Willow News

Word from the Chairman on Willow League 2008:

Congratulations to South Glam on winning the League competition!!

As a Chartered Trust man, I can assure you I have looked through every rule to see if there is some technicality I can bring into play as Chairman to change the final result!!!

Well done and it’s nice this year that the rain has (almost) stayed away and we’ve all been able to play more than one match per month!... Although, July seems to be shaping up a bit like last year!

My thanks to John for all his hard work in collating all the figures and publishing the league table.

Thanks and good luck with the Shield and Plate competitions!!

Richard Morris
Chairman
Willow League

Another wash out at the end of the season saw Chartered Trust pip South Glam to the post on run rate to win the Shield, and similarly Cardiff Cricket and Hockey took top spot in the Plate over BA.

Congratulations to both teams. Fingers crossed next season will see some sun....

The Cup Final will take place at the Cathedral School either on Tuesday 19 or Thursday 21 August depending on the weather...

Willow XI vs Cavaliers 30th Anniversary Game 17 July 2008

Joint Team photo from the game - click here

On behalf of this year's League Chairman, Richard Morris (Chartered Trust), I'm delighted to pass on details of the commemorative match to be played this Thursday (17 July) at 6.00pm at the Cathedral School this celebrates 30 years of cricket in Cardiff for the Willow League and Cardiff Cavaliers, both of whom came into existence in 1978

Thanks to Chris Stork for organising the Willow XI, who invited each of the other 11 League teams to nominate a player, ideally one of their longest serving members

Willow League Chairman's XI

Chris Stork (Eclipse Print), capt
Rich Holliday (Casuals)
Rich Saunders (Consmen)
Sanjay Thurpan (Cardiff Hockey & Cricket)
Andy Powell (South Glam)
Dai James (Rhiwbina)
Phil Dooley (Chartered Trust)
Dave Powell (GE Healthcare)
Rob Deighton-Jones (Eclipse Print)
Jack Landsdowne (South Glam)
John Furnham (Casuals)

Cardiff Cavaliers XI (debut year in brackets)

Steve Davis (1978)
Nigel Moore (1978)
Graham Newbury (1978)
Paul Goring (1983)
Warwick Armstrong (1990)
Glyn Poulsom (1993)
Geoff Lewis (1995)
Alan Ward (1998)
Jonathan Thomas (2000)
Dave Parsons (2001: his father debuted in 1978 and was first Club Chairman in 1979; and his grandfather also featured in an early game)
Derek Lewis (2007, in his second year of playing cricket having only taken it up when in his 60s)

Umpires: Chris Vanstone (Consmen); Jeremy Sparkes (Cavaliers)

12th men and reserves will be drawn from others attending

supporters and spectators very welcome

Graeme Brown: a number of our Willow League companions will associate the Cavaliers with Brownie, one of our founder members, and perhaps wonder why he's not featured in the team list; Graeme has undergone major surgery recently and is making a good recovery but isn't yet able to make a trip to the cricket -- he's gutted at missing this event but sends his best wishes and hopes to see everyone soon in the event of wet weather, the celebration will take the form of a skittles evening at Llandaff Rugby Club, starting at 7.30pm

cheers
J
Jeremy Sparkes
Cavaliers

The Willow League this season entered a side into the Sohia Gardens Winter Indoor League 2007/08 for the first time. The results were a mixed bag, though the bag was mainly full of losses, with one victory standing out above the rest!

Players from the following teams represented the Willow League VI during the indoor competition: Casuals, Cavaliers, Consmen, Rhiwbina, Sevenoaks, South Glam.

Thanks to everyone who played, especially to Chris Stork who only missed one game and captained from behind the stumps with much enthusiasm; and Jeremy Sparks who organised the teams each week. Hopefully everyone who took part enjoyed it and look forward to seeing you during the outdoor season.

Team photo from the penultimate game - click here

The willow rules are posted on the forum - Willow News - click here or you can download them here

The new chairman of the Willow League (2008) is Richard Morris from Chartered Trust.

The AGM for 2008 was held on 13th November 2007. The outgoing Willow chairman Dai James (Rhiwbina) Chaired the meeting. The minutes of the meeting are below:

Willows League AGM
6.30pm Rhiwbina Recreation Club
Rhiwbina

In attendance:
Chris Stork – Sevenoaks
Steve Davis – Cavaliers
Duncan Montgomery – Cardiff Uni Staff
Andrew Parry – SGECC
Simon Morgan – BA Dragons
Chris Davies – BA Dragons
Imran Ahmed – CBB
Darren Mogridge – CBB
Richard Morris – Chartered Trust
Jeremy Sparkes – Cavaliers
Dave Powell – GE Healthcare
Phil Dooley – Chartered Trust
Dan Lewis – Casuals
Dai James – Rhiwbina
John Davies – Rhiwbina

Apologies:
Peter Brabham – Cardiff Uni Staff
Andrew Thomas – Rhiwbina

Approval of the Minutes from the last meeting:
After a brief discussion the minutes of the last meeting were approved.

