Clubs' bulletin no 1 of 2024 - 4 February
Appleby Frodingham CC fundraiser
Appleby Frodingham CC are holding a sponsored walk on Sunday 7 April, over the 26 miles between Beverley Town CC and Brumby Hall, jointly in aid of Parkinson’s UK and development of cricket facilities at Brumby Hall. See this link if you would like to donate.
ECB County Grant Fund Launch 2024
The 2024 ECB County Grants Fund has now been launched. For full details please see:
Please note the YCB’s agreed strategic priorities for investment in terms of this funding for cricket clubs:
As in previous years, our priorities when considering applications will focus on long-term sustainability of clubs, aligned with creating a more welcoming club environment and/or providing enhanced facilities and playing opportunities for Women’s and Girls cricket and/or Disability cricket. We are also focusing on tackling climate change, but please pay attention to the notes below in reference to Electric mowers and rollers. The guidance on project themes can be found within the Guidance Notes.
Prior to commencing with an application, we recommend that you contact your Head of Region to discuss, to ensure eligibility and the likelihood of your application being approved/successful.
Note also before making an application:
Electric mower or roller applications are unlikely to be prioritised as we have elected to focus on the areas that aligns with our County Facilities Strategy and our County Wide Plan. You can make an application for either, but they will not be a priority at this stage, should that change, we will inform clubs. If you’d like to discuss this, again please contact your Head of Region.
Please pay particular attention to Eligibility (2.2) and note the following within that section: The application still asks for upload of the CSO Safe Hands certificate, however the check by both us and the ECB is that the club has a Safe Hands Management System profile and that they have at least 1 compliant Club Safeguarding Officer. This has been agreed in conjunction with the Safeguarding Team, so for 2024 clubs must be registered on SHMS and have a fully compliant CSO, uploading the certificate won’t be accepted by ECB if this isn’t reflected on SHMS.
Other key areas which caused issues for most applications include having an ECB approved constitution (usually non-adoption of ECB Anti-Discrimination Code and/or ECB Safe Hands policy), correct security of tenure and within the Supporting Evidence section, planning permission if required and correct supplier quotations.
Please contact Gareth Davis directly if you believe that you have a project so that he can support your club through the process.
Elsecar and Wickersley Old Village 3rds – teas
Elsecar and Wickersley third teams are playing at Wentworth in 2024, and have come to an agreement with the Rockingham Arms to provide teas for teams and officials. This may necessitate a slightly longer tea interval, which has been agreed by the Head of Senior Section.
League sponsorship
We are looking to maximise possible sponsorship opportunities for the League. Every £1 we can bring in by way of sponsorship is less for us to charge clubs in subscriptions. We intend to set up a sponsorship sub-committee and are looking for anyone connected with the League who has relevant experience and knowledge, to help us. If you would be willing to help, please contact David Ward or Roger Pugh.
Safeguarding - scorers
As you may well now be aware, DBSs are no longer required by scorers. DBSs which are in date, are still valid until they expire. A scorer whose DBS has expired, unless they have another role within the 'regulated activity' roles, will not require a DBS. Clubs are being advised to follow safeguarding policies and advice. When scoring, scorers must be in a visible and accessible location. When an under-18 is present, the club should adopt either of the following:
a 'rule of two' over 18s in the scorebox at all times
sit in an open and visible location - accessible to all
Please also the two pieces of information on the subject from ECB - the DBS Scorer Process Document and Frequently Asked Questions. If you would like any advice or to discuss please feel free to contact Steve Ward or the YCB Safeguarding Team.
Scorers ‘how to’ guides
Sarah Pollard, the Yorkshire County Scoring Officer has developed three guides for scorers in Yorkshire, which have been published on our website:
Scoring courses
Please see information on courses that are currently arranged within Yorkshire (and a level 2 course in Bolton, Lancashire). This is in addition to the sessions arranged for Division 1 and 2 Clubs on DLS.
If your club requires any help with scorer training, or want to hold a session at your club, or if you need further clarification on the courses that are advertised, please contact Steve Ward.
Start times for Sunday cup-ties
The start time of Mick Savage, Presidents and Billy Oates cup-ties may be put back, with the agreement of both sides, to accommodate Women’s & Girls’ League games. K3 Dental cup start times may not be altered for this reason. and Whitworth Cup games may only be delayed by up to 30 minutes until 12.30.
Umpiring courses in South Yorkshire
Module A (replaces stage 3). This training is aimed at anyone who has completed stage 1 and 2 umpiring (or up to level 2 umpiring) and has completed at least one seasons umpiring. This will be held on Sunday 11th and 25th February - course delegates must be able to complete both days of the training.
Module B. This training is for anyone who has completed the ‘new ECB umpiring course’ has a grading of M4/W4 and wishes to progress to a grading of M3/W3. This will be held on Sunday 23rd June.
Module C. This training is for anyone who has completed the ‘new ECB umpiring course’ has also completed the required number of games at M6/W6 or has a grading of M5 and wish to move towards M4/W4 in preparation of umpiring open age cricket in the lower divisions. This will be held on Sunday 10th March.
The venue for all courses is Rotherham Phoenix Sports & Social Club, Pavilion Lane, Brinsworth S60 5PA between 9.00 and 16.00. Booking is via Cvent and the booking links on the YCB website. Any queries to Alison Gressor by email please.
Updating Play-Cricket
Whilst the YCSPL are currently asking clubs to complete a return detailing club officials for 2024, and we will use this for League and YCB purposes, we are unable to update Play-Cricket. Clubs are asked to check, update, and/or add relevant contact information onto their Play-Cricket sites, in order to ensure all the right people receive central communications from Play-Cricket. Essential contacts are club chair, secretary, and safeguarding officer; any others will be helpful.
Yorkshire Cricket 10-year facility strategy club survey
Yorkshire Cricket are in the process of developing a 10-year facility strategy to identify the facility priorities in the county that will sustain the game and meet the changing needs of participants. Facilities, whether existing or new, need to be developed to be accessible and welcoming cricket environments for everyone.
To gather insight from clubs about their perspective on the current and future facilities across Yorkshire, Yorkshire Cricket have developed a club survey, which has been designed for all sizes of clubs including single team clubs, to help inform the Yorkshire Cricket Facilities Strategy. Please complete the survey here. We would hugely appreciate you taking the time to inform this critical piece of work.
We estimate that the survey should take around 10-15 minutes maximum to complete. Please only provide one completed survey per club and complete by Sunday 18 February.
