Essex Outfielder : The Unofficial Essex CCC Forum
Club Administration => Club Administration => Topic started by: Daren Mootoo on September 14, 2026, 10:20:35 AM
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There will be a Members Forum on Wednesday 16th. September at 12.35 in the indoor school at the ground hosted by club CEO Dan Feist.
Hope to see you all there!
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The lack of prior notice is poor - why can't these be advertised at the start of the season?
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I didn?t attend so has anyone got any feedback?
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It is on the 16th. Hopefully play will still be going on. If the game is over, then it will have to wait to diners have finished. It may take time. As some of the diners in the Premier Suite, have to have their food cut up.
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Dick Davies, reading out a reminder from Daren Mootoo about the Forum. Said that at a previous one, although accrediated with Media. He was denied entry, for being a non member.
How pathetic and petty. Dick Davies, only has to ask anyone who did attend. For a briefing as to what was said.
The knives will be sharpening, for the audacity of giving a reminder.
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Dick Davies will not be trying to attend. Go for it Dick, make whoever is barring you, throw a tantrum. It will not take much effort to achieve.
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When providing feedback. Follow the advice of the 1st Duke of Wellington. And publish and be dammed.
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Daren,
For someone who said he wants to engage more with members, it's appears that you have stopped engaging!
Please let us know the outcome of yesterday's members forum as you promised previously.
Are there any more forums planned with better notice?
As requested previously, can you set out the process/constitutional process for removing the current coaching team?
What are the contract lengths of the existing team?
Please don't take this personally, but you will appreciate that members are distraught by the capitulation of this team and the hapless management.
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It may be that pressure has been applied, not to provide an update. As they have used up their one trumped up charge reason on John Faragher. If there are threats. Say, is that all you have got.
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Much appreciated Daren.
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I don?t work in the city, so will give you a snippet, Silverwood wants resign Mulder ??
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Does Mulder wish to sign for Essex.
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Thanks Daren
5th highest wage bill, is astounding in itself, and yet we have offered a past it harmer 2 more years on well over 6 figures, unless it's on reduced terms.
Utterly crazy. Critchley has proven he's a better bowler now.
There are some players on far too much at the club not providing anything like value for money and causing far greater harm to the sum than their individual contributions make up for.
The club are doomed if that's there decision making.
Utterly utterly mad
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5th highest wage bill, is astounding in itself
Literally no bang for their buck.
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The conclusions are
The Women's team. Waste of money.
A new contract for Harmer. Waste of money.
They have not worked out why, players do not wish to join yet.
More life members, means a one off source of income. That will never be repeated in the future.
Looking at the membership. There will need to be a few parking places, reserved for the able bodied.
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More life members, means a one off source of income.
It's up front though & they're obviously desperate for money.
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Thanks for the update Daren. Do you agree that the club seems to be drifting at the moment? If you do agree then do you see any signs that a more dynamic approach is coming?
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5th highest wage bill, is astounding in itself
Literally no bang for their buck.
We're in the most expensive part of the country to live in. Not a surprise to me that our wage bill is high and I have no problem with that. VFM is obviously key.
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The arrangements for taking life membership fees, to pay bills that are due. Strikes me, as a bit Ponzi scheme.
No doubt when the sensible member of the committee, mentioned it. The response was La La I am not listening. Lets waste more money on the Women's team. To show that we are woke.
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I hope that all the members of the committee, can manage to stay awake for the whole of the lenghty meeting. Also, if a time limit is set. Then just as the juicy bits are to be discussed. Someone will say, I am afraid that is all we have time for.
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Thanks Daren
5th highest wage bill, is astounding in itself, and yet we have offered a past it harmer 2 more years on well over 6 figures, unless it's on reduced terms.
Utterly crazy. Critchley has proven he's a better bowler now.
There are some players on far too much at the club not providing anything like value for money and causing far greater harm to the sum than their individual contributions make up for.
The club are doomed if that's there decision making.
