STRATEGY 2020 - 2023
Inspiring Scotland to Choose Cricket
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1. Executive Summary
Cricket is good for Scotland – and Scotland is good for cricket!
• Cricket Scotland will not only inspire Scotland to choose cricket but will work to establish cricket as a mainstream sport in Scotland.
• Cricket will become accepted by Scottish society as a sport Scotland has a right to play and succeed at and it will be known as the most diverse and equal sport.
• Cricket players will become known by the general public, the sport will be covered in the national press and have a strong following in traditional and social media circles as well as a large fan base at live games.
• Cricket will develop and build great facilities offering indoor and outdoor training and playing venues and utilising the school estate to encourage greater participation outside the traditional summer season.
• Cricket will be offered at many, hopefully a majority of, schools, state and private, as a team sport offering a combination of individual skills, team ethos and good spirit, developing leadership and communication as well as athleticism and tactical awareness.
• Cricket will develop an SGB infrastructure reflecting the needs of a growth industry, the numbers and quality of personnel to service a large participation base and the systems to support a robust development pathway for progression to international honours.
• Resourcing, both people and financing, will need to be addressed as an integral part of the strategy.
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2. Our Vision
“Inspiring Scotland to Choose Cricket”
Our vision was created in 2015 and continues to guide us. It captures our focus on creating a greater awareness and appreciation of the sport in all areas of society across Scotland, building a more dynamic, diverse and engaged community involved in cricket in all its forms. This includes promoting and leveraging the strong values of cricket to ensure that communities of all ages and backgrounds, whether participants or non-participants, can enjoy the benefits that sport brings - increased belonging, improved physical and mental health, and community cohesion.
3. Our Mission
“To make Cricket Mainstream”
To create a Scotland where cricket is recognised as a mainstream sport, as the leading summer sport, and as a primary contributor to health, sporting participation and social inclusion and cohesion.
To promote a thriving club game and successful performance system, underpinned by a dynamic, diverse and engaged community.
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4. Our Core Values
Underpinning everything Cricket Scotland does are our core values - the behaviours, attitudes and beliefs which will help deliver our vision, mission and strategic outcomes.
They also form the tools for internal challenge which will be used to improve our ethics and help to channel our efforts in the same direction.
UNITED • Clubs, coaches, officials in the cricketing community • As one team working together to achieve mutual goals • We achieve as a team INTEGRITY • Caring, open and honest in all our relationships, on and off the pitch • Respect challenges, differences and others • Behave with honesty and fairness EXCELLENCE • Aim to perform beyond normal expectations • Go above and beyond • We aim to exceed expectations DETERMINED • Achieve our goals, no matter what barriers are put in front of us • Determined in the quest for excellence • Play hard and fair DYNAMIC • Moulding change at the forefront • Agile, adaptable and flexible to change • Leading in the modern era
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5. Context for the 2019-2023 Strategy
5.1 Alignment with other relevant bodies’ strategies
It is imperative that any national governing body approaches the development of its sport aligned not only with the needs of the community but also with the aspirations and targets of both the international governing body and of national and local governments. Cricket Scotland has developed a strategy that we believe is aligned with all our stakeholders’ needs and outcomes.
The International Cricket Council is in the midst of creating its new Global Strategy for Cricket which, in the current draft, concentrates on growing both participation and interest in cricket worldwide. There are ambitious draft targets which would be achieved by increasing interest in international cricket internationally - by creating more competitive cricketing countries to increase fans and thus commercial income - as well as growing grass roots participants significantly.
It is also important that any sport aligns its own strategy with the 5 Ps (Partnerships, PE, Places, People and Performance) from the Manifesto for Scottish Sport (September 2015) and with the aims and objectives of Sport Scotland as published in their own strategy document.
5.2 The changes delivered through the last (current) strategy
Cricket Scotland has changed radically during the period of the last strategy. Changes made include a corporate re-structure to align the responsibilities of the Boards with the needs of the business, a more professional attitude towards managing operational and financial risk, a measured and focused approach to the necessary skills required by the boards, closer management of the budget and planning process along with better monitoring and reporting. In addition, a greater ownership of business planning and a more commercial approach to funding the organisation to support cricket at all levels. Lastly significant personnel changes were initiated to introduce skills and capabilities needed to drive the game and organisation forward.
In addition there has been significant progress in all three areas of cricketing activity – high performance, performance pathway and participation. The improved performance of our national teams at world level (including wins against full members like England), the creation of strong age group and development programmes for future elite athletes and new participation programmes like All Stars, Tapeball, CricHIIT and Table Cricket demonstrate the progress that has been made.
In addition we have started a campaign of subtly changing the public and political perception of cricket away from a (mistaken!) view of it being in some way “elite”
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towards a recognition that cricket in Scotland is a sport which is played by all groups and plays its part in civic society by seeking to help solve social problems. The work of our Community Engagement Team has been crucial in this by using cricket as a means to help people’s lives in communities which suffer from disadvantages or exclusion. This started in a small way in 2017 and 2018 as proof of concept but in 2019 has expanded significantly through the implementation of Project Glasgow (more details below in Section 7.3).
