Please see message below which has been emailed to the membership. If you haven't received the message, please update your details by forwarding your current email address to nailscricket@hotmail.co.uk

Dear All,

This is to notify members of the date for the AGM which will be 1100am on Saturday 17th January at Heriot’s Rugby Club, Goldenacre, Edinburgh. The AGM will be followed by a lunch at the Rugby Club for those who wish it, the match that day is Heriots V Currie . Tickets are priced at £25 and should be pre-booked by Thursday January 8th via this e-mail.

There are a number of significant items up for discussion at the AGM that require a full membership debate and I attach an outline of those items in the hope it will stimulate some interest among members, as well as volunteers. Any motions for consideration at the AGM should be submitted to this email (nailscricket@hotmail.co.uk) by Sunday 4th January.

Playing sides
We will be seeking nominations for 3rd XI and 4th XI captains for the coming season. After some recalculations in the leagues the 3rd XI got promoted for the second season in succession and will play in Div 5 plus a 4th XI will be entered for the first time in Div 8 (it is envisaged there will be 15 teams in this league)

We need skippers for both sides and would like people to put their names forward for thee adventures.

Recruitment of players for the 1st and 2nd XIs is showing signs of promise and we encourage all members to actively recruit players for Heriots Cricket over the winter period.

Keith Morton is going to return to the club as 1st XI captain for the coming season and we are delighted to have Keith back at the club after his sabbatical at Penicuik. It is a great appointment for the seasons ahead.

Finances & Membership fees
The club posted a significant loss for the season due to our sponsor pulling out of their agreement early, also social events at Goldenacre making a loss and subs from playing and non-playing members not being paid. This means that in entering the coming season we are carrying debt on our balance sheet for the first time.

This is obviously a disappointing situation despite our relative success on the pitch and needs to change. We therefore need all members that still owe subs to the club to pay now please so we can rectify this ahead of the season start.

At the AGM we will be proposing that all members in future pay by either standing order or direct debit, and depending on the amount due, this may mean a couple of payment runs for playing memberships - one pre-season, one-mid season. Anyone not paying by those dates will be asked to leave the club with immediate effect.

Our playing membership is currently less than the hockey club, and slightly more than the rugby club (although they charge non-playing members the same as our playing membership) so we are not being unreasonable here in terms of demands considering the standard of wicket and facilities we get at Goldenacre. Unfortunately the non-payment of memberships by several thousand pounds cannot continue and we need your support in pushing this forward.

Volunteers

To help us with our finances we need a Bar and Social Convenor for the coming season. If we cannot secure people wishing to help on this front then we will need to consider closing the Snug Bar and relocating to the Rugby Club, apart from on certain fixtures. The benefits of this is it gives us a ready-made facility with Sky Sports and a larger function room, the negatives are we lose one of the finest drinking venues in the world?

Our club revolves round support from all sides – so please put you hand up.

Finally – Sponsorship

The club is seeking a sponsor for the new season and a range of opportunities exist – please contact Chris Middleton on cj_middleton@hotmail.com for more details.

Best wishes,

Chris Middleton
President, Heriots CC