Secretaries Notes

We are now just over halfway through 2025 and we are already having another successful year, Colin has highlighted the results so far and I can only agree that his Captains Day at Harleyford went very well. Greg Searle was a good speaker, and it was a change from the comedians that most of the other Counties have at their dinners. I hope Bob can find a good speaker for his day at Whiteleaf next year.

Whilst about next year it has again proved difficult to secure bookings for our home events. There are 12 to be made with traditionally 3 of those outside Buckinghamshire. But it is proving difficult, and I have been having to try outside Buckinghamshire to get a reasonably priced booking. You can see this on the 2025 Fixtures page on this website. Prices have gone up a lot but getting a date has also proved difficult. It had been hoped that once the effect of Covid had worn off things would get back to normal but that is not the case. There are signs that clubs are losing members, probably through cost of membership, and will then want more societies in the future. Other Counties are having these problems but there are still some that continue to get courtesy where they play. Not something we get! The other problem we have is that there we only have a small number of clubs we can use for our matches and internal competitions. I am well aware of what was said in the survey about using the better clubs but it is easier said than done. Our match costs would go up considerably if I did that. I try to have our matches at different venues than used before for each County so as to give them variety but that is sometimes not possible.

Rod Jones is doing a great job as Match Secretary and please read his report. It is encouraging that a couple of the newer members are being Match Managers. The system is working well with a number of ex captains volunteering every year and making sure we have a team for all the events. There are still some members who do not respond to the invitations which causes extra work in sending reminders. So if you cannot play please respond as soon as you can.

What we do need however is a replacement for me as Secretary. I have already indicated that I intend to give up the role when I am 80 at the end of 2025. I took on the role not long after I retired, and it has kept me mentally active since then. Ideally, we need someone in the same position as there is a fair bit to do during the year. I have been keeping a diary record of my activities this year to enable a smooth handover which I will send to anyone who is interested. I am happy to help out with the website and do the newsletters but if my replacement wants to do this that’s OK with me.

Our last event of this year is the Autumn Meeting at Gerrards Cross on October 10. Do you recognise the hole on the front page and more importantly how to play it. This is always a popular venue so I hope to a good turnout and meet up with those of you I haven’t seen this year.

Peter Short
Secretary