CLUB DEVELOPMENT, FACILITIES & FUNDING

The ECB have now launched the national County Grants Fund. 

The County Grants Fund aims to support affiliated cricket clubs to create welcoming environments, provide enhanced facilities and playing opportunities, and to help clubs tackle the impact of climate change. 

Who can apply? 

The scheme is open to all ECB affiliated cricket clubs in England and Wales.

What type of projects are eligible? 

• Creating welcoming environments – open to affiliated cricket clubs registered for All Stars or Dynamos in 2024, or actively involved with women’s and girls’ cricket and / or disability cricket. It is an expectation that any junior programme will include and actively engage with girls. 
   
• Enhanced facilities and playing opportunities for women’s and girls’ cricket and / or disability cricket – open to affiliated cricket clubs actively engaged in competitive female only cricket.
   
• Tackling climate change (supported by Sport England) – Open to any affiliated cricket clubs. 
  
  How much can be applied for? 
  
  Clubs can apply for between £1,000 (minimum) and £10,000 (maximum) per application. 
  
  How to apply 
  
  Download and read the guidance notes here (PDF). 
  
  If you are eligible, please discuss your potential project with your Territory Manager before you visit the ECB IMS to register and apply. Your Territory Manager should be aware of your project in advance and it should line up with your previously submitted Club Development Plan. 

Climate Change impacts on all our lives, the game we love and the places it is played. We all have a role to play in reducing the impacts of climate change and as a game we will need adapt, so the ECB is working hard to develop a game-wide Sustainability Strategy that will help drive change for good in cricket in England and Wales.

Part of that strategy will be to support the game to reduce energy consumption. This will have the double-win of reducing greenhouse gas emissions but also reducing energy costs for clubs. The current energy crisis means that clubs are likely to be paying more for electricity, gas and heating oil than ever before. We are bringing forward this guide now so that clubs can take steps to reduce their energy consumption, cut their emissions and cut their bills.

If you are Sussex Cricket affiliated and manage your facility you could be eligible for funding support from the ECB County Grants Fund under the ‘Tackling Climate Change’ them. To find out more about the ECB County Grants Fund, eligibility and how to apply visit: https://sussexcricket.co.uk/club-development-facilities-funding

For any cricket club, planning for the future is essential to ensuring the sustainability of the club. Our staff are on hand to help with any guidance on any area of recreational cricket. As an affiliated club to Sussex Cricket, we ask that your club completes a Club Development Plan, which will enable us to better support your club and aid us in pointing you in the right direction to achieve your priorities. 

Please be aware that access to any ECB and SCF funding is reliant on your club having submitted a Club Development Plan to your Territory Manager. 

You can find the template for the Club Development Plan below. 

As well as the guidance that ECB provides around generic facility projects, the ECB also has technical specification documents relevant to specific projects. When embarking on a development it is important that these specifications are considered and adhered to as they provide mandatory criteria that potential funders will look for when deciding whether to financially support a project. The documents also provide practical advice for cricket club officials and important information for designers or companies that are quoting for facility developments.

The list of technical specification documents are as follows:

• TS3 – Indoor Sports Halls with Cricket provision.
• TS4 – Fine Turf Guidelines for the construction, preparation and maintenance of Cricket Pitches and outfields at all levels of the game.
• TS5 – Pavilions and Clubhouses
• TS6 – Non Turf pitches – Technical requirements and performance specification for non turf Cricket Pitches
• ECB Welcoming Environments
• Sport England Design Guidance
• Sport England Design Guidance Refurbishments