Leicestershire Monthly Report - April 2022

There’s an old saying that you are only as strong as the weakest link.

For us here at Leicestershire all our Club Pillars (Cricket, Commercial, Community, Company and Cash) must be firing on all cylinders if we are to succeed.

For this month I’ll start with the Cricket Pillar.

As we know our season has just begun and I would describe it as a ‘mixed bag’ with a bit of bad luck thrown in. I think from the positive side, there is clearly lots of fight in the Foxes, particularly to grind out a couple of draws. I think in previous seasons we may have easily lost both two opening fixtures, but I also think we are learning how not to lose and indeed be difficult to beat. That said I think we were all disappointed with the performance V Derbyshire. As I said on social media whilst disappointing, we must learn and look to develop and progress. One thing I can say about our team is that they were also hurting from the result and are keen to move forwards. It’s also got to be noted though that there was a bit of bad luck with injuries as three players have picked them up at this early stage, namely Rishi Patel, Chris Wright and Lewis Hill. I am sure though our Foxes will come out fighting!

On a positive note, it was great to have Rehan Ahmed, extend his contract at the Club till 2026. As we saw in the Under 19’s World Cup, our young fox is a talented cricketer, and we do see him as part of the future of the Club. Yes, he has a long way to go and am sure under the watchful eye of our coaches, Rehan will have a very bright future, and I for one and really pleased he has committed the next stage of his career to us here at the Uptonsteel County Ground, especially in previous years we would have lost such talent to other clubs.

Additionally, it’s great to see some strong performances coming from the 2’s with players now challenging for first team spots.

Whilst we haven’t set the County Championship alight just yet, there is still lots of cricket to be played this summer and remain confident that the progressive season, based on what we achieved last year, is not too far away.

Speaking of not being too far away, our white ball campaign is now less than a month before it all begins. I am excited about our ‘white ball team’ as we have some big hitters right the way through the club. I suspect we are in for some real ‘Rock and Roll’ cricket in both the T20 and Royal London tournaments.

Now onto our Community Pillar.

Hopefully, you will have seen the news that our Women’s team will, for the first time be playing at the Uptonsteel County Ground, as part of the 2022 Vitality Women’s County T20 Finals Day. They will be competing alongside Northants, Lincolnshire, and Oxfordshire. It promises to be a brilliant day that will see two semi-finals and a final. For me this is great news and I know we have been keen to get our Women’s team playing at the ground for the past two years but have been hampered by the Covid restrictions. So, if you fancy coming down and supporting our Women’s Running Foxes then make sure you put Sunday 8th May in your diary. Tickets are on sale now with adults are just £3 and Under 16’s just £1.

You may have also seen the initiative surrounding the #SupportYourCounty game v Sussex? To refresh your memories, in association with the Cricket Supporters Association and County Cricket Matters publication we are giving away 4,000 tickets for this game. Our Community team (along with the Commercial team) are circulating the tickets.  So, if you fancy coming or can help circulate the tickets to people who have never been or would like to come along then please get in touch.

To also keep you updated we have undertaken our first round of interviews on recruiting the new Community and EDI Director. I am hopeful that in the coming months we will have someone in post that can really help us create links and build on the current work our Community team undertake. For us at the Club we really want to forge stronger links and engage with different communities.

Also, from a community perspective we will be officially opening our memorial garden soon. This will take place on the second day’s play vs Sussex at lunchtime. If you are in the ground, please make your way to the area at the top of the Club near Curzon Road.

Finally on community keep your eyes peeled for a ‘cricket amnesty’ we will be undertaking towards the end of the season. In simple this will allow all our local cricketers to dispose of their old cricket equipment so that we can support both our Foundation and the East Africa Development Trust.

One area of the business I have been working on recently is in our Company Pillar. Over the past few weeks, I have specifically been developing an emerging masterplan. It is so important that we get the basics right on our plan that will eventually provide a long-term future for the Club. I am hopeful in the next few months we should be able to bring you more details on our vision and what we are trying to create. For me this is a huge project and so important for Leicestershire CCC.

Moving onto Commercial, it remains very busy.

To start with I want to bring you sales figures on how the team is performing. We have three elements to our Commercial Department, they are Corporate, Consumer and Conference and Banqueting. To give a good comparison as to where we are I have analysed the figures versus the last normal season (2019). In simple our Corporate element is 31.3% ahead, our Consumer sales are 81.5% ahead and our Conferencing and Banqueting is 6.1% ahead. Please note these are six-month figures only and we have another half of the financial year to go but to get a ‘hat trick of positives’ is really encouraging and bodes well. Consequently, I would like to take this opportunity to say thanks to all those members, supporters and businesses who have and continue to back us. Your support is incredibly important to us.

Whilst not resting on its laurels there remains still much to do, and the Commercial team are continuing to strive to exceed our budgets and targets and again I would continue to urge to support them as much as possible.

Finally, onto Cash.

With the continued support the Club remains in a good position, but we always have to keep one eye on costs. Sadly, with the current economic situation costs are increasing, for example energy costs which will ultimately pinch any profits that we aim to achieve. The forecast for the remainder of the year is going to be difficult so again I would urge you to support us. With the upcoming T20 campaign we are hoping to get full houses so this will have a huge impact on the Club. What is encouraging is we are selling nearly three times as much for the T20s as we have in the past, but this must continue for us to survive and ultimately thrive.

Regards,

Sean