Community Cricket Experience

The 2021/22 season drew several parallels to the previous summer, with coronavirus lockdowns and return-to-play impacting the first half of the season, while consistent heavy rain during February and March impacted end of season Finals matches, culminating in the catastrophic flooding in Lismore and the Northern Rivers.

Our squad continued to work within the national Australian Cricket framework, remaining focused and united in its approach to grow the game. Community Cricket Priorities included:

Leading the transition to the new PlayHQ platform

Achieving growth in WW Cricket blast

Increasing retention through Junior formats

Clubs feel more empowered to keep kids safe

Delivering against S&T Infrastructure priorities Ensuring caoches provide quality experiences for kids

Connecting schools to clubs & supporting teachers to selfdeliver cricket

These objectives provided leadership and support to clubs and associations, driving towards an aligned strategy for success. Our community cricket team developed plans to address each priority area in each region, with the purpose to inspire everyone to love and play cricket across NSW and the ACT.

INVESTMENT

The Community Cricket team made the most of funding opportunities from both Cricket Australia and the NSW Office of Sport in season 2021/22, working with local cricket clubs to access funding to support development. Grants & funding opportunities included:- ACA Grassroots Cricket Fund - 243 eligible clubs and associations funded for $732,500, a 133% increase on previous season. NSW Government - 610 eligible clubs and associations funded for $610,000. We were able to assist 25% more clubs and associations to meet the criteria than the previous year. Leading Clubs $56,800, Woolworths Community Fund $54,506 and Cricket Australia Next Innings funding $80,940. Additionally, $30,000 of cricket registration fees for school-aged children were subsidised through the continuation of the NSW Government’s Active Kids Voucher (AKV) Program. AKV use was impacted by registrations being taken later in the year due to delays in the season commencing.

TECHNOLOGY

The Community Cricket department continues to harness technology to deliver an improved experience for both volunteers and participants. In particular, the MyCricket Live Scoring App continues to grow in popularity with a total of 59.8% of matches e-scored, an 11% increase on 2020/21. The App has saved volunteers tens of thousands of hours of data entry since its inception and is popular amongst players and followers alike. Migration to the new Play HQ Platform commenced with registrations for Woolworths Cricket Blast Holiday Clinics and Cricket NSW managed programs being loaded onto the system. Community Cricket is customer-obsessed, constantly striving to improve the quality of our service delivery and strongly value community feedback to help meet the needs of the cricket family. During the year, Cricket NSW and Cricket Australia’s Woolworths Cricket Blast teams engaged in a trial with AskNicely, a customer experience platform connecting real-time feedback based on the Net Promoter Score (NPS) framework. Nielsen were also engaged to conduct market research aligned to existing annual NPS programs conducted by Cricket Australia’s research partners, focusing on Junior and Senior Players, Volunteer Administrators, Local Government and Schools.

ANNUAL CRICKET CENSUS AND PARTICIPATION

In line with our focus on registered participation, NSW/ACT achieved 153,055, a 3.2% decrease on the previous year. The 2021/22 pre-season period was severely impacted by COVID, resulting in schools being closed for recruitment visits. After a slow start, the Woolworths Cricket Blast entry-level program was boosted by staff-delivered Holiday Programs and the success of ‘Project Barty’, a targeted strategy aimed to increase registered participation of 5-10 year-olds during the second half of the season. Positive growth was achieved in female programs and competitions as engaged associations and clubs, supported by Community Cricket strategies, registered an 18% increase in participation.

NSW Sports Awards - CNSW volunteers

Celebrating Female participation at Newcastle City CC

CLUBS AND COMPETITIONS

We wish to sincerely thank all our volunteers involved in administration and match-day to get cricket happening across the state during 2021/22. Your efforts to comply with Public Health Orders and get cricket played for a second season was enormous – thank you! Our squad supported clubs and associations to comply with government regulations to implement a safe return to play and recommended amendments to Playing Conditions for the safety of players and match officials and their continued enjoyment of the game. The Competition Administration service offered to Associations continues to grow and deliver positive outcomes for players and volunteers alike. The majority of local community club cricket competitions were able to commence their competitions on time and run a full season; however, flood rains damaged infrastructure and impacted several competitions particularly in the north of the state. The Community Cricket team again delivered exciting match-day experiences for kids involved in Cricket Blast programs during the SCG Test match, at BBL fixtures and the CommBank Women’s Ashes Test match at Manuka Oval, providing the opportunity for local Blast participants to be involved in On Ground Entertainment during the lunchbreak where they demonstrated their skills through activities and games. The kids enjoyed an amazing experience in front of large crowds. NSW volunteers and clubs featured prominently in the 2022 National Community Cricket Awards, with the successful nominees being:Women and Girls Initiative of the Year winner - West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook Cricket Club Inclusion & Diversity Initiative of the Year winner - Mechelle Hare - Manly Warringah District Cricket Club Technology & Media Initiative of the Year Runner-Up - Aaron Hagenbach – Mid-North Coast Cricket Council. Community Cricket Club of the Year Runner-Up - Bega/Angledale Bulls Cricket Club Cricket NSW’s Community Club of the Year is the Bega-Angledale Bulls. Through their tireless work, the club has bucked the COVID trend by experiencing a rapid growth of players across a wide age group. The club is a keen driver of female registrations, as well as participation in the Woolworths Cricket Blast Program. In addition to Cricket, the club has been a central part of the community response to bushfires, the COVID pandemic and as a place of social gathering, emotional support and engagement for their community. The Community Cricket team delivered Association Roadshows for the first time to all parts of the state. The well-attended sessions featured CEO Lee Germon, joined by members of the Executive Leadership and Community Cricket Teams, to listen to volunteers, acknowledge the health of cricket in the region and state with comparisons to other sports and to workshop identified areas of concern and solutions.

Wear it Magenta Day at Hornsby North PS

SCHOOLS

The School sector was severely impacted during the recruitment window of Terms 3 and 4 due to COVID-19, with visits by field force staff not permitted and local school cricket competitions and inter-region carnivals cancelled. The four primary cricket programs include School Cups, Health & PE, Mascot Challenge and Sporting Schools, with the last two teacher-delivered. On the back of some strong school-to-club relationships, we were able to achieve a degree of success in promoting recruitment opportunities to students.

INDOOR CRICKET

Indoor Cricket faced another challenging year in the face of the pandemic, with some centres closing. Programs including Woolworths Cricket Blast, Holiday Clinics and regular tournaments were played at centres that remained open.

CONCLUSION

Season 2021/22 will be remembered as a season of continued disruption and our Community Cricket Leadership Team will reflect on the season as one of resilience and agility as we again delivered leadership and support to our customers to deliver cricket in their communities.