Did you know that you are required to adopt the 2022 Anti-Discrimination policy (in addition to Equality & Diversity and Safe Hands policies) to be Clubmark compliant?

For the majority of Network clubs currently undertaking Clubmark Lite renewal, that means by the end of June.   Some counties have been rather more proactive than others in escalating the issue after the ECB circular arrived in March.  So when did you find out? 

At least ECBrecognised they couldn’t expect clubs to convene an EGM to adopt constitutionally and are prepared to accept the commitment of your club committee, for now.  But that decision seems to have been taken even later, perhaps after pushback from the counties?

On the back of the GCR issue, it’s another sign that ECB is being driven by events.  In this case, the need to demonstrate progress in its 3 monthly report to the DCMS Select Committee.  Of course, the accelerated resignation of the CEO, while the chair is still vacant, isn’t going to help in the short term although we wish Clare Connor well.

The role of the counties comes under the spotlight in another Telegraph article on cricket’s governance.  It suggests the county clubs are ready to break away from the ECB in frustration at their inability to influence direction.  But, bizarrely, it claims that’s because of the voting bloc representing the 39 County Board (or equivalent) ‘Recreational Assembly’ as well as the independent non-executive directors.  Who knew your County Board was so powerful?

Sir Geoffrey throws in his two penn’orth with a call to put playing – in schools and clubs – as well as watching at front and centre of ECB’s future focus.  Hard to disagree with the sentiment when, as we discussed in January’s webinar, cricket risks becoming less not more inclusive. 

The final results of the ECB funding strawpoll are now published.  So more than one third who actually submitted a response have not applied to either fund, yet.   Is that because of eligibility issues, no relevant plans, keeping powder dry for next year or you just don’t need the money?  And has anyone actually been turned down?

Take a look at the Reviews of Club admin software on the Portal.  Do they accord with your experience?  Is there a product you use which is not reviewed?  You now have until May 31 to submit a new or updated review.  It only takes a few minutes here.

To access the Portal if you haven’t already is a simple TWO STEP process:   

1.  complete the survey which takes on average 7-8 minutes, then;

2.  register on the Portal which takes 30 secs 

PLEASE NOTE You will not be accepted in Step 2 if you have not completed Step 1.  Them’s the rules.   But don’t wait to register on Step 2 after submitting the survey in Step 1. Try doing at the same time! 

Other current discussions on the LinkedIn group page here*:

• Is the quantity and standard of on-field sledging a growing issue? 
• Winshill CC’s Stumps, Umps & Beer Pumps podcast. 
• 13 year olds paid to play: the great private school cricket arms race
• ECB recruiting volunteering supremo
• Network engagement and outcomes: SVRN presentation recording
• Recording of funding webinar with Sport England available now
• SHMS and Clubmark manager: that’s some role for one person

Let’s have your comments.  And don’t forget to post yourself if there’s a burning issue that isn’t covered.

The full list of past discussions is available on our website but is also sorted by theme and listed in chronological order on the Members’ Portal.

The ECB and its chief executive should know they’re in trouble when that hitherto bastion of the cricket establishment, Wisden Almanack, includes this excoriating attack in the 2022 edition published today. 

In detailing the litany of woes from Ashes to Rafiq and beyond, this paragraph quoting editor Lawrence Booth is the final thrust:

“The ethics of the bonus scandal were as bad as the optics. But there was an exit strategy, if only Harrison would recognise it: the bonus should either be returned, allowing the ECB to re-employ some of the staff whose work still had to be done, or used to broaden the game’s diversity. If, by now, he has resigned or refused the money, we applaud. If not, there is still time to undo at least part of the damage.”

From a club perspective it is the most telling.  The majority of those redundancies were amongst the most club-facing people in the ECB.  Now you may say that we haven’t noticed the difference.  That clubs have developed in recent years despite, not because of, ECB support activities.  That more money is seemingly being thrown around more generously to more clubs now than ever before.

