Minutes of the Meeting of the Executive Committee of the Cricket Memorabilia Society
held online 8th October 2025 commencing at 7:00pm
Present: Mr Richard Brown (Chairman) (RB), Mr Steve Cashmore (Secretary) (SC),
Mr Peter Madelin (Treasurer) (PM), Mr Alex Picker (AP), Mr. Nick. O’Neil (NO),
Mr Michael Rayner (deputizing for Mr. R. Pease) (MR), Mr. Andy Collier (AC),
Mr Ken Burney (KB).
Apologies: Mr. Roger Pease
1. Chairman’s Introduction
RB noted that we had recently lost both Keith Hayhurst, our President, and John Jameson, a Patron. These were major losses to our organisation who both need to be recognised formally. Mike Williams, from Birmingham, may speak about John Jameson at our Derby meeting. John often chatted with members at our meetings which he regularly attended.
2. Update on Membership & Finances
SC advised that membership is currently 280 which includes 37 who have yet to pay their subscription. There will be a final reminder sent with the September magazine. If subs are not paid by January then membership will lapse.
PM has been in post since March 2025 after a handover from Paul Goddard. The year end accounts are close to being finalised. We have around £19k in the various accounts. Subs are down by about £1,400 year on year. Room hire costs remain similar. We have 2 deposit accounts – an instant access at c 1.5% and a 95 days’ notice account at c 3.5% (with c £13,000 in it). PM indicated that a further c £2,500 could be deposited there = ACTION POINT for PM.
3. Magazine Update
Magazine – due to various reasons the June magazine did not get dispatched until September. Some of the information in it was, therefore, out of date. AP has increased work commitments. He had edited our magazine for around 11 years. As a trial he has reverted to the role of Commissioning Editor with RB and SC doing the editing duties. The next magazine needs to go out before the Lord’s meeting. Please send any articles to SC, RB and AP.
Should we title our magazine editions as being Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer? A wide-ranging discussion ensued with no firm conclusion. We will review this situation after the 150th edition has been produced. SC pointed out that, out of our 147 editions, this was the first time that a magazine had gone out late. Thus, we should not be too hard on ourselves! SC also advised that second class post timescales is not an issue. Posting magazines can be an issue particularly to India. RB reiterated why we have a printed magazine as opposed to an online version – it is a good reason to recruit and retain members.
SC stated that in our next newsletter we need to urge members to send in magazine contributions.
4. Auctions
MR advised that our next auction’s catalogue is on our website. There are 324 lots! We definitely need an Auction Treasurer. It is a vital role and needs to be someone who is separate to the auction team. NO suggested that if we cannot find a member volunteer then we may need to pay for this function to be fulfilled.
MR collates the postal ballot items. Invoices then need to be sent out. We have a separate bank account for auctions so that the A.T. can reconcile lots. This is the key element to the role. PM confirmed that the A.T. needs to be separate to the auction team. If needed, PM can do the postal ballot reconciliation role.
There will be a committee meeting via Zoom in between the Derby and Lord’s events. The committee can evaluate how the Derby auction mechanics fared.
There will be a postal auction in January
5. Meetings
RB said that we have 4 meetings plus an AGM (via Zoom) lined up – all of these are advised on our website. Chris Broad and Roger Tolchard are our targeted guests for Leicester. In February we will meet at Hove. At that time of year it should be cheap to book B & B. If members are receptive, it would be possible to have a trip around the museum on the Friday evening before the meeting. Tony Pigott, who is about to publish a book, will be invited alongside one male and one female Test cricketer.
The AGM in January will be online.
For Lord’s, Sir Clive Lloyd has been invited but not yet confirmed. Two England Test cricketers are also potential guests.
For Derby, Barry Wood (who was a guest in April 2008) and Enid Bakewell are confirmed guests. An England cricketer will also hopefully confirm this week.*
(*Post meeting note: James Taylor has confirmed he will attend the Derby meeting)
6. Promotion of CMS
RB proposed this topic be re-visited at our next committee meeting.
7. AOB
The committee had a discussion about potential future Patrons and the appointment of a new President.
RB: given that he had recently been ill, it makes sense that we appoint a Vice Chairman as back up. RB invited Committee members to consider becoming the Vice Chair of CMS. Though now fully recovered, RB was ill in June and could not have attended any CMS meetings, which demonstrates the need for a VC. This needs to be discussed at our next committee meeting.
The meeting closed at 20:28