(February 19, 2004)
Meeting
started at 6:45 p.m. on Thursday 19th February, 2004 at Comfort Inn
and Suites
EC
members Tony, Channi, Sanjit, Bobby and Cameron were present on time. Andy
and Yogesh were late. Phil, Osama and Omeir sent their regrets that they
were unable to attend this meeting for business reasons.
The following matters were
discussed:
1.0 Grounds:
Channi gave an update on
the Tom Bass Park Concessionaire Agreement that was submitted to the Park
Authorities. Channi informed the EC that the Park Authorities have given a
verbal approval to start work on the new CCC ground adjacent to the MCC Ground.
CCC Ground Grading Plan and layout drawings were shown to the EC and also
submitted to Parks authorities.
The EC discussed the fees
that the teams without Grounds will have to pay to play on various grounds.
Sanjit suggested that the teams without grounds must directly negotiate with
the teams managing the grounds and pay a reasonable fee for each match, to
those teams directly, without involving HCL. Sanjit suggested that HCL should
recommend a standard fee per game that teams without Grounds must pay so as to
protect these new teams from being over-charged and HCL can facilitate these
discussions between the parties
involved.
Insurance of the Tom Bass
Grounds was discussed. Channi said he would discuss the matter with Mr Khalid
Nabi and provide an update. Approximate premium being paid was $125 per team.
Andy inquired as to what were the coverages on this Insurance Policy and wanted
more details. Channi agreed to find out.
2.0 Teams for the
2004 Summer League:
GHCC, SCC has not
confirmed their participation for the 2004 Summer Season, nor paid their dues
and may be eliminated. HJCC has already confirmed their decision of
withdrawing from the 2004 Summer League. Eighteen clubs out of 27 teams
have paid their dues for the summer league. About 22 existing teams have
verbally confirmed their participation for the 2004 Summer Season.
EC recognized that 4 new
teams have already submitted their application and fees to join the Summer
League:
ESCP Executive Sports
Club of Port Arthur
BICC II Bhakta India
Cricket Club II
HRCC Houston Riders
Cricket Club
HTCC II Houston Tigers
Cricket Club II
3.0 Dues:
Cameron Best, Treasurer,
stated that MCC owes $400 for 40 balls supplied to them. He agreed to send a
reminder to all the clubs regarding the outstanding dues for annual dinner and
the summer league. Channi and Sanjit
agreed to follow up with these clubs.
All the EC members agreed
that all the clubs must pay their dues before the 22nd February 2004
deadline.
4.0 Kick-Off Games:
Due to the delay in the
2003-04 Winter League, it was decided to play the Kick-off games on 14th
March 2004 and the Winter League Finals is to be played on Saturday 13th
March 2004. The 2004 summer league will therefore commence on 21st
March 2004 instead of 14th March.
It was decided that the
Captain of the combined Div I team that will play the Div I Champions will be
the Captain of the Division Runner-Up and he will select the best 2 players
from the remaining teams. The same will be followed for all the other 3
Divisions.
It was decided to include
the best youth / junior players in these games. Mignesh, Chirag, Bhavin, Taha, Shehzar, Vihar to be included in
the various teams.
5.0 2004 Summer League Format:
Six formats presented by
Tony, Mudassar, Osama/Phil, Bobby, Sanjit and Danish were discussed. Danishs
detailed analysis of these formats was presented in a tabular form by Channi
and discussed at length by the EC. EC was pleased by the enthusiastic
participation of Houston cricket lovers.
Sanjit presented a revised
4 Division Format 6-6-6-9 (Annexure I) with 27 teams and no cross-play between
Divisions III and IV. EC asked Sanjit to present the essential advantage of his
proposal over those on the table.
Sanjit explained that HCL
has 12 grounds and if all the grounds were to be fully utilized the league
would need to have 3 extra teams, with a bye-week, to send 3 umpires each
similar to last year plus 3 HCL Independent Umpires each week for 12 games. In
the 2003 season all 12 grounds were not fully utilized as there were only 25
teams and 3 teams had to be given byes each week causing the season to extend to
21 weeks. Sanjit explained that 9 new teams can be added to Division 4 over the
next 3 years as and when grounds become available, without affecting the Top 3
Divisions in the league. The new format also reduces the number of games for
Division III and IV from 17 and 18 respectively to 16. The total number of
games for the 2004 season is estimated at 219 games, 3 more than last year,
inspite of 2 more new teams when compared to the 2003 season. The 2004 season
can be completed in 19 weeks instead of 21 weeks last year including 3 to 4
week summer break in July. The promotion / relegation / playoff structure would
remain the same as last season.