And all of those things have a degree of truth in them.  But that’s not the fault of those ECB people working or, more likely, had worked with clubs.  They operated within parameters set for them, and then made redundant, by people who have shown they couldn’t give two hoots about the recreational game……… until it matters to them.  By that I mean Lawrence Booth’s targets and those brought in to run Participation & Growth as an adjunct of The Hundred marketing and public affairs strategy.

Make hay while the money is being scattered around because it will not last.  I used the phrase ‘helicopter money’ as that is a legitimate but largely discredited tool to boost ailing economies by getting money quickly to people who will spend it.   It was last used by Haile Selassie, personally handing out wads of devalued bank notes from the back of his vintage open-top Rolls Royce in downtown Addis, in the 1970s.  That didn’t end well either.

The county boards had their funding guaranteed for three years from last year.  And that includes the c£150k a year each county has been given for the County Grants Fund.  But, after that, things are much less certain. The clue is in the creeping ‘privatisation’ of the county board structures with many converting to charitable foundations or setting up charitable fundraising arms. 

The ‘Partnerships’ thing is about finding money from different sources.  So if your club gets funding from the local authority or local community or charitable funders, expect to be competing with your county board or ‘foundation’ in future.  And the county golf days, music events, and other fundraising – which you may think cut across your own activities – to become more frequent.  Or increasingly centralised county and ‘franchised’ area junior coaching activities under the guise of ‘Pathways’ or Chance to Shine drawing kids away from your own programmes.

But not giving two hoots doesn’t prevent the current ECB governance grab that is happening in our domain.  If you are not familiar with the ECB’s General Conduct Regulations then you need to be.  I know this has been a hobbyhorse in recent weeks but you really do need to take notice because even if you’re not an ECB Premier League club, it may well be coming to you this year and certainly by 2023.  Pressure is already being mounted in briefing calls to county boards and non-Premier leagues to ‘voluntarily’ impose on clubs in 2022. 

It is not just about on and off-field behaviour.  It is not just on the back of the Rafiq affair and the reputational risks for the ECB inherent in a largely unregulated clubs network.  Although they have gone into meltdown over a widely reported incident involving two Leicestershire clubs and a league official recently.   It’s about how far can ECB impose its authority over the club game.  The answer right now, and they know it, is not very far.   Unless you are taking their money. 

Remember the Covid ‘guidance’ to clubs while ECB negotiated with government on conditions?  They were rattled by the sounds of mutiny coming from clubs growing impatient with progress in getting back on the field.  They realised their position to deliver on any agreement with government – and pursuit of any subsequent bailout that might ultimately be required to keep the professional game afloat – could be undermined by ostensibly independent clubs and leagues doing their own thing. 

So there you have it.  The anonymous “sources close to……..” in the clubs article in the upcoming May edition of The Cricketer is me.  Not that should be a surprise as I have had two articles published in my name in recent months, as Facilitator of the Network, inferring much the same.   

That The Cricketer leads the charge on ECB shortcomings, under its newly refreshed editorial and commentary team, should have been more of a shock than that of Wisden, given its heritage as the most establishment of cricket organs.  But would founder Plum Warner be turning in his grave?  He may feel that the cricket establishment had already been deposed, in its control of the game, by reward-driven marketing men.

And I feel no need to apologise.  Judging by the responses to the members’ survey as people sign up to our Members’ Portal, you overwhelmingly wish we would take a harder stance as ‘critical friend’ to ECB or even to represent the club game more vigorously.  But the Network was never set up to take on these roles.  It was set up as a community of practice so club officers could share knowledge and learning for mutual benefit and collective advancement.  Independently, by me, as I felt someone should and, as was patently obvious through numerous discussions, the ECB just wasn’t interested. 

As I have always been at pains to point out to the many in ECB and county boards I have engaged with over the years, we are not 1,000+ seething malcontents hiding behind our website firewall or closely scrutinised access to the LinkedIn group.  Far from it, in fact, as we have worked productively for the benefit of clubs on projects with ECB including with some of the people made redundant.  We have held past webinars with others including then head of Participation & Growth, Matt Dwyer. Some of them are now involved in the Network because they have gone back to working in their original club roles or feature in our recent events because they are now working with other relevant agencies or have valuable insights to offer.

