A YEAR iN 2019/20 COMMUNiTY CRiCKET In 2019/20 over 1,500 Players, Volunteers, Stakeholders and School Ambassadors were provided tickets to WBBL, BBL, T20 International, One Day International and Test Match fixtures as thanks for their service to cricket across NSW and ACT. Many enjoyed a ‘Once in a Lifetime’ experience by playing or walking on the hallowed turf of the Sydney Cricket Ground as part of Cricket NSW’s On Ground Experience program. Community Cricket team members at the 2020 Sydney Test Match CONTENTS PLEASE ENJOY 2 OUR 19/20 PRiORiTiES 3 THEiR WAY 4 A NEWiE T20 5 A SiXERS LEAGUE OF THEiR OWN 6 TiLLY & ELLYSE 8 MODEL SCHOOL 9 17 SYD ON TOUR 9 MAKiNG HiSTORY 10 RAiNBOW CRICKET 11 11 WiTH OPEN ARMS 12 NORTHERN EXPOSURE 14 A SPECiAL 100 16 THE UNBELiEVABLE GESTURE 17 THUNDER GOES WEST! 17 THE Women’s regional bASH ARRiVES 18 WiNNER WiNNER 20 HELPiNG HANDS 21 GiRLS RULE 21 14 DUBBO GIRLS BLAST OFF! 22 MiSDC iS A WiNNER 23 PREPARiNG FOR THE FUTURE/NOW 24 LEADiNG E-SCORiNG 25 it’s good tO BE YOUNG 26 BATTiNG BUSHFiRES 28 DROUGHT BREAKER 29 4 26 A YEAR IN COMMUNITY CRICKET 2019/20 was put together by Neil McDonald, Fiona Penny, Hayley Frasa, Kate Jackson, Jenna Purcell, Andy Meikle and Matt Ellis with stories and pictures from the entire Community Cricket team. Thank you to everyone for your efforts throughout the year and for capturing it in this report. 2 PLEASE ENJOY The 2019/20 season is in many ways the beginning of a powerful and united purpose between our wonderful volunteers and Cricket NSW. A shared love of cricket has been the foundation for a great year as staff worked closely with Clubs, Associations and Schools across NSW and ACT to grow the game. Whether it be by introducing kids to cricket for the first time, supporting clubs to be vibrant and welcoming places within their community, assisting coaches and parents help young talent be the best they can be or planning for crickets future with emerging formats, facility upgrades or technology to make volunteers lives easier, our commitment is strong, and the rewards are many. We are committed to ensure all Australians can enjoy cricket no matter who they are or where they are from, and often the work we do is in parts of our community where cricket may not have been or played. Much of what we do is not recorded, it doesn’t show in stats or participation figures, but it is vitally important if we want to ensure cricket continues to be Australia’s sport of choice. But it does show on the faces of those who are experiencing that first moment of love for the game. The joy of taking a wicket for the first time. The satisfaction of hitting that first boundary. The exhilaration of winning a tough game with your friends. Those are the things that make cricket special, and we want as many people to experience that as we can. We want Clubs to be strong. We want players of all ages to make friends, make runs and take wickets like their family and friends before them. We also know that cricket today may not be the cricket of yesterday and we will continue to work with all Clubs as we enter the future of our sport together. Community Cricket is a long game. We aren’t trying to do it all today, and we certainly don’t think we can do it alone. Our volunteers are the life blood, and our role is to support and lead those people who give up their time to allow others to enjoy the game. We want to make it easier for you, and help you grow your clubs and competitions. And there is a lot we can do to make that happen. A YEAR IN COMMUNITY CRICKET 2019/20 is a glimpse into the wide and varied work the Cricket NSW Community Cricket team has done across NSW and ACT in the 2019/20 season. More than just school visits, the CNSW Community Cricket team genuinely lives the purpose of “inspiring everyone to play and love cricket” while providing leadership and support to our wonderful volunteers and communities. Please enjoy a small glimpse into some of the wonderful successes and experiences that cricket has had during 2019/20 and we look forward to working harder than ever with our communities to ensure cricket is strong in NSW and ACT for many years to come. Ivan Spyrdz General Manager CNSW Community Cricket 3 OUR 19/20 PRiORiTiES To ensure the Australian Community Cricket We agree to stay the course on junior cricket (ELP, provided a focused and united approach to Girls, Junior Format’s) with an enhanced focus on collective success in growing cricket across diversity, indoor opportunities, coaching, marketing and better coordinating W/BBL & international cricket Australia, the 2019/20 Community Cricket