All this has been achieved with little increase in overall income – the introduction of good business and people management practices has enabled us to do “more with the same”. But to make the step change needed to really make cricket mainstream we need to find additional and new sources of income.
5.3 Commercial income
In our current strategy this has been one area where we have fallen significantly short of our aims. While we have become much better at creating income out of events such as international matches (we made the first ever profit from a major match in 2018!), we have not managed to attract major commercial sponsorship despite much effort and time. Building on the new mission we have, and the hopeful appeal of the narrative and journey it offers, commercial partnerships will be a key skill required of, and target for, the new CEO.
Where we have had good success is in using partnerships with charities and others within the third sector to attract funds to help with participation activities like women and girls, disability cricket and our community engagement work. We will need to build upon that.
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6. Thinking BIG!
Cricket Scotland has, for many years of strategies, set realistic and achievable targets for incremental growth. These have been shared both internally with members, and externally with funders and stakeholders including the ICC and sportscotland. They have also, in the main, been achieved, thus maintaining cricket’s position as a top- 10 sport by participation numbers in Scotland. However, as a non-Olympic or Commonwealth sport (until women’s cricket included in Birmingham 2022 was recently announced), cricket has been outside the top 20 sports by sportscotland funding level which means the opportunities for growth have been limited.
During the last few years, Scotland’s cricketing profile has risen and improved significantly with greater awareness of cricket's ability to deliver social good and iconic wins for the men’s team both on the world stage at a World Cup, against the top-ranked ODI nation in the world and against two other top-10 nations. The team is currently ranked 14th in ODI and 12th in T20i rankings. Likewise, the women’s team has worked its way up the rankings and is currently 13th in the T20i rankings (the ODI rankings for women do not go beyond 10 teams currently).
At the same time the capability of Cricket Scotland has been radically increased, and we are now able to move forward at greater speed and with greater aspirations.
A combination of these factors and the changing landscape of international cricket means that Cricket Scotland can now be more ambitious with its plans and intends setting the following more stretching goal for the sport.
Cricket will become a mainstream sport in Scotland, will be ranked in the top 5 sports by participation numbers and will become the predominant Scottish summer team sport
Tapping into the unique character of cricket, its established position as Scotland’s most diverse team-sport, the excellent global ranking of our small nation and the huge opportunity for growth in the women’s game, we can achieve this aim within the next 10 years.
Critical to this success will be significant additional funding at levels which can only really be achieved by a sea-change in Cricket Scotland’s funding model. This, in turn, will be best accomplished by becoming a Full Member of the ICC (see below) and that is thus a critical outcome of the new strategy.
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Measurement of “Mainstream”
In 2017 cricket was ranked 10th sport in Scotland by club membership. In order to consider cricket a mainstream sport, we would need to move to 5th place or higher which in turn would mean doubling of club membership.
Determination and assessment of when cricket becomes “mainstream” will be as objective as possible and include not only data on participation and membership to prove quantity of players but also measurement of social and traditional media exposure, crowd size, fan base and official surveys of school children and sports enthusiasts.
While there is an argument that only football and rugby are really recognised as “mainstream” in Scotland, three other sports can probably claim that descriptor - golf, swimming and athletics. To reach that level we need to improve understanding and awareness about cricket through greater ‘noise-levels’ and education:
• More ‘noise’ in all media about all formats of the game;
• Better media presence of players, teams and successes with league previews and reviews;
• Live-Streaming of both games and other activities;
• Cricket formats being played throughout the year;
• Engaging with the “other half of the population” with increased activities aimed at women and girls;
• Linking up with other sports, particularly football, to emphasise the similarities and build on the differences;
• Stronger work in schools to share the benefits of cricket (the spirit of cricket, physical literacy, strategic and tactical thought, teamwork, communication and leadership, etc);
• Using the community engagement work to raise profile and change perceptions emphasising the inclusive and diverse nature of cricket.
We are already comparatively strong on social media, in particular YouTube subscribers:
Sport Club Membership SGB Twitter Facebook YouTube following Channel subscriptions Golf 211,885 17,100 19,561 717 Football 103,789 266,000 476,427 N/A Bowls 63,910 3,692 9,463 1930 Tennis 54,448 7,768 9,540 N/A Rugby Union 48,654 346,000 261,773 27,700 Gymnastics 24,663 7,041 9,109 1,860 Swimming 22,316 15,300 14,453 3,620
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Sailing 20,573 2,819 3,341 N/A Athletics 17,314 13,500 21,346 1,230 Cricket 17,286 140,000 56,759 62,908
But we need to do more to increase our impact and commercialise that!
To help measure the progress towards mainstreaming cricket we plan to carry out surveys of various groups to assess knowledge and awareness of, enthusiasm for, participation in and enjoyment derived from cricket either as a volunteer, spectator, player, coach or parent. These will be carried out every 2 years to assess trends, analyse geographical differences and to address short-falls.
7. Key strategic objectives to deliver “Making Cricket Mainstream”
7.1 Full Membership of the ICC
ICC full membership is afforded to the top cricketing nations in the world and brings with it enhanced responsibilities and benefits. The major benefits include a marked increase in central core funding (89% of all allocated ICC funds are shared between 12 FMs, the remaining 11% being shared between 93 Associate Members) but also a future tours programme and guaranteed presence on the main Board. These mean increased opportunities and an enhanced profile of the country in the global sport and an enhanced profile of the sport in the home country.
