WANING interest in the administrative affairs of the Northants Bowling Federation was evident again at the county’s annual general meeting held at the Parkway club.
Only 16 people attended the meeting, including officers, and only eight of the 17 affiliated clubs were represented.
Once again there were no nominations for the post of President, so for the third year running the county will be without one meaning the officials will have to share the presidential duties between them.
However, on a brighter note at least some other important administrative positions were filled. Martyn Dolby decided to continue as chairman having previously intimated that he would be standing down; Alice Jones has been appointed treasurer following the sad passing of Andy Cox, and John Holroyd takes on the role of match secretary following the retirement of Graham Agger after more than twenty years’ service on the committee for which he was awarded a life membership.
There are also new Adams and Newton team captains. Wayne Morris is to run the Adams team with assistance from Michael Humphreys, while Barry Lawrence and Dave Corney will share responsibilities for the Newton team.
Election of officers: President, vacant; chairman, Martyn Dolby; secretary, Melvyn Beck; treasurer, Alice Jones; match secretary, John Holroyd; competition secretary, Melvyn Beck; results secretary, Ally McNaughton; minutes’ secretary, Linda Toms; safeguarding & welfare officer, Peter Brown; press officer & national delegate, Melvyn Beck; Adams captain, Wayne Morris; Newton joint captains, Barry Lawrence & Dave Corney; Derbyshire A captain, Simon Law, Derbyshire B captain, Dudley Smith; management committee, Paul Dalliday, Wayne Morris, Barry Lawrence, Brian Martin, Dudley Smith.
In his secretary’s report, Melvyn Beck said that the tragic passing of treasurer Andy Cox during the season had cast a dark shadow over the county’s notable achievements on the green.
“While we should be hailing the successes – five national titles – that tragedy at the City of Peterborough green in the summer rather muted the celebrations,” he said.
Stephen Harris was involved in all three indoor triumphs at Lincoln, winning the blue riband singles, teaming up with Michael Humphreys and Tom Newman-Borrett to retain the triples for the county, then helping Simon Law’s Derbyshire Trophy team lift the indoor county championship for the second time in three years.
Over at Skegness, Newman-Borrett added the two-bowl triples to his Lincoln triples success in partnership with Peter Brown and Steve Lander, while Paul Dalliday and James Harford were joined by James’ 12-year-old daughter Peyton to win the mixed triples.
He expressed sadness that the Ketton club had been forced to disband after 52 years owing to a lack of volunteers to run the club coupled with a declining membership.
New treasurer Alice Jones, who inherited the county’s financial affairs in such sad circumstances almost at the end of the financial year, reported a loss of £160.02 and he was thanked for putting everything together in such a short space of time.
Competition secretary Melvyn Beck told the meeting that this year’s experiment of a finals weekend had divided opinion, but it had been decided to continue with the format next season with the addition of the Dan Duffy and Adams Cup finals being integrated into the two-day timetable to add interest and atmosphere.
He thanked the Parkway and Stamford clubs for hosting the outdoor and indoor county finals respectively, and to City of Peterborough for staging the Duffy and Adams finals.
Next year’s outdoor finals are at Whittlesey Manor on the weekend of July 17/18, while Peterborough & District will be hosting the indoor finals on Sunday, February 28.
There was some timetabling issues at this year’s indoor finals and as a result there has been an addition to the rules.
In future, players are being asked to arrive at the venue at least thirty minutes before their scheduled start time and if their opponents and rinks (not necessarily the one in the timetable) are available then they should get under way rather than wait for their appointed start time.
Any player/s not at the venue and ready to play at their appointed start time will forfeit the match, irrespective of whether sessions are running behind schedule.
In future, players in county competitions, including the finals, will have the option of wearing black ankle or trainer socks.
If a player is on international duty, then no county competition dates shall be offered by their opponent during that period.
Given the extremely hot temperatures last season, a new rule has been added to the section on ‘Playing Games.’
If an amber warning is in place at the appointed start time, then the home player/s should offer their opponent/s the option of playing a reduced number of ends, i.e. 21 ends reduced to 16; 18 ends reduced to 14, singles first to 16 shots. These reductions all constitute a result, i.e. 75% of the match being completed.
If the temperature is thirty degrees or above at the appointed start time, then the number of ends should be automatically reduced.
If a red weather warning is in place at the appointed start time, then the match should be postponed and rearranged by mutual consent.
In such circumstances, consideration should be given to bringing forward or delaying the start time when the heat may be less intense and introducing hydration breaks.
The meeting supported the committee’s recommendation to vote against several controversial proposals going forward to the EBF’s annual meeting in November.
These include giving extra voting rights to the bigger counties; the three counties with most entries in each competition should be entitled to enter two qualifiers; reduce the age limit in the junior singles and junior open pairs from under 25 to under 18; change the scoring system in the Adams and Newton competitions. Instead of ten points for an overall victory, reduce it to four, making 16 points on offer instead of 22; Discontinue with the Champion of Champions singles and introduce an open secretary’s singles.
