By Charles Randall

9 December 2015


Recreational cricket in England is entering an era of cohesive governance through closer links with the ECB and the setting-up of a council to represent Asian views.

Simon Prodger, chief executive of the National Cricket Conference, disclosed at the Club Cricket Conference centenary lunch at Lord's that a newly formed National Asian Cricket Council would be constituted in 2016 to help provide an “equal and integrated platform” for all stake holders in the grass roots sector.

Prodger's speech was well received by the 640 diners, among them HRH Prince Philip, the CCC's Patron, and the two main speakers Sir Tim Rice and Geoff Miller. The winners of the annual CCC spin scholarship award were announced as Marwan Mohammad (Uxbridge CC) and Nikhil Borkhatria (Shenley Village CC).

Prodger said that 2015 had been a year of great significance for the Club Cricket Conference, a constituent part of the National Cricket Conference formed two years ago, not only for their 100 years of supporting club cricket in practical ways. More recently they had been preparing for a broader commitment to grass roots cricket in partnership with the game’s governing body and fellow associations in the amateur game.

Prodger said: “The intention from the outset was to establish an organisation that could assist the amateur game in maintaining playing levels and participation and offering a national footprint, whilst maintaining and developing the specific activities that each of the partners were committed to within their specific demographic.”

“Our remit is, specifically, to interact with clubs and provide clubs with anything from a representative player pathway for their cricketers, to an advisory support infrastructure that communicates with empathy and always seeks to resolve or refer to the benefit of any enquiring club.”

Prodger added: “Within the British Asian cricketing community, itself so rich and diverse and, lest we forget, providing upwards of 30 per cent of the playing population of this country, a national structure has been identified, and the National Asian Cricket Council is shortly to be constituted that will drive, with NCC and CCC mentorship, the agenda for an equal and integrated platform upon which all stake holders can develop policies to benefit from the vibrant and talented cricketing cultures it will represent.”

He reminded the audience that the NCC offered practical support to 'getting the game on' with a national fixture bureau, a ground-share brokerage and a player-club introduction service. The NCC provided legal updates to the recreational game on a quarterly basis and briefed the All Party Parliamentary Steering Group for Recreational Cricket so that issues most pertinent to clubs could be addressed by parliamentarians. These meetings ensured that the collateral value of community cricket clubs could be understood and supported by MPs.

Prodger said that for four years the CCC had been to the fore in evolving relationships with elements of the recreational game that for whatever reason had remained “alienated, unaffiliated or distanced” from the governance of the game. He added that within the Greater London area the CCC had helped establish the African-Caribbean Cricket Association and the South Asian Cricket Leagues Forum. This was in the expectation that these organisations would represent the interests of some unique cricketing environments. “In time,” he said, “they could be seen to be to the fore of an integrated programme with the ECB and county boards that is inclusive of their cricket and its unique issues and opportunities.”

The CCC centenary lunch was acknowledged as the biggest banqueting event yet held at Lord's. Geoff Miller, the former England off-spinner and selector, delivered anecdotes with the deftness that earned him the reputation of a top-rate speaker. Sir Tim Rice, organiser of his own cricket team, The Heartaches, delivered an intriguing speech detailing the thespians and writers who became involved in cricket through the ages.

Miller related how he made his Derbyshire championship debut at Buxton in 1975 when a blanket of snow arrived after the Lancashire declaration of 477-5. Derbyshire were made to bat the following day on a dangerous uncovered pitch that was still firm beneath a newly thawed top surface. They were shot out for 42 in under an hour and when the Lancashire captain Clive Lloyd visited their dressing room to invite them to follow on, someone asked if they could all bat together to save time. The result was defeat by an innings and 348 runs, the heaviest in championship history.

Prodger commented that high-quality cricket for the best club players had been provided by the CCC for many years, including full representative matches against most county second or development teams in the south of England. Under-25 and women's matches had increased in the past couple of seasons, and he disclosed that more member clubs had had players on the roster than at any time in CCC history.

Touring was an important aspirational goal for club cricketers. Since 2011 the CCC had organised trips to Denmark, Oman, Italy, an annual visit to Jersey and most recently the CCC centenary tour to Grenada and Barbados, taking three playing squads and more than 80 people in total. Attention was drawn to the Club Cricket Charity, established to generate funding for the club game. More announcements would follow in 2016.

The national Spin Scholarship Awards, now five years old, is open to club cricketers nationally between the ages of 18 and 21. The two 2015 winners, Marwan Mohammad and Nikhil Borkhatria, will have the opportunity of spending a week in India at the Global Cricket Academy, based at Pune. This project is sponsored by the television company HKSZ.TV with support from Lebara Mobile, Cricket Deal Direct and the publishers of All Out Cricket.

Perhaps the last word should go to Prodger when he summed up the ethos of the Club Cricket Conference and National Cricket Conference. “We are deeply committed to working in the best interests of cricket,” he said. “We claim no territory, rather offer our services to support the governance of the game through the ECB and its county boards. We welcome engagement and we aspire to be of true benefit within the game’s broad administration. A sincere thank you to all our member clubs and cricket partners for your support and encouragement of us these past 100 years and hopefully now, into the future.”