20 Cavaliers and, in particular, the special award presented to me by Joey on behalf of the Club.  It was greatly appreciated and was a superb way to round off 3 memorable years as Chairman.  Thanks to all of you, once again, for your kind comments.

I have been instructed by the Club, in my professional capacity as a Chartered Surveyor, to continue the search for suitable premises for the Cardiff Cavaliers Retirement Home for ancient cricketers (we certainly have many prospective members to enrol at the Home!) Apart from the perennial problem of recruitment, Club membership and funds remain very healthy as we head towards our 30^th Anniversary in 2008.

It only remains for me to thank all the other committee members for their invaluable assistance and to wish the new Chairman and the Committee my very best wishes for the 2006 season.  Glyn

Captain’s report

The 2005 season proved to be a very enjoyable if somewhat typical season for the Cavaliers, with many old habits being maintained, these mainly being:

• a slow start to the season in the Willow League, leading to a bottom half finish.
• a return to form in the Plate resulting in the successful defence of our title.
• a thoroughly enjoyable superbly organised and attended tour.
• admirable efforts at weekends but ultimately regularly outclassed by superior opposition.

The overall record of P30 W6 L23 D1 is disappointing, but perhaps is somewhat misleading. We remained competitive throughout the mid-week season, but lost all 10 of our completed weekend/tour matches, 7 of which were routs. This suggests that perhaps difficult decisions need to be made at this meeting regarding the future of weekend fixtures and the type of opponents selected.

The season started in farcical fashion in the Dinas Powys jungle (38 all out) but fortunately we managed to improve from this point! I think we should have performed better in the Willow League and there were a number of examples where we let victories slip away, most notably against eventual champions Chartered Trust. However there were several pleasing victories, particularly the hissy-fit inducing win at Llandaff Oval over BA Dragons (who must hate playing us these days!) I was delighted that we managed to conjure up the retention of the Plate – after 25 years of nothing, we have won 3 trophies on the trot! 

There were many examples of tremendous performances with bat and ball to reflect on. Warwick continued to demonstrate what a class act he is, leading the batting averages (54.3), whilst Nick plundered the most runs (463) and highest innings score of 82, proving particularly destructive in the mid-week fixtures. Congratulations also to Dave Parsons securing his first 50 for the club on a ‘difficult’ afternoon in Pencoed.

Riaz Anwar demonstrated his all-round abilities lying second of the batting averages (40.6) and top of the bowling averages (8 at 18.5), whilst Wayne Childs secured the most wickets (15 at 25.4) even if he couldn’t manage a hat trick this season (cheque is in the post, Simmo!)  Jason Duffy bowled with real pace and economy and certainly deserved better than 5 wickets.

On a personal note, I would like to thank the club for their superb support to me during the season, particularly to Jeremy, Glyn and Warwick. Special mention for their commitment should go to Steve Davis, Martin Buckle and Graeme Brown who all made over 20 appearances during the season (and congratulations to Graeme for reaching his triple-century!). I am proud to report that only on one occasion did we fall short in raising a team, mainly thanks to Jeremy’s superb communication.

It was also great to see fine new players join such as the Nelson brothers, Jamie and Vince. Welcome aboard!  One slightly disappointing aspect, however, is that there was over-reliance on a core-cluster of players to turn out consistently. Whilst this is perhaps understandable given inevitable work and family pressures, there did seem to be a notable narrowing of the core squad from previous seasons. I am hopeful that 2006 will see an improvement on this, with past regulars returning to the fold to ease the burden.

It is incumbent upon the membership to turn out whenever available to ensure that the club continues, and that there are fixtures to play in when people ‘fancy a game of cricket’. The Cavaliers is a great club with a wonderful variety of ‘characters’ (to be polite!). The club is very dear to me and it has been a tremendous honour to captain the side this year. I wish my successor the very best and look forward to seeing you all next season, if not before in the Indoor League – see me for details! Thanks for your support. All the best.  Ross

Secretary’s report

Others will cover the efforts and successes on the field so my report will address off-field administration. Probably the two greatest things that have made life easier for role of the Secretary are:

(1) email & texts to canvass availability, liaise on team selection, announce teams, give directions and send out other information – thanks for being prompt and diligent in your responses.  I believe it would be a retrograde step to revert to telephone tag & relying on messages being passed on by third parties;

(2) the tremendous work by the Cavaliers Chairman that goes, perhaps, largely unnoticed to many of us.

I’d like to see greater use of the web site and would recommend the club invest a small amount of money in securing its own site with a memorable address.  With regard to fixtures, aside from 2 teams who, in my opinion, failed to treat us with the same courtesy we extend, it has been a pleasure to liaise with our various opponents and the Willow League. I recommend that we explore new opportunities on the fixture list while accepting the constraints of the soccer World Cup taking place during June and July.

During 2005, we also fulfilled the inaugural role of Willow League Chairman. This has given valuable insights into the behind-the-scenes work of the Willow Committee and, without their efforts, there would be no league. We also oversaw a review of the rules which had been in force for the past 5 years but it became clear that some revamping would be necessary to try to make life easier for teams and captains.

Finally, I’d like to commend the great spirit of all those who represented the club and for the good hearted way in how the team has been led.  It was no surprise that while it was not necessarily a most successful season in terms of results, many have said how enjoyable it has been.  Jeremy

Treasurer’s report

I am pleased to report that the year end sees us in excellent financial health.  After some years when we had to manage cashflow extremely carefully, 2005 saw a net inflow of £365.70 leading to a total of £933.10 being available ahead of the new season.  A detailed Income and Expenditure Account is attached and perhaps the most striking comparison shows in our success in collecting match fees - £722.25 as opposed to £392.00 in 2004. Match fees and the level of our annual membership fee has always been a cause of great debate. This season has shown that £25.00 subscription + £2-3 per game is not perceived as excessive and:

• allows us to cover our running costs
• gives us an opportunity to invest in new kit (two bats, helmet, balls)
• subsidise club dinners (room hire, wine)
• entertain visiting teams (eg. at Llandaff Rugby Club).

 The funds available of £933.10 are after having paid a deposit of £240.00 in respect of the 2006 tour. We have no current commitments but our healthy position means we are able to consider certain expenditure ahead of the new season which may be summarised as follows:

 We may also wish to consider investing in some new cricket clothing provided there is sufficient interest  and “reasonable” set-up costs. The running of a club such as ours is largely based on the goodwill of the members. From a financial perspective this is demonstrated by your early payment of annual subs, match fees and for dinners, tours etc. I’d like to express my gratitude to you all for making my job so easy again in 2005. Jonathan