The Cricket Leinster website is into its sixth year of virtual existence. During this time its audience has steadily grown. Last year there were over 2.1 million sessions [average length 5 minutes] from 81,000 users. The numbers continue to grow with a 9% increase in unique visitors and a 2.5% increase in the number of visits so far this year.
While retaining its general ‘look and feel’ the site has been refreshed on a number of occasions and each year we try to add some additional features. This year there is a new Coaching Module that not only provides news on upcoming courses but allows registered coaches to access training resources, including video. This new video facility is also available across the website under a revamped Media Section. There is still a lot of work to be done to create interesting video material – hopefully something that cricket enthusiasts in Leinster will take to during the season.
As with most things in Cricket Leinster the website is managed by a small band of volunteers who write articles, moderate the Live Scores Match Centre, keep the fixtures, results and league tables up to date, put up new events and administer the site. We are always looking for new contributors so if there is anyone in the cricket community that would be interested in becoming involved let us know [admin@cricketleinster.ie].
One area that needs urgent attention is the Media Section. When the website was started there was a competition for ‘Photo of the Month’ and an award presented for the best of the year at the Annual Awards Dinner. This has unfortunately fallen by the wayside and it would be great if it could be revived. So if there is anyone interested in taking on the role of Manager of the Media Section [Photos and Video] please contact us.
Over the next few weeks we will be tapping a number of people on the shoulder asking them to help. But if you are interested why not put your name forward. What follows are the areas that most urgently require assistance.
[a] Media [Photo and Video] Section. This is currently moribund [the links to photos were down for a while and only one user contacted us to let us know] and needs a radical overhaul.
News / Articles It would be nice to have a few new contributors with fresh insights on competitions, cricket development or issues of general interest to players and spectators. In particular there is not enough material posted in relation to Womens or Youth cricket.
[c] Review of Competitions The amount of work my colleague Paul Reynolds does to keep the results and league tables up to date is massive. It would be great if there were a volunteers who would take on specific Divisions and provide regular reports and updates on how things are going. Craig Senior provides the weekly column of Fantasy Statistics for players but more on the individual leagues and cups is needed.
[d] Monitoring Website Sounds boring but it is very important. It is usually only when something goes wrong that people long-up the website to check the regulations or track down a contact name in another club. It can be very frustrating if the information is wrong or misleading. Perhaps the regulations have been updated but the Q&A has not and this leads to confusion. Clubs are responsible for providing the information about who is doing what in their club. But often when names change this is not followed up. Club should check their own entries – but we know that unless someone follows this up with them accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
[e] Archive One of the original aims of the website was to provide an accessible archive of material about the history of Leinster cricket. Thanks to the tremendous work of the late Derek Scott and of Gerry Byrne [who took over the collection of statistics from him], we have a unique collection of documents and statistics that need examination and collation. This is a big area and will require a separate article but for now if there are any local historians around or even someone interested in the history of their own club – there is plenty to do.
[f] Technical As the website becomes more popular the range of technical issues linked to the development environment, hosting platforms, performance etc. increases and become more complex. At this point we need a small technical group to consider the next steps in developing the website further and using it as a means of linking to social media.
The Cricket Leinster website plays a vital role in providing information about cricket in Leinster, facilitating the administration of the club game and generally promoting the sport in the province. While it is run entirely on a volunteer basis there are costs in hosting and maintaining the site as well as to support new developments. The site carried a small amount of advertising and promotional links. If anyone is interested in becoming a Business Patron or taking out advertising please contact us. [Rates can be found at http://www.cricketleinster.ie/services/advertising-rates-for-cricket-leinster-website]. We also need someone to help develop the commercial potential of the website and to follow through with suppliers and advertisers.