At a busy and buzzing annual general meeting, chairman John Matthews steered the gathering through a packed agenda covering the election of new and existing officers of the club, a review of finances and exciting news on development and the fund raising plans required to deliver those plans.

John started the meeting by reviewing the 2012 season thanking those who had once again given their precious time to the club. Whilst we can’t mention everyone here thanks were noted to several individuals including Kevin and Carey Smith, Caroline
Dickenson, and David Fitch-Peyton. Chris Lovell who raised a staggering amount for club coffers by organising and running the cow-pat lottery was given special thanks.

Election of officers
James Harmer was voted in as the new Saturday captain with Andy Pegg his new vice-captain a young and dynamic team to take the Saturday team forward. Kevin Smith will continue to captain the Sunday side who will play friendly cricket this year. James Kutchera joined the committee in a communication role and Caroline Scarlett will represent the Ladies team and help manage the outfield over the coming season – an important position to ensure mowing rotas and jobs at the ground are coordinated.

Strong financial footing
Caroline Dickenson took the meeting through the clubs accounts that showed a strong financial position. However it was clearly evident that as the club is seeking to make significant development, better efforts in collecting subscriptions will need to be a priority this year. To this end players are requested to pay their subs, that will be staying at the same price as last year, as soon as possible to help keep club finances healthy. The two major development plans covered in more detail on page 4 are
replacing the sight screens and building a new netting facility. These are very exciting projects but will require significant support and funding that the club is actively seeking.

Practise nights
The intention is to get juniors down on one night, which is likely to be a Monday evening, with matches on a Thursday. Seniors whilst yet to be confirmed will likely practise on a Tuesday, but this may change if and when the new netting facilities are introduced.

Fund raising
Nick Burridge informed the meeting of his intention to produce ‘Smile Out Loud’ a story of Sherston Cricket that will help to raise much needed funds for the club. The book is likely to be around 100 pages in size and should be available towards the end
of the year.