Cricket NSW Foundation

The Cricket NSW Foundation is the charitable arm of Cricket NSW, increasing the access to cricket for all within NSW, and unlocking opportunities that “inspire everyone to play and love cricket”. We would like to thank and acknowledge all our donors and in particular our donors who have made a significant contribution to the CNSW Foundation this financial year

Quote from CNSW Foundation Chairman Dr Mark Nelson - The Cricket NSW Foundation has made wonderful progress this season both through donations made and programs and initiatives invested in which all link back to the purpose of further enabling access to the game of cricket. I would like to thank all donors for their generous contributions which helps achieve our purpose and further inspires everyone to play and love cricket.

CNSW Foundation Donors

Major Donors – Dr Mark Nelson, Mike Gregg, Basil Sellers AM, Warwick Johnson, John Sevior

Donors

Phillip Towzell

Tom Rutledge Christopher Bowman Matthew Ritchie Central Coast Cricket Association Robert Wilcocks Stephen Gorry John Bowie Wilson Patrick Regan Greater Illawarra Cricket Zone William Tunny Kris Gale Christopher Dalton Robert Shaw Newcastle Junior Cricket Richard Stewart David Garnsey John Granger Barry Spencer Western Cricket Zone Guy Stuckey-Clarke Susan Clear William Granger Dave Lyall North Coastal Cricket Zone Dennis Stevenson Benevity Causes Brad Kean Chris Muldoon Riverina Cricket Zone

John Clark Jonathan Armitage Sam Paradice John Munro ACT Southern Districts Cricket Zone

Michael Pain

Jack Armitage John Randall

Total Funds Committed = $2,425,000 Target $10,000,000 by 2025 Central Northern Cricket Zone

Thunder Season of Giving Toy Drive

CNSW Foundation and the NSW Past Players

This season, the CNSW Foundation partnered with the Baggy Blues, the men’s NSW past players association, to embark on two trips to regional NSW promoting not only the game of cricket, but also the importance of mental health.

The first of these trips to Newcastle, was the 14th the Baggy Blues have embarked on across NSW, and featured appearances from former NSW Blues Phil Marks, Phil Emery, Gavin Robertson, Rick McCosker and Peter Toohey, flanked by current players Chris Green, Mickey Edwards, Lachlan Hearne, Ryan Hadley, Nick Bertus and Hunar Verma, as well as CNSW CEO Lee Germon. The visit comprised of a Mental Health dinner at the Wests Leagues Club held alongside the Rural Adversity Mental Health Programme (RAMHP), who delivered the important messaging regarding mental health amongst our regional cricket communities. The night also doubled as a celebration of Newcastle’s finest cricketers, with each player who has represented NSW receiving a numbered cap to recognise their achievements.

The visit also included school visits to St Mary’s Gateshead, where players past and present spoke to Year 12 Students, and to Hunter Sports High School, involving a session with the gifted athletes program. Unfortunately, due to wet weather, the planned Junior Cricket Clinic and T20 exhibition match had to be abandoned.

The second of the trips was south to Wollongong which also saw a collaboration between the Baggy Blues and the women’s past players association, the Waratahs. Current NSW players Matt Gilkes, Chris Tremain, Liam Hatcher, Hunar Verma and Josh Baraba were accompanied by past players Rick McCosker, Steve Rixon, Gavin Robertson, Steve Small, Wayne Holdsworth, Charlotte Anneveld and Michelle Goszko.

Similarly to the Newcastle trip, wet weather caused the cancellation of the junior cricket clinic and T20 match, but the mental health dinner with RAMPH was held in conjunction with Cricket Illawarra’s annual presentation evening.

Baggy Blues Newcastle Trip These two trips reinforced the importance of connecting with our regional cricket communities who for the best part of two years have had very limited exposure to any elite sport. The CNSW Foundation aims to increase access to all and this certainly includes providing experiences that our next generation of players will never forget, like meeting their heroes through initiatives like the Baggy Blues and Waratahs trips to regional NSW.

Baggy Blues and Waratahs Wollongong trip

Both of these trips were made possible through funds raised at the CNSW Foundation’s Annual Charity Match at the SCG, courtesy of members of the Australian Club. The Cricket NSW Foundation would like to thank the Australian Club for their contributions that continue to help provide access to the game of cricket across NSW.