After 17 years, the ICC once more opened the doors to full membership in 2017 allowing both Ireland and Afghanistan access to the benefits of full-membership. For the first time ever, the ICC also published criteria for nations aspiring to full membership. Thus, associate members, including Cricket Scotland, are now able to properly consider, plan for and work towards applying for FM status with an understanding of both the requirements and the likely implications of achieving it.
However, while a new FM could be accepted at any time, in practice it is unlikely it would see significant additional financial income until the new rights cycle (the rights for which have still to be sold) and future fixtures programme starting in 2023/24. However it is critical that any aspiring FM is ready to apply for full membership in 2021 to be included in the negotiations on the division of the income from the next ICC rights cycle and the playing opportunities from 2023/24 onwards and thus be able to generate the best broadcasting income from its own home fixtures.
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It is impossible to say what a new FM would receive financially from ICC distributions from 2023/24 because that depends on the success of the broadcasting sales for that cycle (which have still to be marketed) but a conservative estimate would be approximately $5m per year (currently we receive about $1.3m). That level of increase would be game changing for cricket in Scotland and, even though much would have to go to support the additional high performance requirements, would enable bigger and better grassroots and introductory programmes and more promotion of the game to our target audience of Scottish sports fans.
This, in turn, will mean that cricket attracts more players, more volunteers, more fans, more corporate support and more sponsorship leading to stronger clubs and greater awareness than ever before. All leading to cricket becoming a mainstream sport in Scotland and an accepted and normal part of Scottish sporting life.
Therefor achieving ICC FM status is absolutely key to achieving the long-term vision and mission for CS.
The assessment for FM Status, as published by the ICC in 2017, sets out 23 different criteria (and some additional sub-criteria) of which CS currently fails to meet 5. These are outlined in the table below along with action plans for addressing the shortfalls.
Outstanding ICC FM Criteria Status
2.1(c)(iii) Men’s team registered Non-compliant We beat FM Afghanistan at CWC victories over at least: (a) qualifier (Zimbabwe) 2018. one (1) Full Member team We require more (who was ranked in the top victories against top-10 We have beaten one FM in a T20i (BGD ten of the official ICC ODI or FMs in 2012) in the last 8 years. T20I rankings (as We have beaten England in an ODI applicable) at the time of (2018). relevant victory) in the ICC We beat Sri Lanka in a non-ODI match Cricket World Cup, the ICC in 2017 before FM criteria were CWC Qualifier, the ICC understood to include ODIs only. World T20 and/or the ICC World T20 Qualifier; and (b) Matches against New Zealand and four (4) victories against Australia in June 2020 offer two (2) or more Full opportunities to achieve this criterion. Member teams (who were ranked in the top ten of the official ICC ODI or T20I rankings (as applicable) at the time of relevant victory) in bilateral ODI and/or T20I cricket; in both cases over the previous eight (8) years;
2.1(c)(iv) Have either (a) participated Compliant?? We now appear on the official women’s in at least one (1) ICC ranking table albeit this is because the Women’s Cricket World ICC now rank all nations rendering this Cup or ICC Women’s World criteria non-sensical! T20 over the previous four (4) years or (b) currently
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feature on the ICC’s official Our women have qualified for the global women’s rankings table; qualifiers for the last three attempts but have yet to appear in a global event
2.1(d)(i) Have in place domestic Non-compliant The structure is present with three men’s structures which regional sides, but this has not yet include: National 50-over Full ICC audit and received ICC accreditation. tournament structures, assessment called for which comprise at least and/or waiver Request made to ICC for List-A audit in three (3) teams, with List A requested 2019 status; 2.1(d)(i) b. National 20-over men’s Non-compliant The structure is present with three tournament structures, regional sides, but this has not yet which comprise at least Full ICC audit and received ICC accreditation. three (3) teams, with List A assessment called for Request made to ICC for List-A audit in Twenty20 status; and/or waiver 2019 requested
The key areas where the biggest challenge exists is with regards to Men’s and Women’s HP, particularly the latter. Plans are in place to increase investment and focus, allow greater coaching resource and training and playing opportunities. However, we need to recognise that other countries are moving to professional structures for their women players and we need to start that process soon in Scotland or risk losing our best players to other countries which can offer professional careers. There are two Scottish women (who learnt their cricket in Scotland) already playing professional cricket for other countries – one is ranked the 5th best female T20i bowler in the world. We have two players currently in the Scottish team who are ranked 14 and 21 respectively in the batters rankings - and a 14 year old bowler who is ranked 78th in the bowling rankings. We have to be able to offer those players a career in cricket or we will lose them (and others) too.
Short and medium-term goals are covered in the operational plan and these will include addressing the four areas of short-fall and identifying the necessary investment and action-plans which will be introduced to overcome these hurdles.
However, longer-term, CS will need to ensure that once FM Status is achieved, we have both the infrastructure and support needed to survive and thrive as a Full ICC Member. Proper planning for those requirements during the period of this strategic plan will be essential.
