Afghanistan Cricket Board Strategic Plan 2011 - 2015 From zero to success in 10 years . the journey continues “Winning a match is important for a coach but a big part of the job is helping to develop a solid, responsible young player who is able to become an upstanding citizen.” Sachin Tendulkar Indian cricket legend The potential for cricket to promote the social and civil development of the whole person, not just their sporting ability, is one of the great values of cricket for Afghanistan. 2 Contents Chairman’s Introductrion.....................................................4 Message from the CEO ........................................................5 The ACB’s Vision and Mission .............................................6 Our Goals for 2011 – 2015 ..................................................7 Our Strategic Plan Framework ..........................................8 GOAL 1: Increase interest and participation ................9 GOAL 2: Build the capacity of the ACB .......................15 GOAL 3: Develop domestic cricket ..............................19 GOAL 4: Raise our performance to the elite level...29 GOAL 5: Grow the finances of the ACB .....................33 Monitoring and Review of this Plan ............................37 3 Chairman’s Introduction Cricket is just 10 years old in Afghanistan. The country became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council only a short time before the fall of the Taliban regime. The game has developed during 10 years of tremendous change, as well as ongoing insurgency, in our country. This development has been nothing less than remarkable. Our national cricket tea has been rightly hailed as the “rising star of Asian cricket.” With hundreds of thousands of players and supporters, cricket stands today as the largest peaceful movement in Afghanistan. It is also the largest movement of young people. The game has, therefore, become one of the most valuable tools in our efforts for peace and nation building. The international success of our National Cricket Team has stimulated a surge of growth in participation and interest in the game, with all but two provinces now fielding provincial teams. This success has also touched the imagination of the international cricketing world. Our achievements are due to the dedication, hard work, enthusiasm and raw skill of the young players, officials, administrators and the supporters. These young Afghans dreamed big dreams and battled, in most cases against almost insurmountable odds, to achieve those dreams. They have moved from almost nothing 10 years ago to a high level of international success today. The Afghanistan Cricket Board has developed this strategic plan to ensure the long term sustainability of these dreams and achievements, to enable this remarkable journey to continue and to promote the growth of cricket as the number one sport in Afghanistan. As a Board, we believe that the implementation of this plan will help not only the development of cricket in Afghanistan, but will also help stimulate national unity and contribute to peace building and stability. The achievement of the goals of the plan will have significant impact upon the most important group of people in our country: the 70% of the population who are below the age of 25 years – our young people. It is with pleasure that we publish this Strategic Plan as a living and working document for the development of the game of cricket in Afghanistan from 2011 to 2015. Dr. Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal Chairman Afghanistan Cricket Board Minister of Finance Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan 4 Message from the CEO This Strategic Plan 2011 - 2015 is the fruit of many hours of work over the past 9 months. We believe that we have created a most effective plan that will guide our actions as we continue our journey to more cricketing successes over the coming 5 years. The development of the plan has involved both current and past management and staff members from all of the departments of the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) as well as the National Team players and some supporters. We are grateful to all who have given thoughtful and creative suggestions and contributions as a part of the planning process. The final product and its 5 goals cover a very wide range of development issues for the ACB. These will provide an ongoing challenge to action for everyone involved with cricket in our country whether a national player, an umpire, a manager, an office worker or a supporter. The Strategic Plan 2011 – 2015 will unite of us in striving to achieve elite performance internationally and in remaining the most popular sporting activity in Afghanistan. The ACB will ensure that this document does not sit on a shelf to gather dust, but rather that it will be put into action and continuously reviewed, updated and revised over the 5 years of its life. Nasimullah Danish Chief Executive officer Afghanistan Cricket Board Winners, ACC U-19 Elite 2011, Thailand 5 Vision of the Afghanistan Cricket Board “To make cricket Afghanistan’s most popular sport, contributing to peace, health, unity and development.” 6 Our Goals 2011 - 2015 Vision 1 Mission Increase interest & participation 5 2 Grow the Build the finances of CRICKET: capacity of the ACB the ACB Afghanistan’s most popular sport 4 3 Raise our Develop performance domestic to elite cricket levels 7 8 Increase interest and participation in cricket in 1Afghanistan OBJECTIVES FOR GOAL 1 1.1. Promote the Spirit of Cricket 1.1.1. The ACB promotes the Law and Spirit of Cricket as published by the Marylebone Cricket Club since 1787. The ACB is currently translating this document into the national languages. The current Code of Laws introduced in 2000 includes a Preamble on the Spirit of Cricket. It says: “Cricket is a game that owes much of its unique appeal to the fact that it should be played not only within its Laws but also within the Spirit of the Game. Any action which is seen to abuse this Spirit causes injury to the game itself”. 1.1.2. The Preamble goes on to explain the roles and responsibilities of captains, players and umpires in respecting and upholding the Spirit of Cricket. 1.1.3. The ABC, our cricketers and officials are committed to more than merely obeying the game’s Laws but also to safeguarding its Spirit. 1.1.4. We believe that fair play, honesty and respect are values for cricket but also important values that cricket can promote in our country. They are values to play by and values to live by. 1.2. Use Cricket’s potential as an educational tool 1.2.1. Develop health campaigns 1.2.1.1. Annual training of cricketers (600 per annum in center and provinces) about basic health, common infectious diseases and narcotics control will be conducted both in Kabul and provinces. 1.2.1.2. Further, the trained players will participate and contribute in various national programs about hygiene, infectious disease and narcotics control programs in the wider community. 1.2.2. Develop broader educational campaigns 1.2.2.1. The ACB is committed to using cricket as a tool for educational 10 10 purposes in a broader context and to use opportunities for community education in a broad range of areas including but not limited to nation building, human rights, ethnic unity and equality, gender equity, peace building, the importance of education for all, child protection and personal development. 1.3. Developing cricket in every community The ACB intends, over the coming years, to increase the number of people playing cricket at least 10 fold. More than 70 per cent of Afghanistan’s population is under 25 years old. Cricket is a game for young people. These young people are the future of the country, tired of war and filled with hope and enthusiasm – qualities that can easily be crushed in the current context of their country. Most of these young people would not even know where the major cricketing countries are located on the map, but many can name all of the cricket heroes from around the world. Afghanistan’s young people are a main target upon which the Afghanistan Cricket Board is focussed. Many young people comment that they have little to involve them outside of school or work – cricket is a simple and healthy way of filling this gap both in cities and at village levels. The ACB, in collaboration with Provincial and District associations, will develop various programs and activities for young cricketers including programs for introductory levels, primary school children, secondary school students, higher education and university students as well as specially tailored programs for girls and young women. 1.3.1. National Team Promotional Visits and Coaching Clinics 1.3.1.1. When possible, the ACB will encourage promotional visits and coaching clinics by the national cricket team to large schools, educational institutes, universities as well as large population centres and district or provincial centres. 1.3.1.2. The impact of meeting the national team should not be underestimated as a means of increasing interest and participation in cricket across the country. 1.3.2. Cricket in Afghanistan’s Schools, Educational Institutes and Universities 1.3.2.1. Afghanistan has the highest proportion of school-age children 11 Teams gathered for the Schools Tournament, Kabul, 2010 and young people in the world, one in five, according to the United Nations, and 60% of the country’s population is below age of 21. This indicates that there is great potential for cricket to play a large part in establishing sport as a social force in Afghanistan. 1.3.2.2. The school environment plays a vital role in introducing children and young people to healthy activities. It can also introduce them to cricket, providing them with a positive sport experience and maintaining their involvement in the game.