Follow Up To Ged's Open Letter to MCCC

A Meeting of Minds

By Ged
September 17 2006

On Friday 1 September Ged Ladd posted an open letter to MCCC management. Before 9:30 on the Monday morning, Ged had received an e-mail from Vinny Codrington requesting a meeting, which took place late the next day. Here is a write up on that meeting. A link to the full text of my open letter of 1 September is contained at the foot of this feature. The summary points in that letter read as follows:

"In the short term, we need to buy some strong players in the market-place for 2007, in particular strike and spin bowling. We need to drop the 'no Kolpak' policy to ensure that we are choosing our purchases from a fair and full market. We need to take a radical look at our arrangements for bringing on young bowlers and stop being �net importers� of bowling talent as soon as possible.
In the medium to long term, we need to take a radical look at our financial and structural support to ensure that we are not �one of the poorer clubs�, even if the current management and committees lose power, influence or jobs as a result of the necessary changes to ensure longer-term financial competitiveness as a club."

I posted the letter on Friday 1 September while Middlesex were still in Scarborough. By Monday at 9:30 I had already received an e-mail from Vinny Codrington (Chief Executive of the club) requesting a meeting. I made the appointment for late on Tuesday afternoon (a match day due to the Middx v Notts Pro40 rescheduling).

I met formally with Vinny, Chris Lowe (Chair of the Membership Committee and executive member), John Embury (Director of Cricket) and Richard Goatley (Head of Finance). I had not expected such a large group (I was expecting to see Vinny and Chris) but it is certainly an indication that the club had taken my letter very seriously that these people all wanted to meet me to discuss it. After the meeting, I met informally with a few other members of the committee who were in for the match.

I have found it difficult to write up this meeting. Firstly, the fixture pressure that week, followed by Ged's business pressure the following week would have delayed this short write up on the club's response until now in any case. More difficult, however, is to give a meaningful account without straying into some areas that are by their nature not publishable (financial details, salaries, players with whom the club is negotiating etc.). We are, however, now less than two weeks away from the Forum and that part of the content that can be made public by then will be made public at the Forum.

This write up therefore needs to be impressionistic.

The first thing to say is that I was surprised and impressed that the club was taking my letter so seriously. All four who met with me said they found the letter very interesting and they clearly wanted to discuss the content further, both to inform me but also better to understand my thinking. We met for best part of 90 minutes (not all four stayed throughout that time) and discussed all the aspects of my letter.

Clearly this was not meant to be a "resolution" meeting so it is unsurprising that we reached no conclusions or specific actions. Perhaps that explains why I am finding it hard to write up, as my business life is about meetings reaching conclusions and agreed actions.

It is clear to me from the meeting that the committee and executive share with me (and MTWD's readers) the view that our main urgent need is in the area of bowling. I would expect both of our overseas signings to be bowlers this year and would be very disappointed if one of them is not a spinner. I do understand (and didn't need the meeting to understand it) what a limited market there is for high class players and that so many counties are seeking so few top notch players. This problem extends to domestic signings as well, where I can accept that "there is not a lot out there" and that demand exceeds supply for quality players seeking a move. Nevertheless there are a few interesting names in the hat, both domestically and on the overseas market.

On the question of bringing on our own bowlers, John remnded me that we were only occasionally producing our own top notch pace bowlers even in the glory years. I think the club recognises that we need to get better at identifying and bringing on our own bowling talent - nascent ideas for the development of a new academy might address this in part. I think this area would be worthy of further discussion at the Forum and have no doubt that people will raise this question there.

The question of "Kolpak" was interesting, as I was told that I have misunderstood the club's policy in that regard; indeed there is no formal policy as such. Again I would expect this matter to be discussed at the Forum. I suggested that the club's policy (or lack thereof) be clarified at the Forum.

I was interested to learn that the club does not feel as financially constrained as I thought it did; certainly the club does not believe that it is missing out on players it wants purely for financial reasons. I also was interested to learn that some "successful" clubs have taken a very short term view on finance that might come back and bite them later.

However, there is no doubt in my mind still that a more helpful and sustainable financial basis could translate into a more successful club in the medium to long term.

My ideas for revising the relationship with MCC and/or sponsorship covered quite a large chunk of the meeting. It is the area closest to my business expertise and it is of course an area that the Executive and Committee have looked at periodically.

The discussion has reinforced my view that the club needs to address this area as a matter of priority, especially as the MCC will have fresh management (with the advent of Keith Bradshaw imminent) which should be open to new ideas. Where perhaps in the past MCC doors have been frustratingly shut or too slow to react, things might well be available for change, for the better and soon. MCCC needs to strike while the iron is hot in my view.

In short, I was refreshed to learn that many of the items I raised are very much on the Executive and Committee agenda. I was also refreshed to learn that the club is so open and willing to engage with members who raise suggestions and proposals. For my own part, I stand by the points I raised in the letter. I am now better informed but I think the points I raised all stand. I would particularly like to help shape ideas and proposals for rejigging our arrangements with MCC and developing joint sponsorship ararngements, as I genuinely believe that this area could be of great long term benefit to both MCCC and MCC.

I appreciate the time and effort taken by all those people to meet with me. I hope they found it a useful investment of their time to assimilate my ideas; I certainly found it helpful to me, both personally and in my capacity as editor at MTWD.

I hope this feature at least scuppers the idea that there is conflict between the club and MTWD. The club takes its supporters and MTWD very seriously. We have a unique arrangement at Middlesex between the club and the unoffcial web site; I believe it works well. The club encourages open communication with the members as much as is possible and practical; MTWD plays an important part in that.

It will be interesting to see how the discussion goes at the Forum. And of course the medium to long term ideas expressed in my letter will take time to develop into genuine proposals and actions. Watch this space!!

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