Avoncroft Cricket Club 11. li Annual Report 2020 ## **Season Overview** 2020 was a year like no other; the Covid-19 pandemic hit every aspect of our lives, and cricketing life was no different. With the country in lockdown, the season was delayed with no activity allowed at the club until June. Even then, government restrictions on social distancing and the knock on impact to organised sport limited activities, with the ban on full team games only being lifted in early July. Limits on travelling resulted in the Worcestershire Cricket Board taking the sensible step to adapt the cricket programme on offer. Saturday leagues were suspended, and replaced with a shorter competition against local rivals. For Avoncroft, this opened up the opportunity to challenge ourselves against our neighbours at Bromsgrove and Barnt Green, to name just two. The overriding relief at being able to get back to something like normal life made the season one of the more enjoyable ever, even if it the results didn’t always back this up. Restarting junior cricket was an important priority for the club, although this needed to be undertaken under a strict risk assessment of the club’s ability to comply with Covid-19 guidelines. As a result, the difficult decision to limit junior cricket to ages 10 years and upwards was taken. Despite this, the club saw strong interest in junior training from our local community, with swelling numbers from U10s to U14s. Initially 1:1 training was offered, with easing restrictions leading to an expansion to training groups of 6, before full training could resume later in the summer. Junior matches also returned from July onwards, although this was limited to local friendly cricket for the 2020 season. Off the pitch, the closure of the club for half a season brought with it major financial concerns, with no natural route for generating income to offset the ongoing costs. The response from the club members, and some generous donations from local businesses, eased initial concerns with the opportunity to access Covid grants eventually meaning that the club’s finances remained strong. In fact, as hospitality was able to reopen in July, income generation reached previously unseen levels in the second half of the year, enabling the club to invest in new facilities for our members, most notably a much needed artificial training net, replacing the previous one built over 20 years earlier. So, whilst no-one will look at 2020 particularly fondly, what looked to be a challenging year can be seen as one that reinvigorated a love for cricket and the camaraderie that it brings, one that brought new players into the game and, for Avoncroft, one that drove forward our investment in the club, leaving us in a very strong position for the future. ## **1 st XI Review** As previously mentioned, Saturday league cricket was replaced with a local competition, involving 6 sides from the original Worcestershire County League Divisions 2 and 3. The split of local clubs meant that Avoncroft 1[st] XI found themselves paired with 4 sides from the league above – a uphill challenge for the Croft players. The final league table failed to do justice to Croft’s efforts with most games proving to be close, but gallant defeats tended to be the order of the day. In fact, Croft’s only win came in the last game of the season against town rivals Bromsgrove. 3 wickets from Josh Cound, and 2 each from Dan Elliott and Jon Hunter saw Bromsgrove dismissed for 194; a total that looked well within Croft’s reach as Elliott (31) and Dave Apperley (56) got them off to a flyer in reply. A traditional collapse made things interesting, before a calm 29no from Cound saw Avoncroft home to a 3 wicket victory. Captain Dan Elliott led the way with the bat, notching up 324 runs across the shortened season, whilst Jon Hunter took the bowling plaudits with an impressive haul of 19 wickets. ## **2 nd XI Review** The 2[nd] XI enjoyed a more successful season on the pitch, although in a tight league, their 5 wins were only rewarded with a 5[th] place finish. A record of 5 wins and 5 losses accurately reflects the up and down nature of Croft’s performances; the 2nds passed 200 on 5 occasions, reaching over 270 on 3 of those, however their average score in the other 5 games was only just over 100. The batting efforts were helped by Duncan Roke who returned from injury to post 277 runs in just 3 innings, although various contributions from Mark Whitehead, Mark Wood and Jon Brunt also led to match winning performances. Efforts with the ball were less to write home about, with leg-spinner Alex Richardson ploughing a lone furrow with 13 wickets for the season. One positive was the growing integration of some of the club’s under 14s into league cricket; a step that puts Croft in a great position to develop further in the years to come. ## **Sunday Review** A record of 2 wins and 7 defeats for the season hides the key purpose for the Sunday XI, as the 2020 season saw a transition which re-established the side very clearly as a development XI for Croft’s growing band of junior cricketers. 