These requirements have been assessed with help from the most recent FM (Ireland): -
• Consideration given to playing test cricket (financial, logistical, facilities able to cope with test matches, etc)- though our current decision is to defer playing test cricket for some years after becoming a full member on grounds of cost and complexity.
• Improved training and playing facilities, including floodlit ground(s), aligning to the increased expectations of men’s, women’s and age-group teams to perform against heightened opposition on the global stage
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• An improved domestic cricket structure (and salaries) to retain and develop national men and women players at home
• Increased number of contracted players to handle higher match load plus greater variety of formats
• Improved administrative support (financial team, operations team, etc)
7.2 Domestic T20 Competition
Another key step on the journey to making cricket mainstream is for Scotland to introduce its own domestic T20 competition mirroring those already established in India (IPL), Australia (BBL), Bangladesh (BPL), England (Vitality Blast), West Indies (CPL), Pakistan (PSL) and a few other less established varieties.
These competitions bring audiences (both TV and local) to watch cricket due to a combination of international cricketing superstars, excitement and great entertainment. In parallel, they also generate additional revenue streams for CS to use in other game development areas with the financial risk being borne by an external promoter who effectively runs the event.
It is another key strand in introducing more people to cricket in Scotland through seeing global cricketing icons in the flesh and on broadcast media playing alongside the Scottish players, turning the latter into, hopefully, national icons for the younger fans and others.
Scotland is already working with Ireland and the Netherlands to establish a new vibrant cricket league which will inspire a different audience into the sport. This will bring Scottish cricket and cricketers to TV audiences both at home and overseas and will encourage local sports fans to trial a new sport which, as we know, combines athleticism, colour, high drama and exposure to the world’s greatest players as they ‘tour’ the world playing in these competitions. This will ultimately be developed for both the men’s and women’s game but initially the competition will be rolled out solely for men.
City-based franchises will broaden the geographic appeal of the sport and ensure, over time, that the whole of Scotland will have access to the games.
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7.3 Cricket and “the Common Weal”
We know that to become mainstream we need to expand the appeal of cricket. We must therefore, as said earlier, engage with communities which traditionally have been uninterested in, or perhaps excluded from, the sport. That will also assist in changing the perception of cricket held by some that it is a sport for only a few.
We also recognise it is incumbent on us to play our part in addressing social issues in Scotland and believe that cricket has an ability to appeal to parts of the population, particularly women and girls and certain ethnic minority communities, that other sports cannot.
To do this we are taking an inclusive approach to engagement through our Community Engagement Coordinator concept. This approach, developed in partnership with charities, higher education institutions and local groups, focuses resource on engagement with children and adults from low SIMD ranked areas, the BAME communities, and disability sport to encourage greater integration and inclusion especially in areas such as girls’ sport where cultural differences cause participation challenges. The concept involves using cricket as a vehicle to introduce, holistically, more active lifestyles, social integration, life skills and training and education for volunteers.
The first major initiative, known as “Project Glasgow”, working with Glasgow Caledonian University (who are also doing empirical research to measure the outcomes), Lords Taverners, the Beyond Boundaries charity (which Cricket Scotland was instrumental in forming) and local authorities and community organisations, has been a successful proof of concept involving some 650 children in disadvantaged areas of Glasgow in 2019. Ideally, subject to sourcing funding, we would want to expand that in 2020 to other parts of Glasgow and subsequently to Dundee and Edinburgh.
7.4 High performance and performance pathway
In order to take advantage of the planned increased participation through to our performance system, we also aim to build on recent successes by ensuring that resource and funding are invested in supporting our talented individuals and teams in order that they can achieve their potential through the performance system. In that way they can provide the vital functions of increasing the profile of cricket in Scotland and becoming the inspirational icons any sport needs to inspire young people to participate.
Major changes to the way that ICC fund and structure global cricket have also produced opportunities for Scotland to increase its cricketing calendar for both men’s and women’s cricket and will herald an exciting phase in the history of competitive international cricket. The new Cricket World Cup (CWC) league structure offers our men not only more competitive fixtures but a clear path to qualification to the ODI world cup.
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There is to be a women’s T20 competition in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games of 2022 which is a huge opportunity to use a (almost!) home games to increase the profile of women’s cricket in Scotland with free to air broadcasting. If Scotland is to progress to Commonwealth Games representation and to gain the success it desires, then planning, support and investment will need to begin in the very near future as it has been shown with other CG and Olympic sports that true success comes from consistent and serious commitment.
Likewise, though the debate still rumbles on, there is a greater appetite for a T20 format to be included in future summer Olympic games and Cricket Scotland is supportive of this to raise profile and global recognition of the game even if Scotland would not benefit directly from that.
Our ambitions include creating national teams for those with disabilities and those who are over 50.
