Members Committee Meeting Minutes of the Meeting Held at Edgbaston

Members Committee Meeting Minutes of the meeting held at Edgbaston Stadium & via Video Conference on 1 October 2020 1. Present – Asif Din, Marina Dorward, Courtney Rowlands, Andrew Burn, Paul Warren, Iftkhar Ahmed, John Winspear, Jeremy Payne, Mike Williams (Chair) 2. In attendance- Mark McCafferty, Paul Farbrace, Laura Entwistle. 3. Apologies – none received. 4. The minutes of the meeting held on 23 July 2020 were approved as a correct record. 5. Matters arising: a. Following the suggestion raised at the previous meeting that the Club nominated worthy individuals to the National Honours System, consultation with various Club contacts took place. On review, the decision was taken not to support the request. b. Mike Williams formally welcomed Stuart Cain to the Club as Chief EXecutive. 6. Feedback from the Board Meeting. a. Mike Williams reported that the Board meeting held on the 19th September had been finance focused. He updated that the year-end position would not be far off the original budget, primarily due to the furlough job retention scheme, insurance of Major Match Day ticket sales and donations from the Membership. b. He noted that 2021 would be financially challenging without a Test match and the eXpected ongoing impact of Covid-19. Uncertainty around the funding of the Plaza development due to begin work in Autumn was noted. It was reported however that the FY21 cricket budget had not been adversely affected. It was reported that assurances about the going concern of EEL had been provided, despite the difficult trading position. c. It was confirmed that the Board had granted Honourary Life Memberships to Tim Ambrose and Jeetan Patel, and that Ian Bell had already received one prior to his retirement. 7. Feedback from the Board Committees: a. Nominations Committee – Mike Williams updated on the work being undertaken to align the Club to the ECB’s Governance Framework. He noted that in future, compliance with the framework’s standards may have implications on ECB funding. b. Cricket Audit update – Paul Farbrace provided an update on the season which had concluded for all squads. i. He reported on the first season for the Central Sparks and the women’s schedule for 2021. He noted 14 of the Warwickshire Women’s squad had been selected for one of the regional squads. He highlighted the notable performances of Marie Kelly and Issy Wong. ii. The Boys and Girls age groups had been able to continue throughout the summer and very positive feedback from parents has been received. The performances of Tazeer Ali, aged 14, and Vikai Kelley from the Academy within the Senior teams were praised. It was confirmed that Manraj Johal who went on the pre-season tour had been offered a rookie contract and Jacob Bethel had also been selected for England U19’s. iii. Paul Farbrace summarised the Men’s team performances. He noted it had been a disappointing season and that they were unfortunate not to qualify for the T20 Finals due to other match results. He confirmed that the aim was still to be County Champions by 2024 and that recruitment over the winter would be important to replace the experience that would be lost in Patel, Bell and Ambrose. iv. John Winspear updated on the Cricket Audit meeting and reported that whilst the budget had been trimmed slightly, the ambitions outlined in the strategy remained. v. Discussion was held on the priorities for the winter, recruitment and for the 2021 season. PF noted that an eXperienced spinner was due to be signed imminently. 8. Succession planning for Members Committee a. Mike Williams reported that Iftkhar Ahmed and Jeremy Payne had eXpressed interest in becoming Members Committee representatives on the Board. He added that a skills audit would be taking place for the Board and he had agreed to eXtend the audit across the Members Committee. It was noted that consideration would also need to be given to the replacement of Mike Williams, Andrew Burn and John Winspear as their terms are due to expire in 2022. 9. County Championship Schedule a. Stuart Cain provided an update on the implementation of the new Edgbaston app, which had surpassed the initial download target. He also commented on the success of the streaming service and Bears Den TV which had been very well received and attracted a peak of 160k viewers for the T20 game versus Worcester, however only circa 8% of these viewers were from the UK. Plans to develop Bears Den TV with out of season content would be progressed. b. Stuart Cain presented the proposed 2021 season schedule and format for the County Championship (CC) / Bob Willis Trophy (BWT), which would require a vote by all FCCs to agree the format. The proposed CC format comprises 14- games based on seeded groups and concludes with a ‘Super