opportunities. Priorities were announced. We will continue to engage schools through our These priorities provided a solid foundation program offerings with a focus on the transition to local of leadership and support to clubs and clubs and activating teachers to deliver. associations, driving towards an aligned strategy of success for all levels of the entire We will maximise the investment in the Australian Australian Cricket family. Cricket Infrastructure Fund with the Field Force playing a critical role. With each CNSW Community Cricket team We will continue our work with local clubs and member remaining focused on these priorities, associations to embed child safe practices. we are able to have a highly successful year of cricket across the NSW/ACT in 2019/20. We will plan and execute the agreed legacy initiatives for the ICC T20 World Cup. We will make it easier for clubs to run cricket by supporting them to introduce online registration for all juniors and increasing the adoption of electronic scoring through the App. 4 It was becoming more and more obvious that as cricket’s popularity continues to rise in the homes across NSW, we were missing something. Something that when pointed out became obvious. A large part of our community was not being looked after. A group of people so important to cricket in so many ways, we often took them for granted, never putting two and two together thinking they too may want to play, but in a different way. THEiR WAY In recognition of a significant gap With 12 teams under lights at a Northern Districts Cricket Club took in cricket offerings for females over Premier Cricket Ground and with the opportunity to give back to their 16 years of age, Cricket NSW in team names like “Got the Runs” community through cricket and partnership with Northern Districts and “Pitch Perfect” a top-quality must be congratulated for being Cricket Club hosted the first Sixers experience was all but guaranteed. leaders in this space. Social Women’s Cricket event at Mark Taylor Oval. To ensure all players had a fair go the Thank you to the Northern Districts format used a soft ball, was 8-a-side Cricket Club for their unwavering Cricket Manager for the North Shore and each game lasted 45 minutes. commitment to the promotion of Daniel Anderson said the driving Women’s Cricket. force behind this program was After the match players and wanting to provide an opportunity. volunteers were invited into the The great support of players NDCC Clubhouse for drinks and and committee members who An opportunity for all of the mums, nibbles. The social atmosphere came came along each week was very sisters, partners, cousins and friends to life and lots of new friendships much appreciated, in particular of our cricket community to play the were made. club President Jeremy Hook and game that they have likely watched, Coordinator Nathan Smith. volunteered in and played as kids. What made the competition so successful? Strong partnerships Thank you also to Hornsby Council Northern Districts Cricket Club between the club and Cricket NSW, who allowed access to the lights heavily promoted the program a clearly defined purpose and a each week. through its extensive networks and passion to deliver. offered a ‘Come and Try’ event. Initial expectations were exceeded with 65 attendees, rising to 91 registered players. The competition ran for six weeks on a Wednesday night from 7pm- 8:30pm. Current NDCC First Grade players volunteered their time to umpire matches and deliver coaching tips and tricks in a “Choose your own adventure” skills session pre-game. 5 To Cricket NSW staff members Daniel Anderson, Akshay Trivedi and Jeni Lee who worked tirelessly as support during the program to ensure it ran A NEWiE T20 smoothly and were often the weekly welcoming committee. The belief that there was an appetite for short-form Cricket to attract players who had left the game owing to work, family To local MP Alister Henskins. commitments or simply not wanting to play ‘all day’ proved correct with the inaugural Men’s T20 Social competition played in Alister was kind enough to make Newcastle during February and March 2020. an appearance throughout the program, making mention of its Limiting team numbers to only eight, it took less than 24 hours for the success in State Parliament. We inaugural competition to be fully subscribed and have a waiting list! are very grateful for his ongoing support. Played on hard wickets with all equipment provided, the competition was capped at eight teams who participated in the two-hour experience And finally the players, without on Sunday mornings.