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7.5 Participation
Our team of local development officers and community coaches is key to growing participation numbers, building strong relationships with clubs, offering support with Allstars and other entry level programmes and linking them to communities and schools. An increased offer of cricket in schools is essential and this will be achieved through teacher CPD programmes designed around the Curriculum for Excellence and an increased offer of schools' festivals and fixtures. All development officers will be upskilled in our package of programmes designed specifically to engage women and girls in cricket (CricHIIT, The Wee Bash, Soft Ball Cricket) to be able to support our Women and Girls’ Hubs throughout the country. We will continue to grow our community engagement programmes (Project Glasgow, Tapeball, Wicketz) and disability hubs with a fulltime disability cricket officer in post from 2020 in partnership with Lords Taverners.
Growth can only be achieved and sustained with an increase in our work force of coaches, match officials and volunteers. We will continue to review and adapt our courses, workshops and CPD programmes to ensure clubs have the capability to cope with the planned growth.
Finally, an improved relationship with our regional associations and clubs, with alignment of the cricket community with our aims and objectives, is essential for the success of the strategy. The clubs are “the beating heart of Scottish cricket".
7.6 Facilities
With the increasing demands on our High Performance and Performance Pathway athletes to continually meet the demands of international cricket, the requirement for a suitable National Facility has become a priority. The success of our national squads are even more remarkable due to the challenges they face in accessing high quality suitable facilities at the appropriate times when in comparison with other countries ranked at a similar or higher level.
A facilities group has been working for some time, tasked with creating a facility strategy for cricket in Scotland. One of its first outputs has been to work with our top 20 grounds to improve the playing facilities so that our young talent learn their skills on quality pitches and are thus more ready to play at higher standards more quickly.
In addition, the group has initiated the process of detailing specific requirement for national level facilities and established a 3 tier strategy which includes:
Tier 1: an indoor training facility
Tier 2: an indoor and outdoor training facility in the same location
Tier 3: a match venue, indoor and outdoor training facilities
Although the committee sees tier 1 as the priority it has not ruled out the option of tier 2 or 3 and has created documents detailing the requirements.
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We are currently seeking suitable locations for the development of either of the above (probably as part of a mixed-use facility) and would envisage a National indoor facility being completed by the end of this strategy cycle.
This initiative would require special capital project funding (possibly from a mix of corporate, philanthropic and government support) which would be a separate project in its own right.
7.7 Digital platform for Registration, Scoring and CRM
Cricket Scotland and the five regional associations currently utilise various processes for the registration, scoring and reporting of domestic cricket.
Our strategy is to move towards a digital solution for national, regional and domestic player registration, live scoring of domestic and modified formats, live results and CRM. This will transform domestic cricket and grow engagement within all the different formats of the game within Scotland enabling Cricket Scotland with the opportunity to engage with players, club members, volunteers, officials, coaches and supporters.
Our implementation time plan is as follows: -
• Scope suitable digital platforms and issue a tender by December 2019
• Review options with the working group with recommendations by February 2020
• Implementation of the new system for CS managed tournaments including the regional series for the 2020 season
• Integrate school and selected regional leagues by May 2020
• Full integration to all domestic leagues April 2021
The desired outcomes are: -
• Uniformed and consistent process for registration of committed participants for all domestic cricket clubs and other cricketing structures
• Live scoring for all organised cricket enabling supporters’ access to real time results
• Integration of school, university, tapeball and Wee Bash leagues
• CS owned data on all committed participants
• Live results and league tables microsite for all cricket in Scotland
• Additional benefits for clubs including streaming and online payment options
• Improved ability to track and analyse our membership and participant profile.
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8. Our Key Strategic Outcomes In summary our key strategic outcomes from 2020 to 2023 are as follows:
Achieve Full Member Criteria of the ICC by end of 2021
(it is recognised that we may not be accepted until the end of the commercial cycle in 2023)
Launch European Cricket League by 2020
20% increase in committed participants by the end of 2023
Become a Full Member of the ICC by the end of 2023
25% increase in core turnover by the end of 2023 (core being defined as ICC, sportscotland and own generated income) [to be checked by DJ]
Identify location of and find funding for a new indoor performance centre for completion by end 2022
Transform registration, live scoring, results reporting and CRM data through an integrated digital solution by 2021
The detailed programmes to deliver each of these are shown in Appendix 1 [to be finalised by each area].
The initial risk assessment of the strategy is shown at Appendix 2 [still to be reviewed by the Risk Committee and the Board].
The budget forecasts appear at Appendix 3 [to be inserted after final Board approval].
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Appendix 1
Our Pillars
Our Key Strategic Outcomes will be delivered through our 3 Pillars of Performance, Participation and Community Engagement.
Participation Performance Community “More Engagement “World Class Opportunities, People, Winning “More People Great Teams” Supporting More Experiences” Cricket”
Key Strategic Outcome: 20% Increase in Committed Participants by 2023
To make cricket a mainstream sport we must create a truly inclusive environment in our clubs and community activities. The development of programmes and formats that will appeal to a new audience is crucial. Social formats that fit in today’s busy lifestyles will run alongside traditional club cricket and we are delighted that our existing community engagement programmes align perfectly with Sport Scotland’s recently launched corporate strategy “Sport for Life”. Project Glasgow is based on weekly cricket sessions to various groups with a focus on developing life skills, improving physical and mental wellbeing and promoting positive life choices, enabling brighter futures for those taking part.
