A couple of weeks ago Cricket Ireland published its Strategy document for the development of Irish cricket. The strategy is to cover the period up until 2020 and is entitled, From Club to Country – Connecting a Strong Cricket Nation. It is the third in a series since the changes in the organisation of Cricket Ireland less than 15 years ago and the international rise of the sport in Ireland since 2007.
In a very abbreviated form one could consider the first strategy as being about creating the environment in which a successful international team could survive and prosper. The second strategy followed on from this but sought to expand the links into domestic cricket by creating a tier of inter-regional cricket for both men and women, to encourage the strengthening of the premier club competitions [through limits on the number of teams playing in each top league and supporting national competitions] and through the establishment of a cricket academy for our younger players. The third and latest version up to 2020 has as its primary theme the strengthening of the links between club and country.
While the highlights refer to the continued drive towards Test Cricket, the context is much changed and the emphasis is on creating the structures and environment that would support Test cricket. But there is much more to it than this – not least a recognition of the importance of the different one-day formats and of womens cricket.
The published document, which is available on the Cricket Ireland website, is worth reading for anyone with an interest in the future development of the sport in Ireland. But for those who are content with a summary the strategy is divided into four parts with a number of key goals and related targets identified.
The new CI strategy is based on four key pillars.
Sustainable Growth
Sustainable growth means recognising the club as the centre of the sport in Ireland. This can be done by fostering grass roots development, increasing investment in club cricket, optimising the use of overseas players for the good of the sport, supporting linkage programmes to help new clubs establish and grow and ensuring the continued strength of premier club competitions across the island.
Most important are the channels through which youth are introduced to the sport through the coordinated effort of development officers in clubs and schools. More resources will be made available for primary schools and to create links with established clubs.
But it is not just about young cricketers – the sport must be made accessible for people of all ages and capabilities. In some cases this may demand new formats of the game that bridge the gap between open competitive, developmental and social cricket. Programme to support this need to be extended to all parts of the country.
A key aspect of this will be an increase in the number and skill sets of domestic coaches. The need to increase the number of coaches at all levels and to provide the resources to back this up is given prominence in the strategy.
Keep Winning
It will not matter how much we talk about the importance of club for the future of the sport if the national teams, men, women and youth, do not continue to perform well on the international stage. If we fall back into the middle ranks of Associate Cricket Nations then the sport will be starved of the funds, from sponsors, the ICC and broadcasters, that are necessary to grow the sport.
This in short means more fixtures against the top cricketing countries, tours for our youth and development teams and a robust regime for bringing through younger players. The regional competitions are a key part of this with an early objective being to get the Three Day matches classified as ‘First Class’. It is also the intention [over time] to extend the playing season by locating some matches in a new ground at La Manga [Spain].
A major constraint on achieving the objectives of the strategy are the lack of top quality facilities for our best domestic players. The creation of regional performance hubs, with indoor and outdoor facilities, within Ireland and the greater use of warm weather facilities in Spain are important but so also are improvements to the facilities in clubs where are players compete throughout the summer. The need for more funding for this has been identified and a financial support programme is being put in place. Finally, of course we need a Home for Cricket in Dublin for the marquee fixtures.
The National Academy Programme set up with the support of the Shapoorji Pallongi Group has made it possible to offer the best young players in the country the opportunity to develop their skills both at home and abroad. It will continue to provide specialist support services to underpin the development of the next generation of players.
Leading our Sport
Cricket Ireland as an organisation also need to keep evolving. Acknowledging the criticism that it has failed to communicate sufficiently and effectively with clubs and the cricket community in general, it is a major theme of the new strategy that this aspect of CI’s work will be greatly enhanced.
But it is not just about CI and from an organisational perspective perhaps the key change in the coming period will be the empowerment of the unions to enable them to lead the sport in their areas. This will involve not just new governance arrangements but also financial support.
The sport at all levels needs to be careful to build up its financial base and more cooperation between CI and the unions and between the unions and their member clubs is crucial. The section of the strategy on finances points to the important of extending the sponsorship portfolio [and major announcements in this regard were made at the launch of the strategy] but also of taking advantage of the greater number of high profile matches to get more money from broadcasting rights.
Taking Cricket Mainstream
Although difficult to define, the idea that cricket in Ireland should move mainstream is a theme that runs through the new strategy. There is hardly anyone that has grown up with the sport in Ireland that does not understand what it means to take part in a minority sport. To hear repeated the refrain ‘ But I did not know cricket was played in Ireland’. To regularly lose promising young athletes to other sports that have greater peer recognition and media coverage. To have to respond to gibes about cricket being a foreign sport.
The success of the senior mens and womens national teams over the past decade has gone a long way to dispel such attitudes but the sport has still a way to grow to become accepted in all parts of the island. Improving media coverage, increasing the visibility of our teams and players and using all the strengths of social media to sell the sport are highlighted as key goals over the next four years.
This will certainly mean holding more international events in Ireland – something that will put further strain on club and volunteer resources but still needs to happen if the sport is to grow.
Finally the strategy recognises the contribution of volunteers and of the importance of their continued involvement. But that is not to ignore the tensions that can arise when salaried staff and volunteers come together to pursue common goals. Getting the structures right and ensuring that we continue to attract volunteers is critical to the success of the overall strategy.
Conclusion
Cricket Ireland have outlined a strategy for the development of the sport in Ireland up to 2020. Cricket internationally is going through important changes in terms of governance, the structure of competitions and the availability of funding. Ireland needs to position itself to be in a position to respond to this changes and take advantage of the opportunities they represent. The strategy document provides a blueprint for doing this. But at this point it is just words.
Over the next few weeks we will look at the implications of the national strategy for the development of cricket in Leinster.
The author of this article was a member of the Board of Cricket Ireland from 2012 – 2016.