Leicestershire Monthly Report - July 2020

The journey has started...

As part of our ongoing campaign to rebuild and develop our club, I have committed to providing a monthly CEO update on the five main areas of our business; Cricket, Company, Cash, Commercial and Community.

 

Firstly Cricket - a lot to report on here!

It has been great to see our players return to training and prepare for both the upcoming Bob Willis Trophy and T20 campaigns. The ‘coaching unit’ has worked very hard to bring the team up to speed, ensuring fitness levels are as high as they can be and that the team are mentally prepared. At the time of writing this report, we had just finished our warm-up fixture versus Notts and am I delighted to say we saw some good signals including, solid batting performances from Hassan Azad and Harry Swindells and good bowling spells from our bowling attack, particularly former Academy player Ben Mike.

Sadly Lewis Hill has picked up an injury but we have moved quickly to bolster our batting to take Ben Slater (Nottinghamshire opener) on loan for an initial 2-week spell.

Additionally behind the scenes, Paul Nixon, myself and the board have been working hard on how we, as a club, improve our decision making processes both on and off the field, combined with how we develop our players further. These are early days but, we are trying to lay the correct foundations to continually improve our squad. With the help of our captain, Colin Ackermann, we are beginning to create a strong identity on the pitch.

You may have also noticed the publication of the fixtures for the Bob Willis Trophy and some confusion on where we were going to play some of our matches. After going back-and-forth with The ECB and Lancashire, we agreed that we will play our first game Away v Lancashire at Blackfinch New Road, Worcester. This was originally allocated as a Leicestershire Home fixture. Despite us ensuring the Fischer County Ground (FCG), with excellent work from our Stadium Manager and superb support from Leicester's Chief Medical Officer and City Council, the FCG was ready and fit for purpose, however, in consultation with Lancashire and The ECB, we agreed to switch the fixture from a ‘Home' match to an 'Away' match against Lancashire. For clarity, our first fixture is deemed an Away game. I would also like to thank Durham who have agreed to switch their fixture to play here, at the Fischer County Ground, therefore we have retained 3 Home fixtures (V Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Durham, with two Away matches v Lancashire and Yorkshire). It will be a tough campaign but I am sure we will learn a lot from it and put us in good stead for 2021.

As for the T20 we are currently awaiting the fixture list, but would encourage you to keep your eyes on our social media channels for any updates.

I would also like to use this update to congratulate one of our former Academy players on an amazing achievement. That is, of course, Stuart Broad on breaking through the 500 wickets mark. As one of our players who has gone through the ranks, it fills us with pride on what he has achieved. This sets the template for us as a Club and I think gives us and our Academy players hope of what can be achieved. Furthermore, it reinforces our position as ‘The Academy of Cricket' and a great place to be 'Students of the Game’.

 

Second up is Company

For this section, there isn’t too much to report on apart from talking about COVID-19. Sadly the pandemic still continues to dictate our actions. As a club, we are continuing to undertake our mitigation policy and a number of staff remain furloughed. Revenue streams are still minimum, so we must continue to protect the long term future of the club and utilise the job retention scheme that is available to us and continue to keep costs at a minimum. Additionally, COVID-19 has meant that we as a business must operate differently, and our COVID-19 Officer and Stadium Manager are ensuring we meet all the necessary protocols to support the club to return to a new normal. I will state that despite these challenges it will not deter us from continuing to develop the club.

Sadly due to COVID-19 and the continued lockdown, our fixtures will be behind closed doors, but as things are changing daily, we will continue to monitor advice and bring you news should the situation change.

 

On to Cash

With the current COVID-19 handcuffs, cash coming into the Club is minimal. With the support of the Government and our governing body, we are continuing to navigate our way through this period. I am confident that we will come out of this season in a solid position but, our financial challenges will come in 2021. To that effect, we will need the support of members and partners.

 

With regards to Commercial

Some good progress this month. We continue to have the fantastic support of our members; the lion share of whom have donated their membership fees back to the club. We are extremely grateful to them.

With regards to our sponsors, advertisers and partners, I have had plenty of Zoom calls over the past 6 weeks to meet many of them. I must say it has been a pleasure to discuss our partnerships and I'd equally like to thank them for their ongoing support. We certainly look forward to working with them in 2021.

We welcome a new partner too; Made by Cooper, who join the growing Foxes 50 business club.

You may have also noticed that last month we launched our 2020 kits. They have sold incredibly well, and in the space of just two weeks, we are now down to limited numbers. If you are considering purchasing a kit, then please don’t leave it too late.

For our games here at the Fischer County Ground, our marketing and commercial teams are looking to organise a free streaming service, so that you can enjoy the matches. The link for these will be available through our official website.

 

And finally an update on Community

Our team continue to support local clubs, helping and advising them as to how to deal with the COVID-19 situation.

As a club this month we have also reflected and continue to celebrate the South Asian Heritage Month. Each week during the month we are bringing updates on players from the South Asian Area that have played for us. It can be easy to forget that we have had some great names as Running Foxes over the years. I would urge you to take a look at our website on what we have done so far.

Hopefully through this brief update and from what we are doing on a day-to-day basis, you can begin to see we collectively are taking positive baby steps to develop Leicestershire as one of the most envied clubs in cricket. There is a long way to go but these are positive steps.

Finally, every day we aim to move forward, and if you want to keep updated as to what is happening and the steps we are taking at the Club, I would advise that you follow us via our official website or our social media channels. In the meantime, I look forward to updating you next month.

Kindest regards