Cricket Scotland has identified the women and girls’ sector as key to growing the sport and as such has allocated significantly increased funds towards the female game. Increases in funding of 95% over the last 3 years has allowed more equality in the game, increased participation, greater opportunity for aspiring athletes and a major improvement in the performances of the international women’s side. This will continue and we hope to see a marked increase in the number of schools and clubs routinely including girls and women in their standard offering.
But Cricket Scotland will continue to prioritise and drive the growth of the entire grassroots game. Indeed, our programmes continue to be used as templates around the world for associate and affiliate members to mimic and we believe that our creative and innovative new programmes CricHIIT (High Intensity Interval Training using cricket movement as the driver) and our indoor Wee Bash and Tapeball leagues will encourage a massive increase in the numbers participating regularly in our sport.
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In this section we have identified 5 headline goals that we believe will drive growth in the domestic cricket sphere. By outlining these goals, along with the key actions and targets for each, we hope to achieve our participation strategic outcome of a 20% increase in committed participants. This increase, and the new activities underpinning it described below, will provide the foundations, supported by the increased profile and hoped for increased funding from the ICC in the next strategic period, to generate the accelerated growth envisaged for participation in the strategic period from 2024 to 2029.
Key Participation Headline Goals, Key Actions & Targets
(a) Clubs – Continue the work delivering vibrant, diverse and inclusive clubs using new programmes and improved communications to encourage greater numbers:
Introduce Club Development Model including a club health-check
• Launch the online Club Development Tool and guide clubs through the process • Development officers to act as account managers developing club growth plans • Offer specialist support to increase number of coaches, match officials and volunteers
Junior Cricket – a clear and consistent pathway including a great first experience and follow up programmes that keep girls and boys in the game
• Continue the growth of All Stars Cricket for 5-8 year olds – 2,000 participants by 2023 • Introduce Dynamos Cricket for 8-11 year olds – 2,000 participants by 2023 • Consistent Junior Formats and equal and consistent opportunities for those that wish to progress into regional and national age group performance pathways
Schools – Grow primary and secondary school player numbers through quality programmes and competitions that directly support school sport and link with local clubs
• Curriculum for excellence-based programmes in 250+ schools • Deliver quality schools’ competitions aligned with club formats, throughout age-range to grow the base of the game • Start the process of getting cricket in the Scottish Curriculum
Drive growth through social/informal formats
• Offer clubs a range of formats to support diverse and inclusive growth and sustainability: Tapeball, The Wee Bash, CricHIIT, Last Man Stands
Club-focused events
• Offer annual workshops, conferences and roadshows designed to address key areas for clubs • Present annual club awards at the CS awards night in conjunction with national player awards to increase profile of grassroots • Deliver annual Cricket Force event across Scotland
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(b) Community Engagement - Develop formats and events that encourage social/informal participation and meet sporting and social needs
Work towards making cricket the most diverse and inclusive sport in Scotland and contribute to improved health, wellbeing and life-style choices enhancing the future prospects of participants and increasing community cohesion.
• Expand the Project Glasgow concept to other areas of multiple social deprivation in Scotland by establishing sustainable community cricket hubs through All Stars Cricket and Dynamos Cricket signposting participants to the Wicketz pathway.
Informal entry level formats for new and lapsed cricketers
• Expand Tapeball competitions across the country for youth and social cricketers • Support the expansion of Last Man Stands Cricket in all regions • Establish Walking Cricket Centres (branded Legends Cricket) – akin to the massively popular ‘walking football’ and aimed helping the elderly and less mobile improve their social lives and activity levels. • Work with partners to target SIMD areas and areas with significant cultural and/or religious challenges where we will use cricket for social change and improved integration. • Street cricket to be rolled out in urban areas
Disability Cricket - Increase the opportunities for disabled people of all ages to engage with and enjoy cricket
• Full time Disability Cricket Officer in post from 2020 • Create Disability Cricket HUBS in Regional Centres in Scotland to deliver Super 1’s and Table Cricket by providing resources, coaching sessions and regular competitive opportunities, in collaboration with Lords’ Taverners. • Establish a performance pathway for Disability Cricket
(c) Women and Girls - Deliver clear female specific programmes to maximise growth in the female game
Women and girls’ game to be developed by all development staff functionally led by a Women and Girls' Participation Manager
• Female specific initiatives included in all development staff workplans and appraisals
CricHIIT - create an online tutor and support resource to allow further (global) expansion of the programme
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Club Playing opportunities - competitions and festivals for women and girls
• 15 club-based Women and Girls HUBs offering at least three different female- specific formats to be established by 2023. • Increase the number of teams in the Women’s Premier League to 12 by 2023 • 4 Regional Development Leagues by 2023 • Girls only cricket festivals or competition in each region by 2023
Girls cricket in schools
• Double the number of teams entering in schoolgirls’ competitions to 30 primary schools and 30 secondary schools by 2023 • Establish hardball secondary schools’ tournament for girls • Support secondary school PE teachers to encourage delivery of girls’ cricket programmes
Workforce - Increase the number of female coaches and match officials
• Female only coaching, umpiring and scoring courses • Continued support and mentoring for female coaches and match officials
(d) Coaches and Officials - Attract, develop and retain high quality coaches, umpires, scorers and volunteers led by a workforce development manager, through people- centred programmes with continued development, mentoring and support.
