Cricket Club Development Network

29/08/2026

Latest update

So excuses for missing the business end of the season are never going to be needed for 59% of respondents to our Quick Poll. https://lnkd.in/ej6GrTDP

Meanwhile, Leshia Hawkins delayed her holiday plans to be interviewed on TMS last week. It seems fitting a quart into a pint pot needs you to be open to a cultural mindset shift. https://lnkd.in/eSzgGjp6

Mindset shifts are fertile territory for consultants. Should we be concerned that at least one has been looking at the sustainability of leagues. Are you in the right place delivering for the right audience? https://lnkd.in/eFrEcT34

Good-bye and good luck! One member credits over-regulation and underfunding with their decision to walk away from club administration, coaching and playing at the end of this season. https://lnkd.in/e3d4KMY7

Another celebrates the Festival of Disability Cricket at Lord’s last week. Does the ECB Disability Cricket Conference presage exciting new times and opportunities? https://lnkd.in/eapCm3kb

Is AI the answer when it comes to ground maintenance? Who can recommend robots cutting grass* on the outfield……..or even the square? https://lnkd.in/e_q3MCF3

Last week’s discussions:
· How is the Tackling Climate Change Fund* really going to spawn exciting new thinking and solutions? https://lnkd.in/eYwWkquA
· How’s your Play Cricket data analysis* skills? https://lnkd.in/ea8XRr7m
· Know anyone with a strong track record in delivering growth, sustainability and diversity of recreational cricket*? https://lnkd.in/erDrzpHb

*You need to be a member of our private LinkedIn discussion group to access the links. Anyone involved in running a UK cricket club can join over 1,300 club leader peers sharing knowledge and collaborating on common challenges here https://clubdevelopment.org/join

Other current discussions:
· Looming ground tenure challenges
· Who or what inspired you to do what you do?
· Can clubs still be the village’s beating heart?
· Premier League review
· Reputation risk management
· Why have All Stars and Dynamos numbers ‘plateaud’?
· Extreme weather impact
· Cricket clubs are a web of social connections
· Net booking apps and facilities management software
· Quick Poll on junior transition
· Junior transition and retention in open age cricket
· How much would you pay your chief operating officer?
· Is school sport provision now a post code lottery?
· A personal reflection; ECB’s MD of Recreational Cricket
· Sky club cricket feature
· Extreme weather guidance

Links to past discussions, sorted by theme and listed in chronological order, can also be found on the Members’ Portal along with a treasure trove of club development resources, signposted information and sources of support including webinar recordings and club admin product reviews. https://clubdevelopment.org/join

29/05/2026

Who is really leading English (and Welsh) cricket’s ecosystem?

For all the talk of “the game” as a single entity, it seems there's a multiplicity of silos: elite vs community, counties vs boards vs leagues, pathway vs participation.

The proposition tested in this Cricket Research Network webinar sees more than a cosmetic problem. It is a problem of leadership.

County and recreational cricket share one ecosystem challenge: building the leadership to deliver financial resilience and broader sustainability across the whole system. The finances, governance frameworks and funding settlements that shape counties ripple out. Decisions taken in one part of the system show up, even years later, in another.

We asked a simple but uncomfortable question: if cricket is serious about recognising one ecosystem, who is responsible for making it work that way and what kind of leadership does that require?

The discussion ranged widely but some themes recurred:
🏏 The gap between how often “ecosystem” language is used and how rarely structures, incentives and information flows are aligned to support it.
🏏 The extent to which leadership capacity already exists in clubs, coaches and volunteers – and how often it is fragmented, under‑used or stranded.
🏏 The tension between governance, compliance and assurance on the one hand, and adaptation, innovation and growth on the other.
🏏 The missing “pyramid”: a patchwork of leagues, boards and programmes that stops short of a coherent, governed pathway.

What emerged was a candid, insightful conversation led by Sean Jarvis and John Neal, with reflections from representatives across the game, and beyond, facilitated by Rafaelle Nicholson, sharpening the diagnosis and the sense that something more deliberate is now needed.

What emerges strongly: this cannot be solved by 'programme' or more 'governance'. It's about leadership architecture: who is empowered to set direction for the ecosystem; how different parts of the game are connected; and how we develop leaders who can “see the system”, not just their part of it.

No webinar will resolve that. But this one did at least begin to join some dots. It also suggests there's an appetite across cricket; not just for deeper analysis but testing practical ecosystem‑wide solutions in real places.

For those interested in where this discussion goes next, the recording is now available.

▶️ Watch the discussion and Proposition here: https://youtu.be/PsHxb3qbA6Y?si=04ExjaiMJbx0X_V1

If you are involved in any part of cricket’s ecosystem – from village club to first‑class county, league to governing body – you are invited to watch, share and add your perspective.

The more honestly we can talk about how the system really works, the better chance we have of shaping the leadership it will need over the next decade.

This is a CRN hosted panel to move the conversation on: away from the cathedrals vs congregations debate per se, and towards what kind of organisational capa...

11/05/2026

Build it and they will come.......won't they?

We are told English cricket is about to put serious money into counties, cricket facilities and recreational club support, but the tougher question is whether the game has the leadership capacity to turn that into a genuinely thriving ecosystem?

