The Surrey Downs League – The Main duties of SDL Secretary
The Secretary is the primary administration officer of the League Committee and provides the links between the committee, members and outside agencies.
The Secretary should be a good communicator, maintain confidentiality on relevant matters and have the ability to delegate tasks and supervise others.
The role of a Cricket League secretary is pivotal in ensuring the smooth operation and administration of the League. They act as the backbone of the organisation, managing both the day-to-day activities and long-term planning.
Below is a detailed outline of the typical duties we think a cricket league secretary undertakes.
The times given below are rough averages and indicate when, during the year, each task requires attention. This gives a total time for a typical year around 40-42 hours.
In no particular order the main duties include:
the main duties include / typical duties: | Hours |
Organisation of, and attendance at, league meetings including AGM, logistics, venue, papers and taking minutes (6 hours organisation per year plus 4 for the meetings; meetings typically in April Nov and AGM in Feb) | 6 |
Maintaining the league rules and updating considering AGM votes for amendments (2 hours per year; Jan to April) | 2 |
Maintaining a list of club contacts and the nominated rep for each team, including an email list for distribution of information to reps, and dealing with queries and contacts from club reps as required (4 hours a year, mostly during season) | 4 |
Receiving relevant information from various sources (e.g. the Surrey Cricket Foundation) and passing it on to clubs as appropriate via email and WhatsApp throughout the year, but particularly during the season (2 hour a year, year-round) | 2 |
Organising the development league teams, sub-divisions, and the associated communications (2 hours a year, mostly during season) | 2 |
Maintaining and using the divisional WhatsApp groups including annually moving contacts between groups in light of promotions and relegations (3 hours a year, mostly just pre-season) | 3 |
Organising the promotion and relegation required each year to maintain the optimal distribution of teams across divisions (1 hours a year, after end of season) | 1 |
Organisation of the cricket balls for team for the coming season, liaising with ball supplier, receiving balls and distributing to clubs (3 hours a year, Feb-April) | 3 |
Organisation of the trophies for the AGM, liaising with the supplier, arranging delivery and transport to AGM (1 hour per year in January) | 1 |
Liaising with SDL exec committee (mostly via WhatsApp) in all relevant matters (3 hours per year (throughout year but concentrated in season) | 3 |
Liaising with treasurer over payments from clubs and payments to suppliers (1 hour per year) | 1 |
Liaising with the league IT coordinator including producing and providing occasional information and documents for the league website and Play Cricket (2 hour per year, mostly during season) | 2 |
Contacts with new applicant clubs, distributing the application forms, due diligence on some of the clubs who are not well known to the SDL, running the election (3 hours per year, end of season) | 3 |
Attending meetings (e.g., Surrey Cricket Foundation Senior Leagues meeting) on behalf of the league (shared duty with the chair), usually about 6 per year on average (year-round and mostly online; sec typically covers 1 x 2 hour meeting each year) | 2 |
Receiving disciplinary complaints from clubs and umpires, and handling them, now under the new Recreational Conduct Regulations (3 hours per complaint, typically 2 per year, during season) | 6 |
Using the SDL Play Cricket pages on behalf of the league as required (to support fixtures and results secretaries whenever appropriate; 1 hour per year, during season). | 1 |
this page was last reviewed and updated 18 June 2025