Young People development programme to be rolled out before 2023
• CS Leadership programme for schools developed and delivered across Scotland • Young Match Officials programme to inspire a new generation of umpires and scorers
Improve our Sport Scotland scorecard rating
• Coaching workforce analysis to identify development and deployment needs
Increase coach and official education courses at introductory, Level One and Level Two
• Increase the tutor workforce to deliver quality education and development opportunities • Improve course completion rates year on year • Develop a coach developer team at regional level by 2023
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Provide CPD opportunities for coaches through the CS Coaches Association and Sport Scotland Programmes
• 150 coaches have CSCA members by 2023 • CPD workshops delivered annually to all our coaches
Diversify the workforce by offering inclusive and tailored courses and workshops
▪ Annual female only courses • Diversify our tutor workforce to attract a more diverse range of participants
Deliver a Volunteer Development programme that recognises and supports people involved in volunteering
• 30 new volunteers each year to support our community programmes
(e) Leadership - Organise and link the cricket community for maximum growth
Provide strong and effective leadership for the domestic game that ensures a coordinated approach towards participation growth and to drive performance across the country
• Rationalise and align all CS Committees for the Domestic Game, including clubs and leagues. • SLAs between regional associations and CS by end of 2020
Work with regional associations to improve capabilities and mind-set towards increasing participation
• Regular meetings with regional bodies • Annual Cricket Scotland Roadshow
Performance
World Class People, Winning Teams”
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Key Strategic Outcome: Both the Men’s & Women’s sides playing at the highest level possible in ICC events
Scotland’s international cricket teams will continue the recent upward curve in performance. Our Men’s team qualified for two consecutive ICC Global Events for the first time but sadly missed out, by the narrowest of margins, on qualifying for the 2019 CWC despite the tournament being reduced to a 10-team event.
Since late 2015 Scotland’s Women have participated in four ICC Global qualification events. Our U19s male squad competed in the finals of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup for the three events running in 2012, 2014 and 2016 before narrowly missing out on the 2018 finals. They have now qualified for the 2020 finals.
Scotland Men has started to prioritise the short formats of international cricket as this ties in with the strategic aim of achieving ICC Full Member Status.
Scotland Women have also progressed in both formats of the women’s game (50 Over & T20) to the point where qualifying for a major global event is now a realistic opportunity within the period of our strategy. However, this represents one of the most challenging criteria of full membership for CS in the light of the rapidly increasing quality of women’s cricket internationally, particularly with the move to professionalization of the women’s game.
We have identified five Headline Goals for our performance system that will develop and accelerate the performance levels of both our men’s and women’s teams on the world stage.
Key Performance Headline Goals, Key Actions & Targets
a. Leadership – Introduce, develop and sustain an integrated performance system, processes and facilities that accelerate the development of Scotland’s international teams
Restructure of the HP team to reflect good practice from full members
• High-Performance head to develop better relationships with partners, allow more focused coaching from the coaching team and improve professionalism throughout.
Women’s programme fully integrated as a high-performance sport with additional coaching support for the women’s programme prioritised
• Dedicated Women`s Head Coach to move to full time during period of plan • Ensure women’s high-performance athletes receive parity of support – to include optimising preparation, training opportunities, out of pocket expenses / allowances and support from the Scottish Institute of Sport
b. Coaches – Recruit, retain and develop high quality coaches who drive an integrated coaching system - maximising quality of delivery and player contact time to accelerate the development of players and teams.
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Further develop a performance coaching community that grows and champions the nationwide delivery of a “discipline-specific World- Class Basics” programme and ”Winning our Way”, designed to align the performance system
• ”Winning Our Way” is now bedded in throughout the organisation – this needs to be developed still further and become the bedrock of HP with all performance coaches aligned to “World Class Basics” and “Winning Our Way” principles • Regular schedule of Performance Coach Group meetings established to deliver operational objectives
Recruit high quality coaching support for the Women’s teams
• Women`s Coaching team to be enhanced over period of strategic plan through alignment of existing coaching resources • Women`s Age-Group teams and regional teams to have enhanced coaching teams with a minimum Level 3 Head Coach
Grow the number of Level 3 and 4 coaches in Scotland
• 8 x new UKCC Level 3 Coaches • 4 x new Level 4 Coaches
c. Competition – Ensure best possible competitive opportunities are established for both performance and pathways programmes
Consistent high-quality fixture lists to complement and support existing global events schedule
• National Team – Men and Women – ensure fixture list is secured and confirmed by end of January each year • Secure at least one significant bilateral international / series each year, outside of global events
Deliver vibrant and sustainable domestic performance competitions that encourage the development of high-quality players and provide the best possible stepping stone from club cricket to international representation
• Further develop Tilney Regional Series playing programme with a minimum of 12 days’ cricket per season for each team • Gain List A accreditation for Tilney Series
Establish ‘A’/Development and U19 team programmes for the Women’s game to provide improved opportunities to a wider group of players with performance potential
• Secure a minimum of 3 quality fixtures per season for the Women`s `A/Development` and U19s each season
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• Develop a competitive domestic regional programme for women
d. Training – Develop and promote regional performance hubs to maximise the development and increase the number of players with high performance potential.