On 21 May (2-3pm) Cricket Research Network is hosting a webinar discussion on “Beyond cathedrals and congregations: building leadership for cricket’s ecosystem”, using the article in this month’s The Cricketer as a springboard to ask what kinds of leadership, at club, county and ECB levels, are needed for the long‑term growth and sustainability of the whole game.

Ex Leicestershire CEO Sean Jarvis and leadership expert John Neal - former ECB Head of Coach Development - will respond to a short introductory proposition from John Swannick of Cricket Club Development Network orchestrated by Rafaelle Nicholson, Guardian cricket correspondent and chair of Cricket Research Network.

If you’re concerned how cricket will be running in the next 5, 10 or 20 years, this session is for you.

You can book here https://clubdevelopment.org/etn/beyond-cathedrals-and-congregations-building-leadership-for-crickets-ecosystem/

08/12/2025

Powering clubs’ financial sustainability

Recordings of the webinar are now available on the Members’ Portal

In separate short videos we address three big issues that could help support clubs’ long term financial health:

Andrew Smith CEO Sporta
Andrew Smith is working on an exciting proposal for a new regulated bank aimed specifically at addressing your club and its members’ needs. That includes innovative new approaches to funding and investment in facilities.

Neil Wood CEO Grassroots Funding
Neil Woods is an expert on gift aid helping clubs access the £500 million in HMRC coffers that goes untapped each year. Can he help your volunteers’ time commitment to the club count for more?

Alex Fitchett CEO Pitchin Platform
Alex Fitchett developed Pitchin Platform with Network members to help you scale up your fundraising and sponsorship ambitions. From your 100 Club, ball & player sponsorship, ground & website banner advertising to building your local business directory, potentially transform community advertisers into four figure club main sponsors.

We’ve also added a link to the “Superboosting sponsorship” presentation from an earlier event referred to by Alex.

If you’re not yet registered on the Members’ Portal (or not yet a member) https://clubdevelopment.org/join/

24/11/2025

Extending our reach

Only Network members can access current Network discussions on our LinkedIn group. But some of those discussions are reflected in publicly available content on our website.

All three parts of the Clubs’ Big Survey trilogy were published on The Cricketer online and can now be seen on our website along with all the Survey results data and narrative on our website here https://clubdevelopment.org/survey/

Part 2 includes a reality check on speculation around the 10 per cent of The Hundred franchise sale proceeds due to trickle down to the recreational game. So do you need to invest in new facilities? https://clubdevelopment.org/2024/11/15/do-you-need-to-invest-in-new-facilities/

It shows how reliant clubs are on high quality club leadership. It makes the ticking timebomb we uncovered previously, which it seems is now becoming a reality, even more concerning. https://clubdevelopment.org/2022/11/18/ticking-timebomb-in-club-cricket/

In view of the push for compulsory county affiliation, with backdoor imposition of regulation many feel inappropriate for the recreational game, we have re-published an article from the last time. https://clubdevelopment.org/2023/02/25/one-rule-fits-all/

Our recent Network discussion on who is liable if something goes wrong when you hire out your ground to a third party is a reminder that the seminal case law on negligence involves a local cricket club and balls flying out the ground! https://clubdevelopment.org/2019/10/15/are-you-negligent-or-just-a-nuisance/

Not everyone realises we operate as a closed private LinkedIn group so only members can see your posts and comments in the Group and not your colleagues, clients or other LinkedIn connections. The resultant open and insightful discussions are the reason levels of member engagement are so high.

Anyone involved in running a recreational cricket club can join here https://clubdevelopment.org/join/ contribute to and benefit from discussions with club peers, on everything and anything related to club leadership, management and development.

A list of over 1,000 past discussions catalogued under 15 themes – now searchable - can be found on our Members’ Portal https://clubdevelopment.org/2025/01/01/members-portal-live/. It also houses a treasure trove of information and signposted resources from seven years’ discussions alongside club exemplar documents, past webinar recordings, survey results and club management software reviews.

24/11/2025

A peer-to-peer LinkedIn network - a community of practice - for people running and driving development in recreational cricket clubs in the UK. Join over 1,300 club leaders sharing and learning. Only those actively contributing to the leadeship of clubs are able to join.

There is rarely anything entirely new in leading a club and it's always likely someone has an answer......... or at least experience of the pitfalls and prepared to illuminate the learning. We seek, also, to collaborate in co-creating solutions, where none are immediately obvious.

This page is a public shop window. We post news of our latest discussions here - as you see, everything and anything related to running a club - but they're not setting up discussion. That is still only taking place in our LinkedIn group accessible to members.

It was important in establishing trust between members to foster open and honest dialogue, a willingness to pool knowlege and co-operate with other club leaders, in confronting the challenges we all share.

LinkedIn fosters that trust because, by its transparent nature, everyone can see who everyone is and where they're coming from. There are no anonymous contributors.

It's a closed, private LinkedIn GROUP where only members can see content - your posts, comments and advice - so it's not visible publicly or to your other LinkedIn professional and personal connections.

And in also excluding people who are not club leaders or whose primary involvment in cicket is not as a club leader (sorry but that means excluding county board and ECB people too), we hope it helps support an environment in which members feel free to share both their triumphs and disappointments.

So membership is open to club leaders here https://clubdevelopment.org/join/

The Network is a group of over 1,200 club officer peers sharing knowledge, information and experience through a secure closed LinkedIn group. It is independent and informal; there is no structure although we have an advisory group drawn from members involved in running clubs of all shapes and sizes....