But enough is enough. It pains me to say this as someone who has previously both valued and defended the ECB and tried to promote some of the many good things done by people who genuinely cared.  But the ECB is no longer fit for purpose if its purpose includes development of the club game.   On this I stand full square with Wisden Almanack and The Cricketer. 

It’s here at last!   The website Members’ Portal is live today.

What you’ll find:

• Reviews:  the first release of club admin software scores and comments
• Resources: 
  • repository of club development documents, articles and links, again sorted by theme and then relevance;
  • the most frequently downloaded tools in one place; 
  • and club exemplars of club development plans, constitutions, codes of conduct, risk assessments and more
• Discussions:  all current and past sorted by theme and in chronological order with links to the LinkedIn discussion
• Surveys:  all results of past surveys
• Upcoming events:  details including the final webinar in the current trilogy
• Past webinars:  all recordings and background notes and documents
• ‘Club’ Excellence Framework ‘microsite’; background information and an invite to join the pilot

All you need to do:

1. Take a few minutes to complete the members’ survey and tell us a bit more about you, your club, and your club development priorities to help us plan next steps and how we can better support your endeavours.  For existing members it’s here and new members here.
2. We’ll assume you are already registered to the Network’s LinkedIn group which remains core to our activities.
3. Then simply register on the portal with an email address or username and password here

You will get acknowledgement but your registration still needs to be approved.  It says within 24-48 hours but, so long as you have already completed the survey, we will be waiting over the next few days to approve immediately. 

Then you are free to just browse away and discover the treasure-trove of resources to aid your club development journey.  Go from the regularly updated Members’ Portal landing page each time or use the website’s drop down menu and go direct to your required pages.  And don’t forget the latest news on the Home page.

As a ‘thank you’ for registering, you will see we have a 12-month subscription deal with our media partner, The Cricketer, which means copies for less than £3 a month delivered to your door.  The deal can be shared with your clubmates, too!

The Portal will be a live continuously updated resource.  So if you are able to share your club exemplars or recommend other documents and links to online sources of information, feel free to send or signpost them.

And, just to reiterate, members’ access to the Portal is FREE (forever)! 

They say it’s the hope that kills you. So, so much for Melbourne.  But it can only get better, right?  So here’s to a happy New Year!

Only one topic, today, as it’s an urgent one. 

Over recent years, the question of which, if any, club admin software has been a recurring theme in our discussions.  So, by now, most of us should have been using one or more proprietary products and for long enough to have formed a view as to their efficacy? 

Seemingly, but under sufferance in many cases, judging by the responses received to our Review survey, so far.  None exactly fits the bill which is surprising given the amount of time and energy, not to mention money, thrown into development of new products.

But we do not, yet, have a fully representative picture. 

So, over the next few days, can you please spend the average 3-4 minutes it is taking others to complete a review for the product (or products) your club is using here. 

The survey will be kept open indefinitely, with periodic promotion, to enable uptodate rolling ratings to be published.  And the comments on pros & cons are equally, if not more, valuable. 

But we need critical mass to start with, so please contribute if you can.

All other current discussions can be found on the LinkedIn page here*

*To access the LinkedIn links, you need to be a member and logged into LinkedIn.

Anyone involved in running a recreational cricket club (maybe Clubmarked but not exclusively so) can join, contribute to and benefit from discussions with club peers, on everything and anything related to club leadership, management and development.

Do you have:

1. A clear vision for the Club
2. A defined and agreed strategy
3. A live action/development plan
4. Allocated responsibilities for delivering the plan to those with the right competence/skill sets

Can anyone genuinely respond 1,2 3 and 4 and claim that commitment to the vision is largely unquestioned, all who need to buy in to the strategy have bought in, the plan is guiding everything the club focuses time on, and you and your committee are leading – that is inspiring, engaging, guiding, supporting, coaching, mentoring and occasionally directing – and not just managing yourselves or the few involved in delivering?

If yes, then what’s your secret?

I have had some very interesting conversations on the back of the ECBCA Zoom calls over the summer.  Primarily around the role of leadership in clubs………………..

Continued on LinkedIn here