Leicestershire Monthly Report - July 2021

Welcome to my July Update, providing a flavour of all things Leicestershire County Cricket Club. In particular, all that’s gone on during the previous month.

I’ll begin with Cricket.

The end of June and all of July has been a fascinating month for us and one that continues to see good progression, including back-to-back victories at the Uptonsteel County Ground in County Championship cricket for the first time in 15 years.

Firstly, phase one of the County Championship season came to a close and whilst disappointed that we lost to Middlesex, I believe overall, our campaign to this point has been generally positive. In going to the final session of the last day, we just missed out on securing Division 2 status. However, if you were to amalgamate the leagues we would be sitting in 13th position, which incidentally would be our highest position for over a decade. We now enter the Division 3 competition and look forward to trying to win that mini-league. For us at the Club, we have been advocates of the new format and pitting our wits against some very tough teams, sprinkled with international stars. In fact, I think we were put in the ‘Group of Death’. However, I do believe we equipped ourselves well, considering we are one of the youngest sides in the tournament. At this point, I want to pay tribute to Marcus Harris, who has been outstanding for us and I am certain he has helped our younger players too. For me, Marcus deserves a further international call up for his country. Furthermore, if you haven’t seen the fixtures for the next stage of the LV= County Championship then I would urge you to look at our official website. 

On to the white ball. Firstly the T20. Some real highs and lows for us in this competition. I am not sure if it has happened before but to get both of our overseas players at the top of leading runs and leading wickets tables was a brilliant achievement. Sadly we fell short of qualifying for the quarter-finals, but suspect if there had been a couple more games, then we would have definitely pushed for one of those spots. Rest assured we have learnt from the lessons we picked up during this campaign and will look to come back stronger next season. At this point, I want to say thankyou to our overseas stars, Josh Inglis and Naveen ul Haq for their contribution to the Club and I hope to see them return to the Running Foxes soon.

Finally, whilst The Hundred is taking place, here at Leicestershire we continue with our third format; the Royal London Cup. At the time of writing, we had played two games, winning one and losing the other. There is a long way to go but the team are looking in good shape and I am sure we can mount a challenge for the knockout stages. A special mention here must go to Rehan Ahmed, who as one of our Academy players, at the age of 16 broke into the first team and put on a display that didn’t look out of place. In fact, it was a performance that belied his age. There is definitely a promising future for Rehan and we look forward to seeing it evolve.

So, we are now two thirds of the way through the cricket season. I think the school report would say excellent progress made and real potential lies ahead. If they continue to work hard anything is possible. For me, there have been many highlights for our team including nearly 25 personal bests made. I suspect it’s only a question of time when the Running Foxes can be considered real contenders again. I for one look forward to the continued progression of our squad and team.

Onto Commercial. Once again the previous month has been a busy one. We were dealt a body blow with the extension of COVID Lockdown, which ultimately meant that crowds remained limited for what is normally a good revenue generator for the Club. Nonetheless, our Commercial Team endeavoured to maximise the sales as best they could. I am now however really pleased that crowds can return and our first game against Derbyshire Falcons in the Royal London Cup saw almost double the attendance that we saw versus the same opposition in 2019. This is a really encouraging sign and one that I will look at in more detail when our season is over. For now, I would urge all our members and supporters to spread the word and encourage as many new spectators to come and watch us. One thing we really need to do is build our fan base. 

With regards to our social media, it continues to grow and across all channels, we are witnessing a 15%+ increase. This demonstrates we are beginning to turn the corner and attract interest in us.

Whilst there is limited hospitality remaining for our final third of the season, our Commercial Team are also planning a number of other events at the Uptonsteel County Ground. This represents not only something different at our ground, which I believe is Leicestershire’s Premier Outdoor Venue, but also a very important revenue stream for the Club. We have an array of activities planned starting next month from celebration dinners, with it being the tenth year anniversary of when we won out third T20 title, to West End shows, to outdoor cinema events, not forgetting our popular Christmas parties. All the information plus booking details can be found on our official website. If any of them take your fancy, I would urge you to please book them as not only are they good value but they are vital funds for us as we attempt to claw back those losses we have incurred during the pandemic.

Onto our Company pillar. Progress continues at the Club. From a ground development perspective, we are looking to improve the ‘customer journey’ and are hopeful that we should have some information for you in the next couple of months. I do strongly believe, once we can confirm this, it will be a catalyst for change in how we operate. But more of that is to come in the next few editions.

Whilst communicating externally is crucial, internal communication is vital too. Thanks to our staff in the ‘Company Pillar’ of the Club we have now established an internal newsletter that brings staff all information ranging from the latest tips on GDPR, safeguarding and even recipes from our staff. It’s a great addition and helps us all keep abreast of the many different activities happening at the Club. Our aim is to continually improve how we operate as a business. There remains much work to be done but rest assured progress is being made.

On to Community. Hopefully last week you will have spotted a fundraiser for the LCCC Foundation. In simple it was our inaugural Tour de Foxes bike ride, that saw 13 of us cycle around 80 miles of Leicestershire. It was an incredible challenge, as not only had I forgot Leicestershire does have hills but we chose the hottest day of the year. All cyclists made it and through their fundraising efforts will see finances that benefit our Foundation and its associated charities, including Alex’s Wish and Healing Little Hearts. This was the second fundraiser, having undertaken ‘A Century a Day’ in November last year and I am sure there will be more to come.

Finally, on Community, I would urge you to look at our Summer Camps, which are taking place throughout August as it’s never too late to get children involved in our great sport. There are lots of them taking place over the county so please check them out for your children or grandchildren.

Last but by no means least, an update on our Cash Pillar. In simple, as mentioned earlier, the extension to the pandemic lockdown really hurt us. Not being able to get full crowds into the ground was a major blow. Instead of having 6,000 passionate Leicestershire supporters in the Uptonsteel County Ground at the T20 matches, we had to rely on the limited number of just 750. Incidentally, the 750 were brilliant in bringing the atmosphere to those games. That said, missing out to over 5,000+ people, is, as I am sure you can imagine, a hard blow for us in Ticketing and Catering. When totalling up all the lost income, I understand it will be close to half a million. So cash wise it has been tough for us. We will now endeavour to generate income including the remaining matches we have along with a variety of events but ultimately we need you to support us as much as possible. If we continue to get the backing of businesses along with supporters coming to games we will, without question, progress as a Club.

As you may have spotted some 18 months ago, we published 25 key KPI’s that represented targets for us as a Club as we begin to write a new chapter. During the next couple of months the board, staff and I will take the opportunity to review those (I will publish a reflective paper on our progress) but also set new targets for the 2022 season. This will be challenging but achievable and will aim to continue to build Leicestershire.

Finally, if you stand back and look at my message this month… it is one of the Club is most definitely taking good steps forward but now is the time that we need you to really help us continue on this exciting journey.

See you at the Uptonsteel County Ground

Sean