Here is the start of three parter on Barmy Kev's unique perspective on the Middlesex roller coaster ride on achieving promtion. Before and after the buffet, Gus Fraser hosted a show; basically a reprise of the 2016 County Championship campaign. There were several sections and subsections (Gus got mightily confused/confusing over the segmentation aspects of the show), including video clips and discussion, with the whole 2016 squad forming a large panel. The final section (or was it sub-section) of the show as a smaller panel discussion with four former Middlesex greats; Mike Brearley, Mike Gatting, Clive Radley and John Embury – the latter being Middlesex’s new President, btw.

When I became an MTWD administrator and took on most of the editorial side, at the start of the 2006 season, I suggested that we widen the base of people to provide editorial material. I suggested Janet as one of the people who could and should contribute that way. Thus Janet became a major contributor of match reports for a few years. The meeting part is dull enough, but it did give Chairman Mike O’Farrell an opportunity to rehearse Middlesex’s statement/position on the new T20 tournament with a group of loyal members/supporters, which went well. I managed to arrange my day sensibly for this one, with a game of real tennis scheduled at 16:00 ahead of the AGM which was due to start 18:00/18:30. A big turn out for the AGM with many AGM attendees staying on for the party and some there for the party but not the AGM.

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I am told that Janet continued to follow Middlesex avidly despite her ill health, so she must have been thrilled when we won the County Championship in such exciting circumstances in 2016. Goodness knows what Janet’s medical team must have needed to do at the climax of that epic season! Middlesex have been penalised and effectively placed in 'special measures' by the ECB after breaching various financial regulations. Looking forward, I am genuinely excited at the future prospects of the Club. We have a great staff here and a strategy that will deliver success. I can’t promise I’ll deliver the multitude of trophies that I enjoyed as a boy but I can promise that our team and I will give it our very best shot at all times.

This one was supposed to be in The President’s Box as last year (a suitable size of venue) but had to be moved to The Thomas Lord Suite (ridiculously oversized) due to some flooding problems and the need temporarily to relocate some MCC staff to The President’s Box. In truth, not really my kind of entertainment; personally I would have preferred more time to socialise. But the entertainment clearly went down very well and it was great to relive the successful 2016 campaign and also to hear from those Middlesex greats. Anyway, I think the AGM started a little bit later than intended; to allow time for the bemused and confused (like me) to be stewarded to the right part of the ground.The AGM was no more dull than usual, in the main. The contentious issue of the new T20 tournament was handled very well, with Mike O’Farrell signalling what was to come in his opening remarks and Richard Goatley then reading out the statement, getting early applause when the gist of it became clear to the throng. Subsequently, Ian Lovett and Mike O’Farrell have been remarkable generals of the club. I don’t think Ian and I will ever forget an evening we spent at Old Trafford in 2014, when relegation seemed a genuine possibility. We sat in the hotel bar at some unearthly hour both nursing gin and tonics almost too tense to talk, scared we would in some way jinx our team – a team that neither of us thought should be fighting to avoid relegation. Mike will be a brilliant Chairman, I know of no-one who is calmer in troubled times or has better judgement.

Then I remembered a Seaxe Club evening in the St John’s Wood Church Hall, where we raised some money for the cause by betting on movie clips from old horse and dog races.The Thomas Lord Suite is large enough for a lecture-style room for the meeting and a large open space next door for the party afterwards. The mood at the party was as good as you might expect. Not such clever scheduling on my part for this day (my own fault), so I ended up hot-footing it from the City to get to Lord’s on time. My timing issues were exacerbated by the early start scheduled (17:30) and a late change to the AGM venue, which was supposed to be in the Thomas Lord Suite, as last year, but was switched to the Nursery Pavilion at the last minute. Today's announcement from the ECB draws a line under the matter, and we accept their findings that historically, under previous administration, the club has been poorly financially managed over a number of years," they said.