Leicestershire Monthly Report - October 2020
Mon 2 Nov 2020
Here is edition number four of my monthly updates. I hope you are enjoying reading them and seeing the steady progress we are making. There is no denying we still have a long way to go but as always we want to keep you posted of our developments and the challenges we face.
As the cricket season has now finished, I’ll begin with Cricket.
The last time I wrote my notes we were just about to take on Notts Outlaws in the 2020 Vitality Blast Quarter Final. I think to get to quarter finals (with the youngest side in the tournament) was an excellent achievement and the players and coaching team should be congratulated for their efforts.
Interestingly Notts only lost one game during the whole tournament and that was against us! So it goes to show how close we were. Anyway that is now the past and we are really looking forward to next season’s tournament.
As for the red ball game, you will hopefully have noticed the new format for the County Championship and Bob Willis Trophy. For us it represents a really tough division but I know our players are chomping on the bit to start the season already. We have some brilliant trips to the Oval, Lords, Ageas Bowl, Taunton and Gloucestershire lined up. All being well we will be able to organise some great member trips too.
I am told fixtures will be released towards the end of November, so keep your eyes peeled on the club's official channels.
As for squad development I think it’s important to mention here the two new signings we have made already. It is great to welcome two very exciting prospects to the #AcademyOfCricket. Both Scott Steel and Rishi Patel bring tremendous potential and I am sure they are both going to be big hits here at Grace Road. It’s great to have them as part of our team and part of the ‘quiet revolution’ that is taking place. Welcome to the Running Foxes! However our recruitment wont stop there and I would urge you to keep your eyes peeled over the coming weeks.
I genuinely believe we are shaping a squad that all of us can be really proud of here in Leicestershire and one that will be very competitive.
At this point I think it only fair to pay credit to the players that have left us. We wish former captains Paul Horton and Mark Cosgrove, as well as Tom Taylor the very best in their next chapters.
Now the season has been completed a lot of focus turns to our Commercial operation.
The work has already started and we are talking to numerous businesses about getting involved. I think people have began to notice the ‘new breed of Fox’ at Leicestershire and want to be part of it. A number of companies have already committed to their partnerships with us for the 2021 season, most recently, CWA, who will continue as our official Communications Partner.
Over the course of the winter I am certain we will announce a number of partnership deals. Again, keep your eyes peeled.
On a marketing perspective I hope you have noticed that we have reverted to our heritage colours of Green and Red. For us this was incredibly important as we wanted to go back to our traditional colours. The reaction from our supporters has been overwhelmingly positive. There will be more to come in our brand development as we continue to build.
At the time of writing we were finalising our membership proposals and these are due to be published very soon. Membership is the crucial lifeblood to the Club and can be seen from the 2020 season. You were incredibly important to us so we would urge you to consider becoming a member again. Equally if you are new to Leicestershire CCC please consider becoming a member, we need to build our army and we are ready to welcome you with open arms.
With regards to our Company development, we are continuing to interview for a Administration and Governance Manager to help us improve how we operate as a business. Sadly our Pavilion roof has had a few leaks, so like many grounds we have had to invest in repairs. At times like these costs such as those can be unexpected and unavoidable.
Community wise it has been a very significant month. You may have noticed the relaunch of our Foundation? This is incredibly important to us as we want to have a corporate-social responsibility policy that gives back to you as a community. Consequently we have relaunched the LCCC Foundation that has four benefactors, namely; a ring fenced fund that supports grass roots cricket, our Academy (in developing our future stars of tomorrow) and two charities who are Alex’s Wish and Healing Little Hearts. In simple they are two outstanding children’s charities.
Alex’s Wish aim is to support research into Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy which I am told effects 1 in every 3,500 boys.
Healing Little Hearts offer free heart surgery to the poorest babies and children around the world.
If you would like to see more information then I would urge you to take a look at their websites.
To kick start our fundraising we have launched the #CenturyADay initiative. In simple we are urging our supporters to run, walk or cycle 1 mile (the equivalent of a player scoring a century here at Grace Road) every day during November. We have also set up a Strava Club (search for Leicestershire CCC - Century A Day) to see the progress we are making.
We are of course asking for people to sponsor us and every penny of the funds raised will be for the four benefactors.
The Club are currently working on setting our Just Giving page up, and are aiming for it to be up and running within the next week. This is where you can keep track of your donations individually and our donations as a Club. In the meantime, download this Sponsorship Form to document your donations.
Our Community department have also been very busy supporting the local Clubs, guiding them through grant applications and working with the NHS here in Leicester on raising profile of diabetes in our area.
Finally Cash. I would love to say that we have had a bumper year, but as a consequence of the pandemic, the Club has lost just over £1m in revenues, which as I am sure you will appreciate is a big blow. We have worked hard and with the support of the ECB, sponsors, the Job Retention Scheme and our members, we have just about got through 2020.
However we now enter into our 2021 plans. At this point I would urge you, to where you can, support the Club, whether that is purchasing a membership, buying a replica shirt or persuading your company to take a perimeter board. Every penny raised will be reinvested in Leicestershire CCC and together with your help, we will continue to grow.
Yes these are very challenging times, arguably the most in the history of the Club, but I can assure you everyone here is giving it their all to make the #RunningFoxes great again.
Kind regards,
Sean
