Terry Gately who served briefly in the same capacity, but
whose changed personal circumstances prevented him
from staying longer in the role.
It is with sadness that I have to record the death during
2015 of two grandees of Warwickshire cricket, Phillip Gough
and Alex Davis. Phillip held the unique honour of being both
an Honorary Life Member and Vice President, reflecting
the huge contribution he made not only to the Club, serving
as Honorary Treasurer from 1979 to 1987, but also to
Harborne CC. Alex was highly respected as the Club 1st
XI and England scorer but his commitment and passion to
cricket extended well beyond the scorebox. Both Phillip and
Alec will be widely missed.
During the year we have seen the arrival of a new
leadership team at the ECB and there has been much
discussion about the future of both County and international
cricket. So far there has been plenty of discussion but an
absence of firm proposals. I suspect these discussions
will continue and certainly many elements of our domestic
game are under considerable financial pressure. The
changes we have made to our own business model over
recent years should stand us in good stead to deal with
whatever comes over the horizon in due course. In some
quarters there is pressure for some radical re-structuring
both on and off the pitch. We need to continue to be at the
forefront of the discussions or developments and will try to
ensure we keep true to our traditions whilst moving with the
times.
We have of course had a notable change within our own
leadership team with Colin Povey retiring from the Chief
Executive seat at the end of a near ten year tenure. I write
above of the changes to our business model that I believe
position the club extremely well for the future. That I am able
to record this, is to a very significant extent, a testament
to the vision and strategy created and shaped by Colin,
followed by a highly successful implementation of that plan.
I am all too well aware, that this achievement is despite,
on many occasions, an all too strong head wind.
Success is of course, not just about bricks and mortar,
nor dare I say playing and business wins for winning sake. It
is as much about creating a culture that allows individuals to
thrive individually and collectively, and this Colin has done
outstandingly.
As he now turns his attentions to England netball, I
do sincerely hope that Colin is not lost forever to cricket.
Following Colin’s retirement the Committee was
delighted to secure as his successor the services of Neil
Snowball. Neil joins the Club following playing a key role
as Chief Operating Officer at England Rugby 2015, having
delivered a highly acclaimed World Cup tournament. I wish
Neil every success with “The Bears”.
Finally after another long and busy season I wish to thank
my Committee and Board colleagues for their support.
Thank you to both our funding and commercial partners
and to all our staff who did such a magnificent job to ensure
that the return of Ashes Test Match cricket was all we had
hoped. Most of all thank you to our members – I hope you
have enjoyed the ups and downs of another season and I
look forward to seeing you all again soon.
5
Chairman’s Report
Of course, Jonathan Trott eventually called time on his
England career and with Chris Woakes now being awarded
an increment contract rather than a full central contract by
England after an injury-riddled campaign, we will hope they
can both show their class in Warwickshire colours more
often in 2016. Ian Bell continues to be a world-class player
and centrally contracted by England but I am hopeful that
we might also see more of him in 2016 given the way the
international calendar falls.
As ever, it is inevitable that we have said goodbye to
some players during 2015. Paul Best is a former England
Age Group captain and came through the WCB youth
system but after the pre-season camp in Barbados realised
he was still struggling to cope with his back problems and
decided to call time on his professional career. Three other
home grown players were also released at the end of the
season. Tom Milnes, Tom Lewis and Pete Mackay have all
enjoyed 1st XI cricket at some stage of their careers and we
wish them well for the future. Tom Milnes has already signed
for Derbyshire and I am sure we will see the others around
the County circuit at some stage in the future. All will remain
very welcome at Edgbaston.
Following the AGM, Mike Browne and Colin Short stood
down from the General Committee as we continued to
re-structure our Club governance model and implement
the reductions in Committee numbers. My thanks to both
for all they have done for the Club over the years. We
subsequently appointed Naz Khan as a non-executive
director on the Management Board. Naz will be known to
many members for his work locally at Attock CC and we
have recently confirmed Mark McCafferty (Premier Rugby)
as another Appointed Director. My thanks also to
Mike Browne
Philip Gough
Colin Short
Alex Davis