September’ of T20 and CC finals. For the CC, the three seeded, but regionally biased groups in consideration of ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, would play 5 home and 5 away matches between April and July before qualifying for a 3 tiered divisional final in September. He noted there had been debate about the outcome from a CC final, and whether the winner would secure the CC and/or the BWT. The Committee felt that the “Championship” should be determined by the games played in the groups and NOT in a final, although a final would be a fitting end to the season. c. Mark McCafferty confirmed the intention of the ECB is to deliver The Hundred regardless of crowd capacities to meet broadcasting commitments. d. Discussion was held on the proposed schedule and the implications of playing blocks of T20 and CC matches. Concern was raised about the potential of having ‘dead’ games at the end of the CC rounds with the proposed finals structure, however Mark McCafferty confirmed the intention to carry forward 50% of the points from the group stages to the finals round to ensure matches remained competitive throughout. e. Mike Williams confirmed the view of the Members Committee was that there should not be a winner takes all final, and if played, it should be treated as an eXhibition match and have no influence on the overall winner of the County Championship. f. The benefits of having all teams playing at the same time in rounds was welcomed, however concern was noted at the gap in 4-day cricket between the start of July and September given the format preference of the Membership. Mark McCafferty confirmed that the ECB had been insistent the vote on format would only stand for the 2021 season and would be reviewed afterwards as the game looks to rebuild from Covid-19. 10. Heritage Plans a. Stuart Cain gave an update on the heritage work undertaken to date. He confirmed the intention to re-engage with the Heritage Group and to speak more widely to Members on the topic. He noted the need to consider how the Club recognised the players retiring at the end of the season. Mike Williams commented that more prominent recognition needed to be given to Dennis Amiss. 11. Members Benefits Package a. Stuart Cain reported that circa 60% of Members had donated their 2020 membership and formally thanked them for their support. He confirmed this was in line with most counties who had reported 50-60% of their Members had also donated. b. With regards to the benefits package, he confirmed that the plaque recognising all who had donated would be in place for the start of the 2021 season. The shirt designs featuring the names of donators was also in production. He added that the Members event would be confirmed once the 2021 fiXtures had been finalised. c. He added that the Membership packs may need to be circulated later than normal this year as the International fiXtures had not been finalised. However, there is ongoing discussion with the ECB whether they can be distributed before these fiXtures are confirmed. d. Discussion was held about the Membership renewal process given the level of uncertainty of being able to attend matches in person neXt season. Mike Williams reminded the Committee that the Club Rules state membership must be paid by the 1st January to be a full Member. It was agreed that options would be reviewed given the anticipated level of caution and generosity of the Membership to date. e. The Members Committee noted their thanks to the Membership for their donations and support. 12. Andy Nichol Replacement a. Stuart Cain confirmed the vacant position had been advertised and noted that with the current landscape in the event industry, a high calibre of candidates was eXpected. 13. AOB a. Iftkhar Khan commented on the importance of diversity within the Club. Stuart Cain confirmed that diversity and inclusion had been added as an objective to the strategy in recognition of its importance, and reported on an all staff call that had taken place that day with guest speakers on the subject as part of National Inclusion week. It was commented that good progress has been made with South Asian representation, particularly throughout the age groups and into the Academy, but movement through to the professional squad was still an issue. Mark McCafferty noted that that Governance work taking place would help facilitate opportunities for all. Stuart Cain added that work is also taking place on the whistleblowing and grievance policies and that he would provide an update on progress at the meeting in December. b. Mark McCafferty noted the outstanding support from the Members, including the intangible support provided. He commented on the importance of the ongoing communication and engagement programme.

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