The EC voted 4 to 3 to
approve the 6-6-6-9 proposal. Osama and Omeir had given their proxy votes in
favor of Channi Bains to decide the HCL Format for the 2004 season. This proxy
was not needed.
Tony Best stated that he
did not approve the proposal because of the lack of Cross-Play between
Divisions III and IV.
The EC recommended that
this format be frozen for three years to avoid spending considerable time on
this subject at the start of each year. Tony asked the EC to be sure that this
does not violate the constitution.
The EC thanked Tony,
Muddassar, Rafey, Osama, Wasif, Bobby and Danish for submitting detailed
proposals and analyses.
6.0 Saturday League:
The EC decided to commence
from this summer the Saturday League, an independent League, similar to the
Sunday League for teams without grounds. The fee structure for the Saturday
League will be as follows:
New Team Joining Fees $75
Annual Dues per team $250
USACA dues $30
There will be no
restriction of players playing in the Saturday League and Sunday League, but
the teams playing in the Sunday League will not be permitted to play in the
Saturday League. The Saturday League would consist of 6 to 9 teams playing 10
to 16 games each season. The Saturday League will have a separate playoff and
format. HCL will facilitate to arrange grounds for the new teams. Channi will
send out details for the Saturday League to all the new clubs.
Channi expressed his
thanks to all EC members and to Mike Bhakta for use of the meeting hall at
Comfort Inn.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annexure I
Assumption: 4 division structure +
27 teams (Total No. of games : 219)
Divisions: (6-6-6-9)
Division I will have 6 teams
Division II will have 6 teams
Division III will have 6 teams
Div IV will have 9 teams
Matches:
Division I (6 teams)
Teams in this division will play:
2 matches with every other team in
Division I and (10)
1 match with every team in
Division II (6)
Total Games (for each team): 16
Division II (6 teams)
Teams in this division will play:
1 matches with every other team in
Division II and (5)
1 match with every team in
Division I and (6)
1 match with every team in
Division IIII and (6)
Total Games (for each team): 17
Division III (6 teams)
Teams in this division will play:
2 matches with every other team in
Division III and (10)
1 match with every team in
Division II (6)
Total Games (for each team): 16
Division IV (9 teams) (No Cross-Play)
Teams in this division will play:
2 matches with every other team in
Division IV and (16)
Total Games (for each team): 16
Playoff Competition: (Same as 2003
season)
For the playoff competition, we
propose
Top 4 teams from Div I,
Top 4 teams from Div II,
Top 2 teams from Div III
Top 2 teams from Div IV
The playoff competition will be a
knockout style with 4 rounds:
Round 1 (Pre-Quarter Finals) 12
teams
Round 2 (Quarter Finals) 8 teams
Round 3 (Semi-Finals) 4 teams
Round 4 (Finals) 2 teams
Round 1 (Pre-Quarter Finals)
All the 4 teams from Div I get a
bye in the 1st Round (Pre-QF)
Game 1: No. 1 of Div II vs. Runner-up
Div IV
Game 2: No. 2 of Div II vs. Winner
Div IV
Game 3: No. 3 of Div II vs.
Runner-up Div III
Game 4: No. 4 of Div II vs. Winner
Div III
Round 2 (Quarter Finals)
Game 1: No. 1 of Div I vs. Winner
of Game 4 of Round 1
Game 2: No. 2 of Div I vs. Winner
of Game 3 of Round 1
Game 3: No. 3 of Div I vs. Winner
of Game 2 of Round 1
Game 4: No. 4 of Div I vs. Winner
of Game 1 of Round 1
Round 3 (Semi-Finals)
Game 1: Winner of Game 1 of Round
2 vs. Winner of Game 4 of Round 2
Game 2: Winner of Game 2 of Round
2 vs. Winner of Game 3 of Round 2
Promotions & Relegations:
Div I
Bottom 2 Teams of this division
will be relegated to Div II
Div II
Top 2 Teams of this division will
be promoted to Div I and
Bottom 2 Teams of this division
will be relegated to Div III
Div III
Top 2 Teams of this division will
be promoted to Div II and
Bottom 2 Teams of this division
will be relegated to Div IV
Div IV
Top 2 Teams of this division will
be promoted to Div III
No relegations
Channi Bains
HCL
Secretary