2024 ANNUAL REPORT

MINUTES OF THE 2024 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 59 teams needed to be successful in this format of the game. Our 50-over team would again be captained by Haseeb unless he was picked up inThe Hundred.This competition continued to provide an excellent platform for some of our younger players to push their case for further first-team opportu- nities. Notts were passionate about the development of every player in the squad, and though not everyone ended up in the first team, Mr Moores felt the environment helped to get the most out of each individual. In all his years in the game, Mr Moores could not remember a time when it had been so hard to predict where the game would be in five years’ time. At the moment, the county game still remained strong and provided the main opportuni- ties for all players to develop and push their case for higher honours. The four-day game was still seen as the toughest challenge, and as such held itself as the benchmark of the quality of any county squad.This was a healthy situation, and needed to be protected so all formats of the game could thrive in an era where T20 cricket had started to dominate. Mr Moores looked forward to seeing all members at Trent Bridge over the next few weeks.While no- one could guarantee that we would win a trophy in 2024, the Head Coach’s promise was that we would only select players that showed the level of commitment members would expect from someone repre- senting our club. As always, the stories were yet to be written – and that level of anticipa- tion always made this time of year the most exciting.The Head Coach hoped members could enjoy the ups and the downs that every season brings and share in the joy of being part of such a great club. The Chair thanked both Mr Moores and Mr Newell and wished all the club’s teams well for the 2024 season. 7. STRATEGIC UPDATE FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE The Chair then introduced Lisa Pursehouse, the Chief Executive. She began by saying that this opportunity to come together as a club, signalling the impending return of the sport we all love, was one of the many milestones that gave our game its comforting sea- sonal rhythm. The AGM also offered the chance to reflect on the year just gone, before the business of the 2024 summer began in earnest. This time in 2023, we were awaiting Nottinghamshire’s first season back in Division One of the County Championship since 2019 – a season in which our players’ resolve and determination ultimately saw them retain their place at the top table. Although it was now part of an ever-broadening mix, catering to a wider range of tastes, men’s red-ball cricket remained a fundamental part of our club’s DNA – just as it had for almost 200 years. In contrast to this rich and estab- lished heritage,The Blaze, our regional team in the elite women’s structure, played their first season and deservedly reached the finals of both domestic competitions as we welcomed them into the heart of the Trent Bridge family. Enjoying equal access to our facili- ties, the sharing of expertise between our elite men’s and women’s sides had occurred entirely naturally – with Steven Mullaney’s rapport with Kirstie Gordon as skippers of their respective sides just one example of this. The past 18 months – with Not- tinghamshire andThe Blaze sharing a footprint and facilities at Trent Bridge – had allowed us to under- stand the challenges, benefits and opportunities of hosting both men’s and women’s teams. Under the ECB’s new structure for the women’s game, which would come into force in 2025, all 18 FCCs and MCC would be invited to submit bids in March 2024 to become one of eight ‘tier one’ women’s teams. While the bidding process would involve us competing to become the standalone hosts of an elite women’s team – rather than playing our part in a regional structure – we know that the links forged across the East Midlands region had ensured that opportunities were available to as many women and girls as possible. Irrespective of the outcome of the bid process we would work hard to ensure that this collaborative approach continued, ensuring the growth and strengthening of the talent pathway across the region. It was crucial that girls could see a clear connection from the grass- roots to the professional game – and ultimately the international arena. Our most recent women’s inter- national, meanwhile, showed how large the appetite now was for the women’s game among supporters. In 2022, theWomen’s Test Match on these shores between England and South Africa attracted an aggregate attendance in the region of 7,500. In 2023, we welcomed over 23,000 toTrent Bridge for the equivalent fixture. Each and every one of our members and spectators had our sincere thanks for their support, the Chief Executive said. Over a quarter of those who attended had never visited our venue before, and there were also more female supporters and attend- ees under 45 than we would have seen at a typical Men’s Test. They also enjoyed their experience with us, voting Trent Bridge as the venue offering the best spectator expe- rience for women’s international cricket. Hopefully, some of those first-time attendees would now begin a life- long love affair with our sport – and Ms Pursehouse also knew that some of our Trent Bridge regulars were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the contest. Our commitment to the women’s game remained intrinsically woven into our plans at all levels – and