Apologies: T.Goodyear, R.Lyne, J.Mason, P.Van Essche.

The meeting was formally opened by the (Life) President at 5:45 pm (after a change of table) and the agenda adopted as proposed. The Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of November 1998 were accepted as taken.

Concerning matters arising from the Minutes, D.Allen noted that several of the close-season jobs had not been carried out. E.Schyns claimed that the new scoreboard was still on the design table! C.Carter said that the bowling markers were half-done & M.Davenport had apparently forgotten to issue Post Office slips for the payment of annual subscriptions. As for the new nets, they were taken care of ; materials purchased & transported, posts errected & netting attached by D.Allen & M.Lindroos as promised, with the help of C.Carter & J-F.Comblin. The netting was ordered from England by B.Pattison.

John Osborne presented the report. Just nine matches played and one deprived of, due to some confusion over a Cossonay fixture. CERN managed to win one and lose the other eight despite often being in a strong position. Noteably, against Geneva at home when CERN put 254 runs on the board for the loss of just 5 wickets only to go on and lose by 7 wickets! The Lodi Festival was probably the highlight of the season where CERN finished 3^rd having won two out of their three matches. Chris Onions received the bowling award for the tournament. Shabbir Akhtar finished with most runs & most wickets for the season. John concluded by suggesting that we can’t do worse than last season to start the new Millenium!

Full results of the matches were: Won 1, Drawn 0, Tied 0, Lost 8, Abandoned 0, Postponed 0, Cancelled 2, Forfeited 0.

Martyn Davenport began by saying that more & more money was coming in, but not due to the Treasurer’s efforts?! From ~5000 Frs at the end of year 1998, the bank balance soared to ~7000 Frs by the beginning of year 1999. This of course due to the grant of 2000 Frs received from the Staff Association. Some kit had been bought during the year and there were substantial costs in registration fees for the Lodi Festival. Problems were encountered in the collection of match fees, which Martyn suggested could come under the Match Manager’s responsibilities. It may be possible to reclaim some 80 Frs paid in taxes over the past 3 years. Several ideas came to mind such as charging for drinks as Geneva & Cossonay do. Also, a list of who has paid their subscription for the year should exist and the Match Manager be charged with the collection of match fees and any outstanding annual subscriptions.

A lengthy discussion was immediately launched (earlier in the Meeting than usual!)

on the prospect of building an artificial wicket. J.Osborne possessed a preliminary plan and a pitch-building committee was formed, composed of John Osborne, Dave Allen & Emile Schyns, with Emile responsible for fund-raising for the new pitch. Led by Mike Sale, a unanimous vote of thanks was given to the Head Groundsman, Colin Carter.

Emile Schyns presented a full inventory of the cricket gear. Regarding new kit, it was decided that two "already knocked in" cricket bats would be required, aswell as a pair of wicket-keeping gloves and four boxes. Emile informed the Meeting that many of the pairs of pads were in a humid state from being stowed away still damp, after the last match of the season.

There had been a record number of nominations. However, John Osborne agreed to continue in his post of Captain and was voted in unopposed.

The post of Vice-captain though was a different matter and a secret ballot was held to determine which of the eventual two contenders would take the job. Emile Schyns graciously accepted defeat and congratulated Iain Turnbull on his victory.

For the post of Secretary, Dave Allen was voted in unopposed.

Martyn Davenport was standing down after two successful years as Treasurer. Rob Fielder, nominated on several counts, accepted the challenge of his new post.

Colin Carter agreed to continue doing his various activities at the ground, for the umpteenth year.

CERN have been invited back to the Lodi Festival, an 8-a-side tournament held in June. They only participated last year as replacement for Hassloch who had to withdraw and so still have first refusal for this year’s edition.

There was the prospect of a new fixture with Cabris, most likely at their ground near Grasse. CERN have played them once before on an 8-a-side basis at the Lodi Festival in June 1999.

Two or three CERN players will travel to Thailand to participate in the Chiang Mai Sixes in April 2000. The Meeting decided on a subsidy of 100 Frs for each player involved, thus covering about half the individual registration costs.

Emile Schyns brought up the idea of a change of label for the club, from CCC to CICC thus distinguishing itself from the Cossonay Cricket Club. The new form would then stand for CERN International Cricket Club, as indeed the club is made up of 10 different nationalities. There was however not a lot of enthusiasm for the new idea.

It was noted that next year (in the year 2000), the club will be 35 years old and therefore merits a celebration of some kind, especially as it's 30 years of existence had been missed.

The meeting was formally brought to a close at 7:52 pm.