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 ex-Leicestershire CEO Sean Jarvis and former ECB Head of Coach Development and leadership expert, John Neal, with reflections from representatives across the game, and beyond, facilitated by Guardian cricket correspondent Raf 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.
▶️ Watch the discussion and Proposition here by clicking on the image above
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.