Cricket club in league dispute
Balliol groundsman Jim Head has been angered by the establishment of a new cricket league
Oxford University Cricket Club has been accused of employing bullying tactics over the establishment of a new college cricket league. Balliol groundsman Jim Head has run an annual intercollegiate cricket league for the past 15 years. The OUCC have now decided that they wish to organise their own league, leading to allegations of heavyhandedness. Head has accused the club of running a personal vendetta against him and his league, and of operating in deliberate secrecy.
Traditionally, Blues sports clubs have been responsible for organising both cuppers and collegiate league games. Clubs may not make any profit from organising these competitions, under regulations issued by the Sports Strategy Committee (SSC), a central university body. Whilst Head’s league charges teams a £35 entry fee, other large sports charge around £10 for cuppers entries. Football charges £10, lacrosse £1 and athletics £10.
The cricket club has proposed to make entry fees for the new league £15 per team. Oxford’s Director of Sport, Jon Roycroft, said, “Two years ago, [Head’s] cricket league came to our attention after a cricket captain mentioned the fees to a senior college treasurer. “I was empowered to investigate. We felt Head’s league was organised very well, and approached him to ask if he would become sanctioned [by the SSC], but he refused.
Part of the requirement to become an official competition is to submit accounts to the SSC, to prove that no profit is being made. “Head refused to submit the accounts from his league,” said Roycroft. “I think if he hadn’t had to submit them then he would have become sanctioned.” When asked for the accounts by Roycroft in November last year, Head replied, ‘I’m sorry but I must insist that the intercollege cricket league is not owned by the university.
It was set up privately and is registered with and insured by the English Cricket Board. If the university would like to own it I would be happy to sell it to them.’ Talking to The Oxford Student, Head stated that no college captain had ever contacted him with any complaints about the entry fee. “The £35 covers everything including insurance. I don’t see how you could insure the players on £15 unless the university subsidise their league, in which case it’s unfair competition.
Head went on to say that, although there was a slight excess of income over expenditure, his league generally functioned at just over the break-even point. “If this year the league has to insure itself before the fees come in it could be bankrupt,” he added. Roycroft emphasised that the OUCC was not attempting to undercut Head’s league. “Our entry fees had to be set at £15, to comply with the SSC guidelines,” he said. Head said he saw the OUCC’s decision was a personal attack.
“It’s being done to put my league out of business,” he said. “I will be taking legal advice. “The inference is that I’m doing something wrong… that [the SSC] think I’m making a large profit. The main reason they can run their league cheaper is that they’re a large organisation and can absorb costs like computers, the website, postage and office space.
He went on to state that the OUCC had not informed him of the decision to set up their own league, and accused them of operating in deliberate secrecy over the matter. “Their tactics over this have been heavy-handed, bullying, unfair and unjustified,” he said. Chris Stearn, secretary of the OUCC and a post-graduate Geographer at Worcester, said, “Nothing we’ve done has been a personal attack, I don’t know where he got that from.
He cited the recent change to mixed ‘academy’ cricket with Oxford Brookes as a major reason for the decision to establish a new league. “We feel we should be running all the cricket in the university… Due to the recent introduction of academy cricket the club feel the need to oversee college cricket in line with Blues status regulations… People will still be free to join the existing league.” However, he stated that he was worried about the division the rival leagues could bring.
“So far there has been a positive response to our official league, but we are concerned over the potential divide.” Nik Baker, Keble’s cricket captain, said that colleges had been taking steps to avoid division. “There’s been a debate on our mailing list. Captains acknowledge the need to make sure there’s not a split.” But Queen’s cricket captain Jim Riddiford said they were also considering asking Head if he would reduce his entry fees.
“There’s a lack of consensus and general information about the new league. We want more details; there’s not enough information to make a decision on yet. “Jim Head is a good man who organised a college league when there wasn’t a centralised one… but now this new league is being introduced it will be cheaper and any profit made will go towards the funding of the university squads.
I am not sure whether the issues raised are going to be solved this year or whether there will be a split.” Roycroft emphasised that they were not accusing Head of wrongdoing. “He’s perfectly entitled to organise his own event, but so are the OUCC.”
9th Feb 2006