Sheffield Cricket Lovers' Society Year Book 2015

35 Sheffield Cricket Lovers’ Society www.sheffieldcricketlovers.org.uk wide experience in all aspects of business and ultimately had become a Vice-President of American Airlines. Having established his future security for his family he wanted to get back into the game he loved, albeit at a considerable cost to himself as cricket could not compete in salary terms with global business enterprises. We were fortunate to have three positive years out of David until in 2000 he became one of our early exports to Nottinghamshire. A move to a Test Match ground which didn’t affect his living arrangements and the education of his children was obviously appropriate for a person of his capability and our loss was their gain which has been compounded in more recent years. The nineties were a highly successful period for Leicestershire in all forms of cricket and in producing players who made a contribution in the international arena but this was followed by a very difficult time in the new millennium in what proved to be a considerable decline in the fortunes on and off the field for the County with the exception of the new T20 competition in which Leicestershire enjoyed triple success. Having suffered two heart attacks in 1999 I informed the Committee that I would not seek re-election as Chairman at the AGM following the 2000 season but I would be prepared to continue in the capacity of Honorary Treasurer if required. Professional advisors to LCCC recommended that the Club changed its format in order to protect its future and that of the members, and that an Independent Review Group (IRG) be appointed. James Whitaker had ended his cricketing career in 1999 and to give continuity he was appointed General Manager in 2000 to cover predominantly the cricketing operations of the Club as well as making a contribution to the commercial activities. He came in at what proved to be the start of a difficult time for the Club, both financial and cricket wise. Seasons 2001 and 2002 proved to be extremely difficult with an inexperienced new Chairman (in professional cricket terms), the exodus of several senior players and a very complicated Employment Law dispute involving principally three players, Neil Burns, Vince Wells and Carl Crowe. The latter two players had been great servants to the Club and Crowe was a local boy who had come up through the Age Groups. This legal process caused great consternation involving costly action and did not bring great credit to either the Club or the individuals involved. At the same time the IRG were conducting their review and came to the conclusion that the offices of Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer should be discontinued at the end of the 2003 season despite the fact that they had not deemed it necessary to interview either the Honorary Secretary or myself as Honorary Treasurer, even though we had been involved with the Club for a lengthy period. On the recommendations of the IRG the Club became an Industrial and Provident Society (IPS) with a six person Board of Directors and a new constitution. The Board were led by Neil Davidson, a highly respected and successful businessman, but who admitted that although he was involved in the recreational game, he was inexperienced in the professional game. Whoever took on the position at that time would have had a difficult and onerous situation to deal with and this proved to be the case over the next few years. Losses were incurred on an annual basis and several players left the Club who to this day are still playing first class cricket and who have been a big loss to Leicestershire. In 2010 there was further major disruption when the Chief Executive, David Smith resigned in June, the Senior Coach Tim Boon resigned in September and the Chairman Neil Davidson followed suit in October. It was obvious that the years ahead were going to be very, very difficult and former player, Paul Haywood, who was the sole remaining member of the 90’s Committee on the Board, was given the poisoned chalice of Chairman. The last four years have been doubly difficult. The County have not won a Championship match for two seasons and now further players are leaving the Club. Disappointingly, three of those players are local boys who have come through the County’s Age Group system. In my opinion mistakes have undoubtedly been made by the Board notably, the choice of Overseas Player and with too many contracts expiring at the same time. To end on a positive note Leicestershire had the strongest squad of all counties last season despite finishing bottom of the second division again. I know that sounds ludicrous but the second team won Cricket’s Triple Crown at their level, the T20 competition with final’s day at Arundel, the 50 over competition (final against Lancashire at Grace Road) and the Championship (final against Essex at Chelmsford). I think it is fair to say that the second eleven were ‘head and shoulders’ above any other on the County circuit (possible exception to that, Yorkshire, of course). The main problem was that the 20 man squad were all of the same standard and Leicestershire, in my opinion, lacked a natural leader and a couple of players who had the necessary ‘extra’ and that would have made the first team very competitive. James Whitaker