Develop a minimum of 3 regional performance training hubs, both indoor and outdoor, that maximise the development of targeted players through increased coach contact time and time on task for players (to include La Manga Club, CS & CI Warm Weather Training & Competition Facility)
• Regional Hubs established in Glasgow and Edinburgh by the end of 2023 • La Manga to get optimum use out of season • Forfarshire to remain a high-quality training venue for Dundee/Caledonia area
Ensure access to appropriate opportunities for our players with high performance potential to experience training and playing opportunities out-with Scotland
• Ensure a minimum of four players receive overseas training /playing opportunities each year Establish partnerships with overseas governing bodies and service providers to provide training and playing opportunities for players with high performance potential
e. Build new National Indoor Academy by end 2022 • Identify location by mid 2020 • Find funding by mid 2021 • Complete by end 2022
Community Engagement
“More People Supporting More Cricket”
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Key Strategic Outcome: 25% increase in core turnover by the end of 2023
By making Cricket more mainstream in Scotland, CS will be able to engage with more corporate, political and community partners than ever before. Despite the sporting market being more competitive than ever, this will open doors not only to more community engagement but also improved revenue streams.
The social outcomes, aligning with the Scottish Government’s Sport for Change agenda, will be heightened as cricket works its way into the psyche of the Scottish population, and in particular that of Scottish schools.
We have identified goals in this area that include not only how we plan to market the sport but also what this increased and improved share of voice will deliver in terms of engagement with existing followers, with our cricket alumni, active participants in other sports and fans of those sports, the media and the general public. It alludes to the aim of getting more families engaged in the sport and on working with local communities around social cohesion and inclusion.
We have also recognised the need for a commercial skillset within the national governing body and as a result our Commercial Manager is developing a commercial partner and fund-raising strategy to address our requirements during the period of this plan. This will be achieved through developing existing and new commercial relationships, running membership schemes and capitalising on funding opportunities to utilise previously untapped funds. This area will be a key focus of the new CEO when appointed.
Key Community Engagement Headline Goals, Key Actions & Targets
(a) Tracking and monitoring – Develop, build and maintain a database of all players, volunteers and fans
o Ensure a system is fully rolled-out by 2020 to include player registration and match- management, improved engagement and benefits to club admin o Continue to improve Go-Membership or similar usage to develop better relationships with members
(b) Marketing and communications - Develop a clear market position and identity for Cricket Scotland and our products
Position cricket as a mainstream, active, competitive and cerebral family pastime ideal for all ages
• Cricket Scotland was re-launched in 2017 and has a new logo, website and social media presence but, more importantly, with a new corporate proposition ensuring that all stakeholder requirements are understood and reflected in the communication, vocabulary and method of engagement • Actively support improved national and local media coverage of all formats of cricket
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• Improve the branding and awareness of all entry-level programmes at all ages to encourage greater participation and trial at any stage of life and at any level of ability.
Position the Scotland representative teams as leading sports brands
• Continue to grow social media and online presence whilst being recognised for delivering regular innovative and original content • Combined Twitter following (currently c.138,000) to reach in excess of 200,000 by 2023 • Encourage a greater awareness and following of Women’s cricket online • Use our international players as ambassadors for the sport by ensuring our players each visit clubs through CS driven community programmes and initiatives to develop closer ties and generate greater awareness • Develop a marketing plan and use modern technology including state of the art apps to recruit and retain a larger and wider fan-base from outside of Scotland • Planned and targeted promotion of national teams in the lead up to, and during, significant global events to allow us to maximise exposure
(c) Partnerships – generate additional avenues and maximise existing relationships for the benefit of cricket through commercial and non-commercial partnerships and joint ventures with corporate and government bodies
Identify good quality corporate partners who are a close fit with the aspirations and values of Cricket Scotland and through whom we can develop understanding, appreciation and recruitment of players and volunteers
• Commence the Euro T20 Slam in 2020 • Improve commercial partnership revenues to £260,000 per annum (including in-kind support) by end of 2023 ( compared to £180,000 in 2019) • Find replacement funds for the annual ECB Broadcast Contract payment which will cease at the end of 2019 • Introduce the concept of a Development Board for fund-raising in 2020.
Develop community partnering and engagement opportunities to build greater connection to cricket including but not limited to local initiatives for social inclusion, girls and women’s cricket and disabled cricket through local authorities and charitable organisations
• Develop community hub facilities for Cricket Scotland use which will also encourage community and club use by end of 2023 • Develop and enhance relationship with the ECB at all levels • Develop deeper and further charity relationships with Lord’s Taverners, Beyond Boundaries Chance to Shine and others
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Appendix 2
RISK ASSESSMENT [TO BE COMPLETED]
Risk Mitigation Responsible person Failure reach FM performance targets Failure to reach 20% participation increase Failure to reach funding targets Insufficient or inadequate people resources Failure to raise capital project funding for indoor performance centre Failure to attract funding for community engagement work Climate change Safeguarding
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APPENDIX 3
FINANCIAL FORECASTS
[To be inserted]
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