How does Cornwall Cricket work?
The Cornwall Cricket Board was formed in on 26 March 1996 and brought together all the cricketing bodies in the County under one umbrella.
Member Organisations are represented by a designated official at two General meetings held annually, from the: County Club, Cornwall Cricket League, Officials, Youth League, Groundskeepers.
We know that many people are confused about the way that cricket is organised in Cornwall. For the majority, it doesn’t matter. Cricket is run and played throughout the county without a thought to the management structure that exists behind the scenes. But for those in a senior club position or keen to volunteer their services to a county-level institution but uncertain where to start, we have put together the following guide to the governance of cricket in Cornwall.
Cornwall Cricket Board
The Board is the official governing body for all cricket in Cornwall, men’s and women’s, boys’ and girls’, disability, you name it. It is the organisation responsible and accountable to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), our National Governing Body, for the strategic management, development and conduct of the sport.
The Workforce
It's Directors are voluntary with one paid director (MD) and paid professional staff.
Purpose
Although its primary purpose is to provide the forward strategy for cricket’s growth in Cornwall, it also operates at the level where the rubber hits the road. What do we mean by this? Well, first of all, it runs the County Age Group programme for both male and female cricketers. It also helps to grow the game, by running coaching and officiating courses on an annual basis, the latter in conjunction with our officials’ association (on which, more later).
Its professional staff travel widely through Cornwall, delivering cricket in primary and secondary schools and assisting with the National Programmes (Dynamos and All Stars), seeking to broaden the attractiveness of our offer, subsequently enhancing participation.
It runs the Cornwall Cricket Centre, in Truro, where it has a couple of offices, and it runs the winter indoor league and the women's indoor 50, plus more.
From a compliance and disciplinary perspective, it serves as the appeals body for complaints made against findings by disciplinary committees in lower bodies, such as the Cornwall Cricket League (on which, too, more later). It can also initiate disciplinary proceedings on its own back, such as when there have been transgressions of the ECB’s General Conduct Regulations off the field of play.
It provides a professional safeguarding advisory service and enables clubs both to earn ECB Clubmark status and to assure themselves that they are compliant with disclosures relating to their volunteers who work with children and vulnerable adults. It also acts as the conduit for ECB funding to clubs for capital improvements.
Affiliation
All cricket clubs in Cornwall must affiliate to the Board to gain access to these services, and to enter the competitions run by the other entities that you will soon learn more about.
Meetings
The Board of Directors meet eight times per year (2 General Meetings & 6 Board Meetings) with its meetings interspersed by committee meetings (6) attended by representatives of the other bodies that run, as examples, all recreational cricket and representative cricket played in the county.
Examples of the Board’s work, which you might have seen in the last year, are the recent governance review, the ‘Let the Cricket do the Talking’ campaign early last season, and the direction to clubs in the immediate aftermath of the late Queen’s death. It is also the entity responsible and accountable for Cornwall Cricket’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan, and for dealing with any bullying, harassment and discrimination encountered in the sport.
For any questions about the Board, please contact its Managing Director, Joe Skinner on [email protected]. The chair is Anita George.
Member Organisations
Cornwall Cricket League, The League Management Committee runs the principal open recreational cricket competition in Cornwall, the Bond Timber Cornwall Cricket League, alongside a number of other County-wide and local league and cup competitions.
It's chair is a key member of the Board’s Recreational Cricket Committee. It is most likely the entity that clubs have the most to do with and does excellent work overseeing the vast majority of actual playing of cricket in the county. It has a number of sub-committees, which take soundings from the clubs it represents to improve the quality of competition, to develop and enforce its rules, and to incentivise good practices for the health of the game throughout the county. The key figure is the secretary, Michael Weeks BEM at [email protected]
Cornwall Cricket Women and Girls Cornwall Cricket Women and Girls (CCW) has recently been subsumed within the Board but remains a distinct entity for the purpose of running the various league and cup competitions that form the basis of the women’s and girls’ game throughout the county. It also works with the Board to assist with the running of the county age group programme and runs – separately from the county club (on which, more later) – the Cornwall senior Women’s team. It introduced a new competition, the Cornwall Hundred, in the 2021 season. Key figures are the women and girls’ director, Robin Trethowan, and the lead professional staff member, Kellie Williams.
Cornwall County Cricket Club (CCCC) develops the policies governing senior men’s representative cricket under the auspices of the National County Cricket Association (a part of the ECB) and runs the senior men’s county side in the various three-day, fifty over and twenty over competitions that it enters. The CCCC also is responsible for the management and running of the Development XI, otherwise known as the 'Choughs'. Its chair is a key member of the Board’s Representative Cricket Committee. Key figures are the chair, Michael Williams, and the county senior men’s team manager, Godfrey Furse.
Cornwall Cricket Youth The people running Cornwall Cricket Youth (CCY) develop and manage the various league and cup competitions that exist for cricketers under the age of 18 and are represented on the Board’s recreational cricket committee. Key figures include the chair, Joe Skinner, and the secretary, Mark Williams.
Cornwall Association of Cricket Officials This entity, known widely as CACO, helps the Board to develop a countywide panel of trained and experienced umpires for first tier men’s cricket within the county, and to help train club umpires and scorers, thereby enabling the sport to be appropriately managed as far as is able to be the case. It manages the appointments process, which includes provision of umpires for county age group and women’s fixtures in addition of those for the Cornwall Cricket League’s first tier.
Cornwall Cricket Grounds Association This body, known as CCG, provides a conduit for grounds staff at the various clubs in Cornwall to share best practice and notify each other of professional developments that will be of benefit to all.
Cornwall Cricket Trust Finally, the Cornwall Cricket Trust, or CCT, is a charitable entity that raises funds to assist in a series of initiatives designed to enhance the experience of cricket in Cornwall. Past areas of focus have been to reward people who have given a great deal to volunteer at county or club level, but its current project is to ensure that no-one is barred from the game on the basis of financial hardship. We all know that cricket can be an expensive game to play. We also know that there are many people in Cornwall facing challenging times. We don’t want them to give up the game, or to deny their children from participating. Thus, the CCT works to provide funding that can help those in need to continue to access cricket, in whichever form.
All of these organisations require good people to volunteer their time and give back to the sport from which they themselves have derived pleasure. Please contact Joe Skinner for further information on volunteering for a position in any of them.