Apparently the Chairman made the point abut the Somerset points deduction being applied to 2021 rather than 2020 at a Chairman's meeting this week. He reported a degree of Essex envy - something to do with us having no debt and not having diversified into leisure and hospitality businesses that are now mothballed.
Scary stuff about finance - a £750k profit last year, driven by £1m from the ECB as a result of a good world cup; unexpected prize money; and windfall profits on investments.
All of of that slammed into reverse this year with no cash coming in. Some members have asked how they can donate/help financially.
The club are starting to look at socially distanced crowds late season and would prioritise members for this (maybe some sort of ballot for a ticket). They expect there will be some cricket in August and September. If we start in August it will be 5 red ball games and some sort of final on a regional basis plus T20 games. If it starts in September just T20. Playing in early October is on the table.
Unsurprisingly the club is also thinking through what 2021 may look like. I suppose if this virus is still swirling about in the population next year, and the medical people I have spoken to reckon it will be, we're looking at behind closed doors/skeleton crowds for a while.
As an aside this is the first members' forum I have attended. As I don't live in Chelmsford and work in London weekday meetings just don't work for me. A combination of working from home and zoom meant I could join and I'd advocate this approach going forward, let's have this as the new normal.
