The AGM was held on Friday 4th February at the clubhouse. To start the meeting outgoing Chairman, Matt Swain, had the below summary:
In many ways 2021 was a season of highs and lows, and we firstly reflect on the sad passing of two of our vice presidents; Bill Cross & Gill Wrench, both of whom made outstanding contributions to the club and Oxfordshire county and will be missed.
We were able to compete in a full season of cricket, albeit with many of the adaptations and precautions that were introduced in 2020. There has been growth in membership across both adult and junior sections and we continue to have the nice problem of too many players to cater for, with the matches we have scheduled across Saturday and Sunday at both of our grounds. This, alongside the increasing number of talented junior players to accommodate in open age cricket, presents a real issue in how we offer opportunities for all our members to play in matches. Addressing this issue now with a structured plan that has buy in from team captains and managers must be our number one priority this year.
Many of the highlights of the 2021 season were centred around the junior section of the club in both Girls and Boys cricket.
- The All Stars & Dynamos led by Tom Marianczak and Matt Swain were fully subscribed and a record number of hot dogs were consumed
- The U9s led by James Tilley and Guy Holmes were runners up in their league
- The U11s led by Nick Fuller finished 1st in the Super 8s and 3rd in the 11 aside
- The U13s led by Dave Saunders finished 5th in their league
- The U15s led by Jem Shayler and Ian McStay finished 6th in their league
- The U17s led by Sean Hayes won their league
Progress in the Women / Girls Team, which has gone from strength to strength over recent years, has been accelerated by the successful introduction of several girls who have developed at the club or joined from other clubs this season. Ava Gabrielle, Emily Neighbour, Zara Wyatt & Grace Czakan made their debuts playing their first open age group league matches in the HCWPL and were presented with club caps at the end of season awards. Another club priority should be to continue with our aspirations to develop and offer opportunities for Girls to play cricket at Thame, and to work with Oxfordshire Cricket and LWS to facilitate this.
The John Fulkes award for the standout young cricketer of the year went to Luke Hayes, who has had another fantastic season and is an exciting prospect for the club and Oxfordshire. We also recognised several Junior boys who made their debuts in the open age league this season with Josh Towell, Alex Tervet, Zac Harris, Ishaan Barde & Max Shayler.
This season has also been particularly strong for TTCC juniors representing Oxfordshire with U13 Players’ Player going to Alex Tervet, U15 Girls Bowler of the year going to Zara Wyatt and Boys U15 bowler of the year going to Luke Hayes. Best individual performance also went to Alex Tervet.
We should continue to focus on these, and other promising juniors from the U13s, U15s and U17s, to play open age cricket in league competitions with the 3rd and 4th XI teams and ultimately the 2nd and 1st XI. Part of this focus goes back to my first point around prioritising opportunities for these youngsters in the 3rd and 4th XI.
Part of the success in the junior section is thanks to the club coaches, who offer up a significant amount of their time on a voluntary basis to help develop these players. I would like to thank all of my fellow coaches this season, from All Stars and Dynamos through to U9s and up to U17s and hope that you continue to support the club going forward with this essential function.
In 2021, we had 30 active junior coaches of which 11 were All Star activators, 12 CSW / Foundation level and 7 were Level 2. This is a very positive outlook for the club as we grow and we will continue to pay the coaching fees associated with the ECB courses for those who would like to take their badges and coach ongoing at the club.
In 2022, both of the two indoor junior nets sessions have been well subscribed and supported by a group of 15 club coaches over the next 5 or 6 weeks up to Easter. During the Easter break, Complete Cricket will be running an Easter Camp at the club before we start club coaching outdoors end of April. The outsourcing of professional coaching in the form of cricket camps during the holidays has worked well for the club and our members and we should continue to partner with Complete Cricket and Oxfordshire cricket to provide as many coaching opportunities as we can.
As I stand down as Chair and from the committee this season, I will embark on a new and greater challenge with the club as the U9 Team Manager. The committee have not seen the last of me just yet and no doubt I will be even more challenging to them in this role than I have been in the previous ones. Having set up and coached the All Stars and Dynamos for the last 5 years, and taken my ECB Foundation Level qualification (and in the process of taking the ECB Core Coach) I feel suitably prepared for this new adventure. Famous last words.
We have discussed at length who should be my successor, and whilst there are several very strong and suitable candidates amongst the current committee, the size and complexity of the club is such that it would not be feasible for any of them to take on this additional responsibility. Instead, the position will remain vacant until we find a suitable candidate this season.
Finally, I would like to say a big thanks to John Phippen, who after 12 years will be stepping down as Bar Manager. Since we moved into the new clubhouse the bar has been transformed which took a huge amount of work. I look forward to our testimonial match in the Summer!
Matt Swain – TTCC
Afterwards, several new positions within the club were confirmed: Angus Lachlan has taken on the Bar Manager role. Nick Fuller has filled the vacant Director of Cricket position. Hassam Mushtaq and Jordan Lee-Paskin have been announced as the new 1st and 3rd XI Captains respectively. While we await confirmation of the new 2nd XI skipper.
List of 2022 club officials
Vice Chair & Bar Manager: Angus Lachlan
Club Secretary: Sally Patey
Treasurer: Steve Beard
Junior Secretary: Sheena Beard
Director of Cricket: Nick Fuller
Club Safeguarding Officer: Mags Lightbody
Committee member & Head Coach: Ian McStay
Website co-ordinator & Fixture Secretary: Joe Phippen
1st XI Captain: Hassam Mushtaq
Women’s XI Captain: Sarah Sanderson
2nd XI Captain: TBC
3rd XI Captain: Jordan Lee-Paskin
4th XI Captain: Ed Mather