Review of the season:
Casuals won the league
South Glam won the cup and the Shield
BA Dragons won the Plate

Cup Rules:

The rules for the cup competition were reviewed and it was agreed that the current rules would remain in place.

League Points system:

The league points system was reviewed and it was agreed to continue with the current points system.

Treasurers Report:

There is currently a credit balance in the account of £1400.46. After all outstanding bills have been paid this balance will be reduced to £1100.00 approx.

The balance in the account will be used to reduce the overall costs of pitches for the current season, which will probably be higher due to the Eisteddfod being in Cardiff next summer. It was also proposed that a sum of £100 be sent to an appropriate charity.

A vote of thanks was received for all the hard work that Chris has put into the role of Treasurer. Chris has agreed to continue for another year.

League statistics / Scoresheets:

The results for the season are already in the minutes. Please could all clubs provide score sheets promptly to Dave Powell after the completion of fixtures. This will speed up the process.

A vore of thanks was recorded for Dave Powell.

Vote on BA Dragons rejoining the league:

After a brief discussion and after assurances were given by BA Dragons regarding honouring of fixtures for the future, it was unanimously agreed to readmit BA Dragons to the league.

Applications to join the league:

There had been three applications to join the league this season:

1. Cardiff Hockey & Cricket
2. Glamorgan Centurions
3. Glenwood Church CC

A discussion took place amongst the teams as to whether we should look to increase the size of the league. There are currently eleven teams playing in the league and we have traditionally had a maximum of twelve teams in the league. Could the league be increased to 14 teams? Thereby admitting all three applicants or should the league remain at 12 and therefore admit only 1 applicant. After much discussion it was agreed that due to fixture congestion, the wish to retain the cup competition and acknowledging that the later into the summer we go, the more difficult it is to fulfil fixtures, it was agreed by a majority that the current league structure should be retained.

There followed a brief discussion with regard to the applicants, members who had played any of the applicants were asked to comment on there suitability to join the league. After this discussion was completed a vote was taken on whom to admit to the league. The results were as follows:

1. Cardiff Hockey & Cricket
2. Glamorgan Centurions
3. Glenwood Church CC

Cardiff Hockey & Cricket are duly invited to join the Willows league on a probationary basis. This will entail admittance to the cup competition and to the Plate.

Dai James was asked to write on behalf of the league to both the successful applicant and the unsuccessful applicants.

2008 Fixtures

Due to the Eisteddfod being in Cardiff this year, there would be a restriction on the availability of pitches during the first few months of the season, particularly at Pontcanna fields. Therefore teams should look into other venues for their home matches. Llanrumney being a favoured option.

John Sparks has agreed to continue as fixtures secretary for the 2008 season. A vote of thanks was received for Johns hard work in this area.

Election of League Chairman

Chartered Trust have agreed to take on the chairmanship of the league for 2008. Richard Morris From Chartered Trust being their nomination.

Cup Draw 2008

Cup Round 1

Cavaliers v Consmen Game A
Rhiwbina v Eclipse Print (Sevenoaks) Game B
Cardiff Bay Barbarians v Casuals Game C
BA Dragons v Chartered Trust Game D

Cup Round 2
Game D Winners v South Glam Game E
Uni Staff v Game A Winners Game F
Game B Winners v GE Heathcare Game G
Cardiff Hockey & Cricket v Game C Winners Game H

Cup SF
Winner Game F v Winner Game G
Winner Game H v Winner Game E

AOB

It was agreed that should teams wish to arrange friendly fixtures they can go ahead, but there was no real interest in creating a Sunday league.

It was agreed that league fixtures could be rearranged, but not shield or plate.

Note: a rain-affected match can be re-arranged by mutual agreement between the two teams so long as it didn't carry over beyond the date of the final League fixture

for Shield/Plate, as an absolute points system is used games could NOT be rearranged otherwise this could disadvantage others

A contacts list was circulated and updated.

A vote of thanks was received for Dan Lewis for his work on the Willows League Website.

Dai James (Rhiwbina) was thanked for chairing the meeting

There being no further business the meeting was closed at 8pm.

Updates (if any) will be posted on the Willow forum.

Useful League info for the 2008 season

Results and scorecards -- a template for the match scorecard is here; please remember to email this Dave at his home email address d.powell8@ukonline.co.uk after the completion of each fixture.

Awards -- as per the past few years, individual awards will be based on aggregates and not averages.

Umpiring -- it was agreed at the AGM that teams would be reminded that the person standing at square leg needs to (a) also keep count of the number of balls being bowled and (b) be watchful at the wicket their end for stumpings and run outs

No-Balls -- It's also useful to remind folk that a ball that is a full toss at shoulder height or above is a no-ball regardless of its pace, and that a ball that is full toss above waist height from anyone other than a slow bowler is also a no-ball

Arbitration -- in the unlikely event of there being any difficulty or issues during the season, the Willow League Chairman is the person to contact in the first instance if the players/clubs involved cannot resolve matters amicably.

All the best for the coming season