Utterly utterly mad
Very surprising to me. It would make a bit more sense if he was to be captain for the next couple of years in the 4 day stuff. Get Mulder back and him and Harmer does give the side a decent enough balance but no Mulder and Harmer has to bat at 7 if you want 4 seamers. Unless your're playing Thain as an allrounder, whose bowling is nowhere near good enough.
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VFM is obviously key.
5th highest wages means finishing 5th to stand still.
Instead we're running in the opposite direction.
If Westley is still captain next year then talk of change is just that.
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All very interesting. On Dick Davies (who I like) I think the club are right. It is still a members club, they ate ultimately the owners, and deserve to be told things before those who are not, be that the mefia or anyone else.
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Daren M, thanks very much for the update
"Hard discussions will take place after the season and that would include the captaincy." That sounds like a euphemism. And I hope it is.
Best thing would be for Westley to fall on his sword and retire a year before his contract is up.
And it Harmer's been offered a 2 year contract, I hope it's on much-reduced money to reflect the fact he's not the player he was.
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Is it due to the actions of SOGAT, sorry the PCA. Harmer will have to be granted, not less to what he has previously being getting.
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Daren,
Thank you for taking the time to put the notes together - much appreciated.
I'm still very keen to establish the duration of Silverwood's contract.
I suspect his salary is also up there with the best paid at the club.
An objective appraisal of his performance over the past 2 years, would score him around a D- in old language.
We clearly need a rebuild, so my view is this needs to start from the top.
From the outside, the coaching set up looks far to relaxed and this has clearly transferred to the team.
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Again, appreciate the notes and update.
The fifth highest wage bill surprised me as well. Having looked at the squad list, there's little we can do about it this off-season (probably why we're trying to bank as much money as possible). Cox and Elgar off the books will help and Harmer if he doesn't sign on. We've got a lot of players out of contract next year though, so we can have proper clear out then. Hard decisions will need to be made but the survival of the club comes first.
But this ultimately is why, the club cannot afford to have an academy not producing enough adequate first team players. Those in charge need to undertake a deep dive of the youth system/pathway and establish why/how on earth the only first class county in the entire East of England has produced just one player of high-level Championship quality this decade.
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Is it due to the actions of SOGAT, sorry the PCA. Harmer will have to be granted, not less to what he has previously being getting.
What are the actual PCA rules on this matter? Could you post a URL to link?
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I do not have an URL. However, I doubt that signing a new contract for the same duties and less money. Would have been agreed to.
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I do not have an URL. However, I doubt that signing a new contract for the same duties and less money. Would have been agreed to.
It happens all the time in other worlds, including football. It's a question of supply and demand; if you are offered less money you are free to seek better terms elsewhere.
I couldn't find a reference to a rule preventing a lower contract offer on the PCA website.
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Too late for the Forum. But Essex played a 2nd XI game with only 10 players. Visiting Glamorgan or Durham, would be understandable. But Middlesex.
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I do not have an URL. However, I doubt that signing a new contract for the same duties and less money. Would have been agreed to.
It happens all the time in other worlds, including football. It's a question of supply and demand; if you are offered less money you are free to seek better terms elsewhere.
I couldn't find a reference to a rule preventing a lower contract offer on the PCA website.
Yes not quite sure where vim pulled that one from!
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Again, appreciate the notes and update.
The fifth highest wage bill surprised me as well. Having looked at the squad list, there's little we can do about it this off-season (probably why we're trying to bank as much money as possible). Cox and Elgar off the books will help and Harmer if he doesn't sign on. We've got a lot of players out of contract next year though, so we can have proper clear out then. Hard decisions will need to be made but the survival of the club comes first.
But this ultimately is why, the club cannot afford to have an academy not producing enough adequate first team players. Those in charge need to undertake a deep dive of the youth system/pathway and establish why/how on earth the only first class county in the entire East of England has produced just one player of high-level Championship quality this decade.
Don't worry Barry hyam speaks to some spectators at 2nd xi games sometimes so his qualifications, ability and body of work should be disregarded, at least thats what a usually sensible poster alluded to when his record was questioned a few years back. Oh and pettini is not averse to apres cricket socialising despite being a bit 'eccentric' in some ways.
