Leicestershire CEO Sean Jarvis' Monthly Report - August 2022

I think its fair to say that our ‘White Ball’ campaign has been one of real progress this season. Granted that whilst there is no silverware in the cabinet, I think this year has shown what we are capable of in future years. I very much see the ‘White Ball 2022’ as one of further progress and a step closer to our goal in these formats of cricket.  I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate, Claude, Paul, all the coaching staff, Lewis Hill and all the players, in fact all in the ‘Cricket Pillar’ of the Club for their work in in the White Ball campaign.

In my mind, we did qualify for both knockout stages of the tournament which is a great achievement. Furthermore, to achieve the quarters in the RL50 for the first time in 14 years indicates that we are heading in the right direction. Exciting times are ahead as we continually look to improve.

Furthermore, I am hopeful that this considerable improvement in form now spills over into the remainder of our red ball work, that will see us complete the season.

Continuing with our Cricket Pillar there will be some announcements over the close season that, I am sure will be well received by our members and supporters as we continue to strive to meet our targets. Since my short 2 years at the Club, our modus operandi has always been to learn and develop and progress. I am certain with the changes we are looking to implement in the Cricket Pillar will only go towards this. I would urge you to monitor our website and communication channels throughout the close season to keep abreast of these developments. I for one am very excited about what they can do for Leicestershire.

The words ‘High Performance Review’ are very topical in cricket now. Firstly, I want to say thanks to all those members that have spoken to me over the past few days and given me their input. I really appreciate your support. At the time of writing, we are still awaiting to receive proposals. I along with our Director of Cricket and Chair are due to meet the ECB at the beginning of September to hear these proposals. I am also looking to see how we can get further input from our members as to their thoughts. Our board are currently considering how we do this but please keep an eye on the website as I am sure details will be announced soon. As it stands my understanding is that changes proposed will not be implemented until the 2024 season but will report back as soon as we know. I am pleased to read that any comments of reducing the number of counties is untrue. The ECB have indicated that the 18 FCC will remain in place. For people that follow me on social media will see I am an advocate of growing the game, not reducing it.

Moving onto our Community Pillar.

I’ll start with urging you to come to the ground on the 6^th September from 3pm onwards. Why? Well, you can be part of a world first and create history here in Leicestershire!

What is certainly a first for Leicestershire and I am pretty sure in global cricket, we have joined forces with the High Sheriff and will be holding a ‘Connecting Communities Cricket Match’. As we know we live in a very diverse community and this initiative will aim to bring them all together in the form of a cricket match and festival at the Uptonsteel County Ground. It’s completely free of charge to come in (from 3pm) and there is so much going on including a Bake Off in the Morningside Marquee (judged by our Club President). In simple this is a brilliant community festival with loads to be proud of. In the evening we will also be celebrating unsung heroes from our community in the form of the High Sheriff Community awards. I would like to take this opportunity to say thanks to all the sponsors and the team behind the scenes who I know have worked tirelessly to ensure this game goes ahead and is a huge success. So please do support this very very important day and call into the ground from 3pm onwards!  Its going to be good!

A very significant development in our Community Pillar is the arrival of our Community Director, Namita Patel. Namita will join us on the 1^st September and will, much like Claude does with the Cricket Pillar, oversee the whole of our Community Work. I am very keen for us to create deeper and more meaningful relationships with our community, and ones that see people from all over Leicestershire come and support their Club. This won’t be an easy task for Namita, so please bear with us as we look to reach out and develop strong bonds.

With regards to Commercial, we have seen us create some impressive numbers this season. There has been double digit growth in many areas of the Club including membership (rising to over 1300). In fact when comparing to 2019 our income streams have risen by over £1m. However, a word of caution here, our costs (a lot which are out of our control too) have also increased, which has meant that all the hard work has been mitigated by expenditure.

Over the coming months there are going to be some changes to personnel and the structure as to how we operate (including the sixth Pillar of Communication). I have witnessed this year some areas that need development and in turn should mean that the business runs better and is more sustainable. Naturally through a period of change there are likely to be some pluses and minuses but please bear with us as we look to improve.  

Sticking with memberships, I am confident that shortly after the season has completed, we will go on sale. I would like to stress here that this is the lifeblood of our Club and memberships are critical to us. We do need to continue to grow our membership so it would be great to smash the 1500 mark. How do we do that? We need your help. So please spread the word and support the Club wherever you can.

Onto our Company Pillar.

There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes now and if everything goes to plan over the next few weeks and months, we will be looking to make a major announcement this side of Christmas. At this stage that is all I can say but once again it will look to keep our Club heading in the right direction.

Finally Cash….

Finances this year, despite the encouraging commercial figures will be challenging. The loss of the Paloma Faith Concert combined with us not qualifying for the T20’s will hurt, but with the foundations we are putting in place there is no doubt in our minds that the Club is on the right path to a much brighter future.

Kindest regards

Sean