24 August 2012

The letter below to the Editor of The Times was published on 23 August and is reproduced with their kind permission and that of the author. Readers are invited to share their experience of successful fund raising measures at advisory@club-cricket.co.uk the best of which will the summarrised for member clubs and subscribers to our newsletter (subscribe right).

Sir,

This has been a great year for sport but for one particular grass roots sport - local cricket - it has been very difficult.  I am Chairman of the Gunn and Moore South Nottinghamshire Cricket League, one of the largest cricket leagues in the country.  Fixtures are arranged on every Saturday during the season for more than 150 of our  teams.

The weather caused many games to be cancelled because of rain-affected pitches and unprepared wickets, and barely half of the games planned were able to take place by the end of July.

For many clubs this year has been a financial disaster. The cost of playing cricket has steadily increased over the years; maintenance, preparation and insurance are increasingly expensive. Few of the younger players can afford to make a significant contribution to clubs and they are often helped by their older team-mates.

Clubs with bars report very reduced takings and match tax fees and subscriptions are also much reduced. Many players, disillusioned by the uncertainty of being able to play because of the weather, have other things to do.

We strive to encourage boys and girls to play this great game of ours and we have nearly 6,000 players registered to play in our league during the season. I fear that some clubs will not survive and youngsters will lose the opportunity to play. We are at the bottom of the great cricket pyramid and clubs like ours produce the stars of the future. Times are very difficult

David A. Richards