2022 ANNUAL REPORT

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE COUNTY CRICKET CLUB 2022 ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 66 that Nottinghamshire had consulted the membership at a members’ forum on 5 September.There had been no meetings with the ECB on this specific issue since that date. The Chairman had, however, fed back into a group of First-Class County Chairs on the commitment he had given to members on 5 September, to the effect that the club would not vote for any reduction in County Championship cricket in 2023.The Club Chairman said he could make no commitment for Nottinghamshire regarding 2024 onwards as the club would have a new Chair in place by then. The Chief Executive observed that the club has always communicated well with its membership.The club had shared with the membership all of the information that they had received from the ECB on the HPR. She shared excerpts from a timeline with the meeting which showed the various interactions that the club had had with the membership since August, pointing out that Notting- hamshire were one of the first clubs to hold a forum discussion on the HPR. She also pointed out that the review was not and never had been a domestic structure review. Rather it was a review of elite performance forTeam England, two elements of which related to domestic structure and were discussed on 5 September at the Nottinghamshire members’ forum. At that meeting the Club Chairman had given his commit- ment to vote against any reduction in red-ball cricket for 2023. Since then the club had received no further information on the HPR from the ECB; no revised formal proposal; and no consultation material.The club’s commitment was that it would consult with its members if and when it received formal proposals about the HPR. Comments and questions were then invited from the floor. Mr Kevin Manners said that part of the perception that some members had formed about not being consulted had been created by the media speculation and comment associated with the issue.Whilst he understood that Nottinghamshire would not wish to add to the media ‘noise’ they could perhaps have followed up after the members’ forum with an email. The Chairman said that he accepted this point. Mr Robert Gilbert agreed that it would have been helpful if Notting- hamshire had informed members after the forum that they planned to do nothing further until formal proposals were received. Mr Nick Stanford asked the Chief Executive if the club would actively consult the membership about any formal proposals affecting 2024 onwards.The Chief Executive said that this had always been the club’s plan. She outlined a possible process that would ensure members under- stood the various options and the impact of any changes. As soon as any formal proposals were received, the club would seek views from all of its members through a variety of channels including online, postal and face-to-face. The following resolution was then put to the vote: The members have confidence in how club officials managed the process, communications and member involvement. Thirty-nine members said they did not have confidence in how the process had been managed and 140 members said that they were confident in how club officials had managed the process.The resolution was, therefore, carried. The Chairman closed the meeting by thanking the membership for the vote of confidence, and the proposer and seconder of the EGM for the way they had conducted their involvement in the process.The club would continuously evolve and improve its communications with the membership throughout the process.