Oh and easy of england but don't forget east london and the huge cricket mad populace thereof.
It's a disgraceful record really
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Daren M, thanks very much for the update
"Hard discussions will take place after the season and that would include the captaincy." That sounds like a euphemism. And I hope it is.
Best thing would be for Westley to fall on his sword and retire a year before his contract is up.
And it Harmer's been offered a 2 year contract, I hope it's on much-reduced money to reflect the fact he's not the player he was.
As a now distanced and ambivalent ECCC supporter, this is the kind of empty platitudinous statement that I have seen too many times before from No Change Essex.
The Club have no track record of ever removing a captain, which is of course, one of their fundamental weaknesses. It's this reference to 'hard decisions', which has historically been a euphemism for entrenching the same faces that fit, whilst making scapegoats of others.
I do applaud your openness and willingness to engage Daren, however you are working amidst a group of board members who have been pulling off this old trick for rather a long-time now, usually without too much of a challenge from the docile and highly diminished membership.
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The membership is diminished. At the rate of around 10% every season.
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The trouble with the Essex captaincy is that it's a grace & favour appointment.
Sometimes we get lucky.
More often than not we don't.
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Regarding Essex only turning up with 10 men. This was described in the Art of Coarse Cricket, as one of a Captain's duties. In arriving, asking to borrow one or two players or persuade a spectator to play.
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The trouble with the Essex captaincy is that it's a grace & favour appointment.
Sometimes we get lucky.
More often than not we don't.
In my six decades of supporting Essex, the only time I can recall a captaincy/VC appointment that wasn't Buggin's Turn was when Fletch was appointed VC when Gordon Barker retired in the early 70s, ahead of Robin Hobbs, who was senior to Fletch and badly wanted the job.
We've made a few uninspired captaincy appointments since, when there were better alternatives; Stevo & Law were both unfairly passed over, IMHO.
Big problem now is that apart from Sam, I've seen no evidence that anyone else actually wants the job after Westley. The commentators were talking about Critchley's good cricket brain, but also about what a nice guy he was - does he have the inner steel?
I'd prefer that we recruit an "old sweat", a batsman who is worth his place in the team, who can captain for a couple of years while a younger VC learns on the job. But I haven't got any names. Suggestions?
Regarding freeing up some money to recruit players, I've no idea WTF a "High Performance Lead" does, maybe we could do without?
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The trouble with the Essex captaincy is that it's a grace & favour appointment.
Sometimes we get lucky.
More often than not we don't.
In my six decades of supporting Essex, the only time I can recall a captaincy/VC appointment that wasn't Buggin's Turn was when Fletch was appointed VC when Gordon Barker retired in the early 70s, ahead of Robin Hobbs, who was senior to Fletch and badly wanted the job.
We've made a few uninspired captaincy appointments since, when there were better alternatives; Stevo & Law were both unfairly passed over, IMHO.
Big problem now is that apart from Sam, I've seen no evidence that anyone else actually wants the job after Westley. The commentators were talking about Critchley's good cricket brain, but also about what a nice guy he was - does he have the inner steel?
I'd prefer that we recruit an "old sweat", a batsman who is worth his place in the team, who can captain for a couple of years while a younger VC learns on the job. But I haven't got any names. Suggestions?
Regarding freeing up some money to recruit players, I've no idea WTF a "High Performance Lead" does, maybe we could do without?
If Harmer does sign up for another couple of years then he'd be a logical choice for captain and then we could have someone like Critchley or Cook to do the white ball stuff.
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barry hyam &academy.the oustanding bat in the essex premier league for a few years isjoe McGregor of colchester &east essex.in 2021 he was involved with essexccc set up and then for some reason he joined the 2ndx1 trialist merry go round albeit with good &average results.i accept that 2s standard is not the highest but in my view he deserved a chance with essex!
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In all this. Grumblestiltskin has been rather quiet.
When, you show indignation. Make it look like you believe it.
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In all this. Grumblestiltskin has been rather quiet.
When, you show indignation. Make it look like you believe it.
