CEO Monthly Report - September 2022
Mon 3 Oct 2022
Welcome to the September 2022 edition of the CEO update.
As I write this update our season has just closed with the Awards evening set for tonight. I think its fair to say that it’s been a very mixed bag for us this year, but there are definite signs of progress and development for us to build on.
Our 4 Day campaign has been disappointing and our coaches, players and everyone in the Cricket Pillar at the Club must reflect on our performances. In simple it hasn’t been good enough and we need to improve. I know that work is currently underway, and we have vowed to ensure that our pre-season will go up a notch to approach the 2023 campaign in a different mindset. The hard work does start now and as Gary Player said, “the harder I work the luckier I getâ€. There will be several announcements over the early part of the winter that will aim to focus on us improving our 4-day performances. Rest assured no stone will be left unturned in how we progress. What I will say however is that we are witnessing the emergence of some potential stars of the future, and I do believe we are on the right path.
Continuing the positivity, our T20 and RL50 over campaigns showed us that we have ‘moved the needle’ and are developing into a formidable ‘white ball team’. Our target in 2022 was to be close to qualification for one of the white-ball knockout stages. It’s clear to see we did more than that, and whilst its well documented on the T20 non qualification (of which I am still awaiting to hear from the ECB regarding my letter) in my books we qualified for both and exceeded our targets. However, getting to the quarter finals is just the first step in our progress. We will now look to build on that excellent work. As I have said many times, success isn’t linear, but we must head in the right direction and create a winning culture. Anyone that doesn’t buy into that mindset isn’t welcome here at Leicestershire.
As stated there will be some announcements on the comings and goings at the Club. There have been a couple already including Ben Mike leaving to go to Yorkshire and we wish him every success. I am, however, really pleased to see Sol Budinger join us. It’s often documented our talented players join Notts, so to have one of their up-and-coming stars join us is a major coup. Please keep checking on the official website and other channels for more info. Not wanting to tease but with the devil in me I can’t resist…. There are some exciting and positive announcements to come. Leicestershire's future is, with your support, very exciting.
Sticking with Cricket, hopefully by now you will have seen the ‘High Performance Review’. I can only give my opinion at this stage, as we are looking to members to come and comment at a forum at the ground on Friday Oct 7th (From 5pm onwards). We want to hear your views. For me, I do like the proposals around player, coaches and pathway development for the international team. I think they need to be explored further. I have also said previously that Cricket PLC needs to improve its professionalism too including both on and off the pitch. Perhaps this HPR at the international level will filter through to the domestic teams.
Where I don’t agree with the recommendations is the restructuring of the domestic game. To put it bluntly this jeopardises our existence. A reduction in nearly 30% of the cricket played at the Uptonsteel Ground is simply not acceptable. When equated in monetary terms it’s a quarter of a million pounds lost for the Club. Put another way…. that could put us out of business. I of course look forward to hearing our members views at the forum. I would also add please spread the word amongst our community that we continue to look for members to join our Club. This year we have seen a 34% increase, but we do need more to join us and now is no better time to back the Club. As Lord Kitchener said, ‘WE NEED YOU’. I understand our new memberships will be launched on Monday 24th October.
One of the challenges we have faced here at Leicestershire is to build our ‘Community Engagement’ and in so doing, building our fanbase. Whilst our community team continue to deliver programmes and support the recreational game, I wanted to highlight some of the excellent work we are doing now. For example, the following has been undertaken over the past month
- LCCDO Community Cup
- Leicestershire and Rutland League County Cup
- Connecting Communities Cricket Match
These initiatives and work outside of the traditional community work are so important. With the arrival of Namita Patel (our new Community Director) I am keen for us to do more of this outreach and our relationship with the community will continue to thrive.
One major development in our community team is the imminent arrival of a new Disability Cricket Development Officer. They will join us with the aim of providing community-based cricketing opportunities, both competitive and coaching, for young people with disabilities. I am really pleased on this development.
Off the field we are now undertaking a ‘changing of the guard’ as new recruits are set to join us. Over the winter we will be announcing several new joiners including a Head of Communication, Head of Events and Ticketing and Retail Manager. This year I have noticed that we aren’t really operating to our optimal potential so have worked with our new Commercial Director (Perry Deakin) to create an improved structure that helps us monetise our commercial offering better. The new recruits will bring new ideas and vibrancy to the Club and help us create that culture we are looking for. There is still considerable work to be done and a lot of bad habits still to fix as well as doing some new things, but I am excited by what we can do going forwards.
Commercially, we are now entering a very important period for the Club on many fronts. To start with we are going to be launching our Membership on Monday October 24th “ so as stated above we do need more and more members. Please help us spread the word.
Secondly, we now begin our partnership and sponsorship agreements, so again if you are a company interested in tapping into our expanding market then please get in touch with the Commercial team
Finally, an update on our financial position. With the loss of the Paloma Faith concert and unfortunately not qualifying for the T20 quarters it has cost us dearly and I am expecting a loss for us at the end of the year. The above two combined with increasing costs have really hurt the club this year (despite some good corporate commercial and hospitality figures). In simple that is unstainable for us, and we need to address it. Again, even more reason to create the new commercial environment and offering.
Overall, these continue to be challenging times, but I do feel that we are now building a more robust structure that can deal with the challenges both on and off the field.
Let’s all go well this winter!
Sean