7 Under 13s and 14s represented Croft in the shortened Sunday season, ably supported by a range of more experienced club members, all keen to pass on their knowledge to the future stars. It was in the bowling department where the youngsters were able to shine, with the 4 leading wicket takers all aged 14 or under. Harry Stone, Fin Morris, Matt Athey and Jack Wright all showed they were comfortable coping with the demands of adult cricket and hopefully set themselves up for a successful future at Avoncroft. Croft’s more experienced players were invaluable in holding the batting together, with Chris Pitt (298 runs) and Josh Cound (288 runs) leading the way. Contributions from time to time from Jonty Heslop and Ben Warwick were also welcome, whilst 13 year old Harvey Shaw demonstrated his skills with 101 runs and a top score of 44. It was telling that Croft’s two wins came in the final month of the season, as the younger player grew into their roles in the side – a positive sign of things to come. ## **Treasurer’s Report 2020** As described earlier in this report, 2020 was an unusual year for the club’s finances. The Accounts are attached to this report, however the key points in summary are as follows: - The club made an overall surplus of £1,409 in 2020, taking the overall balance of funds up to £20,717. - Due to the number of new grants, and the material one-off items of expenditure, the club continues to split our accounts between a general account to cover the day to day running costs and a development account, which sets aside funding for investment. - The general account shows a surplus £4,974. As noted previously, income generation was particularly positive, given that the club was closed for the first half of the season. Member subscriptions and bar takings were still broadly in line with the levels seen in 2019, representing a very positive response from members to the Covid challenges. - £18,033 of grants, donations and other income was received into the development - account in 2020; the majority of which related to Covid grant support. - There were 4 majority items of expenditure in 2020 taken from the development account: - Single Bay net - £16,500 - Throwdown net - £1,503 - New wicket mower - £3,000 - Mower repairs - £595 - This leaves a balance of £8,556 in the development account. An element of this relates to works relating to an insurance claim which were completed in early 2021 and so the funding was carried forward into 2021. The remaining funding was set aside for other areas of priority investment, to be determined by the club’s committee and trustees. Fcfi THE YEAR E￿ED 31ST t￿CEN￿ R 2020 TOTAL 20to TOTAL 2015 IIICOME a￿$s 6￿85 2YO 420 2,6S0 469 -1stXIMitchFtts -2ndXIMalckF4 W2 4)) 665 .Traihing& 5545 soo 3a 52 9) l4 402 6Y) .2(N)Q¥b 1512 l6t4 Bar C•mw**•o S.•10 34.T•4 EXPE1401TinE l44$ *6 l4>) rts7 -LtISt¢xlthS￿ti ¢4 396 135 250 -fvllaÉA￿j￿T¢ 115 tyL* M7 2.T 490 IP) 476 792 461 46ts i•v C•willet 805 -kndooiNe -KiilEwp -Tiopknt- È.¥ 226 455 435 21.th)3 tJ.617 .QItyN￿WQt￿ICp•ÉhSÈS S,ty)3 -p¥d￿>*Cl¢l•￿ )6 ¢L¥ TLwfaU A¥0￿RIl￿r cc Expt AT5 31924 TRAIISFEA TO DEYEiO•MEMf A•C TOTAL AVOXRIIFf cc PAor￿ I (LOSS) AVONCROFT CRICKET CLUB - CLUB ACCOUNTS MOVEMENT OF FUNDS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER 2020 Bank Cash Total Opgnlng balance at 1st January 2020 Spllt between: - General alc - 08v•lopment alc 2019 Cheques banked- Inccffte 2019 Cheques presented I wrrtten back- Expendrture 2020 Chequ&s recelved but not yet bankèd - Incc4ne 2020 Cheques sènt but not yet banked- Expendrture Surplus I Ideficitl lor the year Closlng balance at 31st December 2020 19,253 19,309 7,132 12.121 7,188 12,121 1,423 20.676 (141 42 1,409 20.717 Spllt b&two&n: General alc Develo menl alc 12,120 8,556 42 12,162 8,556 AVONCROFT CRICKET CLUB- CLUB ACCOUNTS DEVELOPMENT ACCOUNT- MEMORANDUM FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER 2020 INCOME 2020 EXPENDITURE 2020 OPENING BALANCE Mwje up ot . &oiFJsgffjve Cournil G - Insurarne C181m . Gen8r81B818IKe IZ121 1.664 14712 C(Md Lool BuytE55 Grart Spms C￿nts1 Grart EW CricketTtu4 Grart - SITYJ* Bay Net 10,0(M) 2.712 16.500 1,503 . NeY4 M(hYer . Mower R S￿n30￿$hip & Dori -VP & Mert&er D(YHtion5 . BOUrrMI￿ Ttust - SSP FoLrkJab SU&TOTAL 595 14033 BALANCE up of - Instffarte Claim - Gener81 6.892 Independent exantherfs roport to the tharkytrustte5 ofAwncroft Cricket Chjb I report fm the acctyjnts of the tharitytor the year ended 31st Detember 2020. As the chariVs trustees you are rtsFK￿S1bIe f<* the wepar¥D"on of the accounts In accordance t•Ath the Charitie5 Act 20111.the Acfl. The tharitvs trustees consider that an audit 15 not required for thi5 year urth sectim 144 of the Act and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsiknlityto: • examine the accounts under sertion 145 of the Charities ALt • follow the applicable Dirertions gi*n by the Charity Commisslon lurmler sÈrtion 14515Mbl of the A¢ and • State whether Wicular matters have come to my atterrtton. My examination was carried cxrt in accordance wtth general DirectiDns Wven by the Charlty Commissic￿. An examination indudes a review of the accounting record5 kept by the tharÈty and • comparison of the a¢0￿nts presented with those recon15. It also indudes CC￿lderation of any unusual items or thsdosure5 in the accounts. and seeking explanations from the trustees c¢n¢erning any Such matters. The prLxedures undwtaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an au(lit. and consequently no opinion is gi¥Yn as to whether the accounts present 'true and fairf View the reE￿ is limited to those matter5 5etout in the ststemtnt below. In conn•ction with my ex¥mination. no material m•ttu5 ha¥* come to my attention which me cause to believe that in, any material respea: • the accounting reLxJrds were not kept in •C￿an￿ with 5ertion 130 of the Charities A¢ . the accounts thid not accord WTth the ac0￿n￿￿¥ records", or • the accounts did not comply with the aFvlicable requirements corKernlry the forni and ccvrtent of x¢ounts set out in the Charities IAc(ounts and Reports) Regulation5 2CK18 othef than any requirementthatthe Kcounts pve a'true and fairf which is not ¥ matter considered as part of ￿ independent examinatiC￿. I have no concerns ￿ have come across no other matters In with the examination to whith attention sh¢)uld be drawn in this rewt in order to enable a proper under51arHling of the ¥¢(¥unts to be reached. ned: Name..