Ahoy there, my favourite keyboard warrior. Nice to see I am living rent-free in your head.
Wanna meet to chat? We can share indignation if you like.
Please reply with your latest witty excuse
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How about a witty excuse.
There are no more home fixtures, this season. Scheduling a meeting in Cardiff is not an option.
As for being in my own head. It shows that the statement. It takes one to know one. Can be wrong.
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Ah, there it is. Another excuse.
Next members' meeting? You come to all those and voice all your opinions, don't you?
Or somewhere in the Chelmsford vicinity in the next month?
You asked for my opinion so best not hide behind the keyboard, right?
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If Harmer doesn't come back, I'd consider finding a new overseas from somewhere and making them captain depending on available funds of course. An entirely new face with a new voice, not stained by this current set-up. Make Charlie Allison vice captain and promote him in a couple of years.
Mulder has stood in for South Africa before but he wouldn't stick around due to franchise commitments.
Plenty of Aussies will be in the country next year with the Ashes happening, maybe we strike lucky like Hampshire did with Jake Lehmann.
But again, finances must be managed and we can't overstretch ourselves.
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I will try to remember to attend the next members meeting, in seven months time. I will put a note in my diary, that I have not got yet. This is assuming that I still wish to be a member.
As, attending Cricket. Is the only reason I visit Chelmsford. I will refrain from making an exception to the rule.
It is a shame, that unlike other social media. On this Forum, unless there is Moderator interventation. You cannot block me, unlike others you have done it to.
Now DicK Davies, has retired. Who is going to read out your missives in future.
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And this intimate dialogue has how much relevance to Essex County Cricket Club, precisely?
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If Harmer doesn't come back, I'd consider finding a new overseas from somewhere and making them captain depending on available funds of course. An entirely new face with a new voice, not stained by this current set-up. Make Charlie Allison vice captain and promote him in a couple of years.
Mulder has stood in for South Africa before but he wouldn't stick around due to franchise commitments.
Plenty of Aussies will be in the country next year with the Ashes happening, maybe we strike lucky like Hampshire did with Jake Lehmann.
But again, finances must be managed and we can't overstretch ourselves.
In theory an overseas captain would be great but finding someone willing to commit to a couple of full seasons who is a proven enough player is very difficult. I can't think of many over the last few years bar the likes of tendo and Harmer who were long established regular players at a county first and could commit to the whole season. Most Aussies now for example go back home before the end of the season.
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I will try to remember to attend the next members meeting, in seven months time. I will put a note in my diary, that I have not got yet. This is assuming that I still wish to be a member.
As, attending Cricket. Is the only reason I visit Chelmsford. I will refrain from making an exception to the rule.
It is a shame, that unlike other social media. On this Forum, unless there is Moderator interventation. You cannot block me, unlike others you have done it to.
Now DicK Davies, has retired. Who is going to read out your missives in future.
More excuses.
And errr... you keep on mentioning me. Not the other way around.
It's flattering and all but...
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Not excuses.
Just pointing out, at this time of year and stage of the season. The suggestions are stupid.
Still, there is a Cricket Society meeting. Oh hang on a minute.
Why not provide Daren Mootoo, with all your grumbles. He may be able to take some action.
I have said enough, and so have you. As the audience is starting to give out the bird.
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Not excuses.
Just pointing out, at this time of year and stage of the season. The suggestions are stupid.
Still, there is a Cricket Society meeting. Oh hang on a minute.
Why not provide Daren Mootoo, with all your grumbles. He may be able to take some action.
I have said enough, and so have you. As the audience is starting to give out the bird.
#Obsessed
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The rot had started a few years before the Law/Irani falling out. It was the result of the superb coaching by Keith Fletcher, assisted by Geoff Arnold. Keith Fletcher had failed with England. Unlike Graham Taylor returning to Watford FC. He had not shown that he could do the job at club level before. Meeting and greeting people as club president was the limit of his admin abilities.
Also, with Peter Edwards in declining health. People were starting to take advantage. It was around that time, that a con artist took the club for ?100k.