By Charles Randall

21 May 2014

The first of the 'club open day' weekends has been set for 15/16 June, coinciding with the Sri Lanka Test at Lord's. This is the second year of the ECB scheme, now sponsored by Waitrose, to involve the local community and perhaps raise money.

The idea is full of potential and well worth supporting. Last year a total of 310 clubs took up the initiative, throwing open their pavilion doors to local guests during the Ashes series at one of five weekends, usually with a club match or televised cricket as a focus.

This year hosts of an official ECB Club Open Day will be able to take advantage of a £100 food and drink offer from Waitrose to help deliver the event.

Mike Gatting, the ECB’s managing director of cricket partnerships, said the open days offered a unique opportunity for cricket clubs to capitalise on the public interest in England’s international summer. “By opening their doors and showcasing what they have to offer to their local community,” he said, “clubs will hopefully be able to inspire newcomers to come and join them – whether that is as a player, volunteer, social member or even a local business as a new supporting sponsor.”
 
Gatting added that in the 2013 inaugural summer clubs signed up thousands of new members and significant revenue accrued from hosting an event, collectively more than £149,000.  

Waitrose have offered £100 worth of products to the first 1,000 cricket clubs and they have agreed to donate £100 to a grassroots cricket trust fund for every four or six scored across the entire international summer. The final amount should be enormous – perhaps as much as £150,000 - as international cricket is deemed to include the men and women senior teams, Lions, Under-19 and disability cricket.
 
Clubs registering for an ECB open day will be automatically signed up to the myWaitrose scheme that allows them to enjoy ongoing rewards and benefits throughout the season, including access to an online tool kit to help promote their open day. ECB are to provide clubs with branded polo shirts, banners and signs.
 
One lucky registered club from the regular users of a myWaitrose card this summer will be chosen by ballot to have their entire season-long spend refunded by Waitrose.
 
Registration is open via the ECB website, and the ECB are hoping the initiative will mushroom into thousands of events at clubs all over the country to coincide with England’s international cricket weekends.  
 
 www.ecb.co.uk/clubopendays