Good news for Club Officials

The Court of Appeal in the case of JGE v Trustees of the Portsmouth Roman Catholic Diocesan Trust has confirmed that in most circumstances Club Officials cannot be made vicariously liable for the actions of their amateur players. The principle of vicarious liability is most commonly associated with the employer-employee relationship whereby an employer can be made liable for the civil wrongs committed by an employee. The background to this decision is a 2008 ruling of Gravil v Carroll and Redruth RFC which stated that Club Officials could not be liable for the actions of a player unless that player is under contract to a Club. That decision has been confirmed following the Appeal hearing in the JGE case. At first instance the Court had suggested that Club Officials could be held liable for the actions of their amateur players.

So for example if i had been given out LBW to the first ball of the 2013 season, hit the umpire with my bat and then smashed up the Away team dressing room, my Club Officials would not, based on the above case, be personally liable for my actions. Not that I would ever conduct myself in such a manner, however bad the decision!!h

Next Meeting - 9th March

The next quarterly meeting of Conference will be held at Middleton Cricket Club on Saturday 9th March, and will include the AGM.
Nominations for the official positions should be presented to the Secretary by 20th February.

Conferences to meet politicians

The long awaited meeting with MPs will now take place at the Houses of Parliament on 14th January. The three Conferences will present their views on the current problems facing cricket clubs around the UK and provide a view on the impact, positive or otherwise, of legislation and how it affects clubs.

A full report of the meeting will follow in due course.

Small Charitable Donations Act

The Small Charitable Donations Bill became law recently and will come into force in April. It will be of particular benefit to CASC clubs, who can lump together small donations previously exempt from gift aid, to gain the additional benefit of gift aid. Details can be found in our recent Legal Updates now included within our Members Only page.

National Club Strategy -Regional Launch

ECB launched their Club Strategy last October in an event at the Oval. To assist those leagues that couldn't attend two regional launches have now been arranged, to which representatives from member leagues of League Cricket Conference are welcome to attend.
The two events are:

Wednesday 30th January - 6.00pm-9.30pm in the Executive Suite, Headingley
Tuesday 5th February - 6.00pm-9.30pm at Neston cricket Club, Parkgate, Wirral

Invitations are limited to one per league. To reserve your space please email competitions@ecb.co.uk before 8th January. Light refreshments will be served.