Harris ratified as Chair as Constitution modernises

James Harris has been ratified for his second and final two-year term as Chair of the Professional Cricketers’ Association at the 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM).

The Glamorgan bowler established himself as a leading voice on the Players’ Committee as PCA rep for Middlesex before becoming the 15^th Chair of the Association in 2021.

The re-election will take Harris’ tenure up to February 2025, when he will have completed the maximum tenure of four years.

Set at The Forest of Arden Marriott Hotel near Birmingham on Tuesday 28 February, this year’s AGM was attended by over 30 players in person with further PCA members joining members of staff online in the hybrid meeting.

A focus of this year’s AGM saw several important changes voted through to evolve the PCA Constitution, including expanding the Players’ Committee so all 28 professionally contracted squads can vote on matters to provide a stronger player voice.

At the start of the 2023 season, the PCA is expecting to support 100 current professional female players and now a representative from each of the eight regional women’s teams will have voting rights, doubled from the initial four as the game expands towards fully professional status.

Meanwhile, an additional change to the Committee welcomes an England Men’s representative who has full voting rights. This decision was taken following the introduction of a female rep per domestic team, bringing the women’s game in line with the men’s domestic set-up, therefore the Committee wished to promote equality with both England sides holding a voting capacity.

The updating of the Constitution with the addition of a temporary membership category was also unanimously agreed, as well as the change to modern, inclusive language.

The temporary membership category will be offered to players in certain competitions who do not have a year-long professional contract and allows the PCA to differentiate between those available for its lifetime service provision. Currently this stands at having completed at least one full contracted season as a professional cricketer.

PCA Chief Executive, Rob Lynch, Non-Executive Chair Julian Metherell and Vice Chair Anuj Dal addressed the members to provide an update on the past 12 months and the Association’s plans to evolve to continue to champion members in the ever-changing global landscape. This begins the process of collating member views ahead of upcoming negotiations with stakeholders with the PCA visiting all domestic squads ahead of the 2023 season.

The PCA Players’ Committee also thanked Peter Read for his service after he stepped down following more than eight years on the Association’s Non-Executive Board.

To conclude the meeting, the PCA Players’ Committee signed off the Association’s accounts and financial statements for 2022, before the meeting was formally adjourned.

PCA Chair, James Harris, said: “Being re-elected is a huge honour, I’ve really enjoyed the first two years. Having an extra two years will be brilliant and I’m really looking forward to pushing through some meaningful change in my second term.

“One of the main things I want to ensure in the coming year is that we continue to build the affinity we have between the players, the reps and the board so we can make the PCA even stronger.

“By adding four more female players to the Committee and an England Men’s rep, this will allow us to better represent our membership and therefore provide a stronger player voice through a strengthened more representative Committee.

“I’d like to thank everyone for taking the time to travel to Birmingham and contribute to the 2023 AGM.”

PCA Chief Executive, Rob Lynch, said: “It was inspiring to see a broad range of members in attendance to discuss player priorities leading into conversations around the upcoming County Partnership Agreement and Regional Partnership Agreement. These conversations will be built upon during pre-season meetings whilst the AGM also highlighted EDI as a golden thread throughout everything that the PCA delivers.

“Updating the constitution was also a progressive step as the Association moves forward with a larger membership than ever before, highlighted by having almost 100 current female players for the first time in 2023.

“It is an exciting time for cricket and with England amongst the best teams in all formats and age groups across men’s and women’s cricket, we have to ensure we are providing the world class support they deserve to continue their development on and off the pitch.”