Australian Club Charity Cricket Match

Community Skin Checks

Thanks to the CNSW Staff vaccine imitative rolled out in early 2021 which saw $100 raised for every staff member who got vaccinated against Covid-19, CNSW saw enough dollars raised for the CNSW Foundation to deliver four free skin cancer checks by Skin Patrol. The locations chosen to receive this wonderful opportunity were Albury, Coffs Harbour, Campbelltown and Manly which were greatly supported by each local cricket community. In total, we had 121 people checked across the four locations and we would love to roll this out to further associations in the coming seasons.

Umpires

This season, the CNSW Foundation donated to the NSWCUSA to help subsidise fees for regional umpire training courses, which aims to alleviate barriers to umpire accreditation whilst concurrently providing in-game experience for existing match officials. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, the umpiring courses were not able to be delivered, so this initiative will be carried over to next season. There were, however, 6 umpires from regional NSW who were afforded the opportunity to travel to and officiate in NSW Premier Cricket in Sydney. The umpires ranged in experience levels from 2 years to 26 years, but all gained valuable insight and will take lessons learned back to their regional associations to further improve the level of umpiring and subsequent experience for all involved in the game of cricket.

Chen Tay and Rod Porter

Breakers Relocation Fund

This past season saw the provision of the inaugural Breakers Relocation Fund awarded to NSW Breaker Emma Hughes. Hughes, who is originally from Dubbo, moved to Sydney to pursue her cricketing career and also undertake tertiary studies. The Breakers Relocation Fund, a $10 000 grant, is designed to help alleviate the financial strain, anxiety and pressures associated with relocating to Sydney for young female elite athletes. This grant will ultimately help future players pursue further education, with the goal of improving overall wellbeing and ensuring retention in the game, whilst living away from home.

Emma Hughes centre

Basil Sellers

Basil Sellers AM’s continued support of cricket in NSW is now made possible via the CNSW Foundation. The Basil Sellers Scholarship is awarded each year thanks to the generous donation by Basil. The CNSW Foundation would like to extend its appreciation to Basil for his continued contribution to the development of young cricketers across NSW and his support of the CNSW Foundation.

Stump to Stump

The CNSW Foundation also granted a donation to Stump to Stump, a multi-functional collaborative platform for all cricket fans, players, clubs, associations, governing bodies and cricket communities to share content and connect with other cricket fans. The platform further enables access to the game of cricket by allowing all members of the cricket community to consume content from elite cricket all the way to grassroots. The grant will help Stump to Stump further grow their online platform through investing in technology to remain leaders in the space. Stump to Stump will also share content related to initiatives undertaken by the CNSW Foundation, sharing our stories with the large online community.

Dubbo Rugby CC - Homeworld Helpers Grant recipient

BBL Supported Activity

This season, the CNSW Foundation supported a number of activities undertaken by the Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder across the community. These ranged from programs within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community to supporting grassroots cricket clubs with financial grants.

HomeWorld Helpers/Community Grants

The CNSW Foundation dollar-matched the financial contribution from Sydney Thunder’s major partner HomeWorld to ensure more clubs than ever before could be supported across the Thunder Nation. The selected clubs were granted $1000 each to help foster the growth of junior cricket with funds going towards the purchase of marquees and shades, personalised drink bottles and engaging more young girls in cricket to name a few of the successful projects.

Blowfly Cricket - Toyo Tires Community Grant recipients

Toyo Tires Community Grants

The CNSW Foundation also supported the inaugural Toyo Tires community grant program, also dollar-matching the investment from the Sixers’ major partner. In its first year, the program supported several initiatives for clubs from within the Sydney catchment all the way up to the Queensland border showing the stretch of the support for the Sixers club. Some of the projects included further support for all abilities programs, provision of sun-safe unforms for junior cricketers and providing more opportunities for young female cricketers.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander T20 Cup

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander T20 Cup was this season held in Albury and, for the first time, featured four BBL clubs in the multi-day tournament focusing on providing a pathway for young indigenous cricketers and an opportunity to further explore and celebrate culture. The CNSW Foundation raised funds through a variety of initiatives throughout the season to support this year’s event, ranging from ticket sale and membership add-ons to online memorabilia auctions featuring signed items from the Sixers and Thunder men’s and women’s teams. Signed shirts from the W/BBL’s First Nations rounds were auctioned off and all proceeds were used to support the tournament and the players involved. Ultimately, the Sydney Thunder men were victorious over the Sydney Sixers, Melbourne Renegades and Melbourne Stars, but the connections made by the players throughout the event and the opportunities this initiative unlocks are imperative to inspiring more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to play and love cricket.

Jake Balnave

Head of Cricket NSW Foundation