Treasurer’s Report – 2020

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic the accounts for the year to 30th September 2020 look quite different to what they normally would look like.

Total income has decreased by £22,115 compared to 2019. This is largely due to the following factors:

  • Subscriptions were waived for the season and last year these were £12,523.

  • Fines have decreased by £410 due to the reduction in the number of games.

  • There was no handbook advertising income due to the handbook not being produced this year.

  • The deficit on balls and stumps has increased by £1,392. This is due to a new three-year contract that has been agreed with Tiflex and the price at which the balls were supplied to clubs.

  • ECB grant income was originally supposed to be £12,700 but due to the season being cut short we only received £6,300, which included a return to cricket grant.

  • Sponsorship income fell by £3,866 because we had no sponsor for the league competition or cup competitions this year. The figure shown relates to the sponsorship that we received from Tiflex upon purchasing the balls.

    Total expenditure has decreased by £10,264 compared to the previous year. The biggest movements in expense items are as follows:

  • Wages and PAYE have increased by £1,542. This is because there was a hand-over period of two months where both Ed Leverton and David Sheppard were paid.

  • Committee expenses fell by £1,668. This is largely because committee meetings were held via zoom due to the pandemic.

  • Trophy purchases decreased by £1,037 due to the reduction in competitions this year.

  • The handbook was not produced this year. The £850 paid to Short Run Press was for the information that was posted electronically on the DCL Play Cricket website.

  • No ground visits were carried out this year.

  • DACO costs were £393 in the previous year. This was a subsidy for umpire recruitment and training. No subsidy was paid this year.

  • Cup competition expenses were mainly umpire costs, paid for by the DCL, for the knockout stages of this year’s mini league.

  • Results service costs have decreased by £2,351 this year due to the shortened season.

    The Balance Sheet shows that we held £40,668 in the bank at the year end. There were debtors of £15,269 at the year end. These relate to amounts owed by clubs for balls (the deadline for payment has been extended to 31/3/21). Creditors were £23,783 at the year end. £20,000 of this relates to an England & Wales Cricket Trust loan that the league was able to take due to the pandemic. The remaining balance consists of accrued expenses, accrued salaries and amounts owed to Conrad Sutcliffe.

Whilst the Coronavirus has had a significant impact on the finances of the DCL in terms of there being a loss for the year, the reserves that were in place helped provide a buffer, along with support from ECB without needing to obtain financial support from any of the government schemes. The Committee are confident that the DCL would be able to continue to operate on a similar basis in the short-term should it be necessary to do so because of the ongoing impact of Coronavirus. The Devon Cricket Board have also indicated that they could also provide financial support in the form of a loan should the need arise.

Mark Horwell
Treasurer, Devon Cricket League

9 November 2020