An update from Chair, Bob Warren

Normally I would be writing this for inclusion in the booklet we produce for the AGM, however, I thought, given the strange circumstances that we have found ourselves in this year, it would be appropriate to inform all members of the Sussex cricket family about how we have coped with these circumstances and to bring everyone up-to-date with the current position.

I am pleased to say that despite all the problems we have encountered during this period, the Sussex Cricket family has come up trumps in many different ways. I hope the following words will show how we are managing to keep this show on the road.

The overall responsibility for all cricket in Sussex remains with the Sussex Cricket Ltd Board (SCL). The Board remains directly responsible for the overall financial performance of SCL. It is also responsible for ensuring that the organisation is governed correctly and that various guidelines such as our Inclusion and Diversity policy are implemented and maintained.

Relationships with members, sponsors (including the Players Club and Boundary Club), our outgrounds (Arundel, Horsham, and Eastbourne), and the Hove ground development plan are all also managed centrally.

We have two main aims at Sussex Cricket. The first is to ensure that our first team have the resources to compete at the highest level and the second is to promote cricket as a source for good in the whole of Sussex. The first aim is managed by Performance Cricket and the second by the Sussex Cricket Foundation (SCF) under the banner of Community Cricket. The SCF is a wholly owned subsidiary of SCL and is a registered charity.

Our priority has been to not only ensure that SCL would survive the current crisis but to ensure that the remedies we have put in place mean that we can go forward with a reasonable amount of confidence.

This has meant that we have had to review all levels of expenditure and take some unpleasant steps to mitigate the loss of revenue we have incurred during this year and the potential loss in forthcoming years. This has meant that some staff have, regrettably, been made redundant and some players have not been offered new contracts. Other players have left for other counties.

Our financial position has been greatly helped by the majority of our members and T20 Blast Pass holders who have donated their 2020 subscription to the organisation. The same can be said for many of our life members who have made generous donations to help us through this pandemic.

Most of our sponsors have not only agreed for their contracts to be deferred until next year, but many have extended their contracts by another year. I should also add that most of our staff and players were furloughed from April. All staff accepted substantial reductions in their salaries. The players, in line with PCA agreement, also accepted pay reductions.

The major revenue we have been unable to recover is all match-day revenue and all of our potential non-match day revenue, both substantial sums. Adding this all up means that we will make a loss in this financial year. Provided crowds are allowed to return in 2021, we anticipate returning, hopefully, to profitability.

Performance Cricket is responsible for senior professional cricket, our EPP programme, the Sussex Pathway which incorporates boy’s and girls’ age groups, the Blackstone Academy ground and our partnership with Hampshire in the Southern Vipers.

Notwithstanding the difficulties professional cricket encountered this year, I think it is fair to say, given the fact that we lost three of our senior players to the England bubble, the first team performed reasonably well. It might be worth reading Jason Gillespie's final report that he delivered prior to his departure.

I think Jason has summed up the last three years very well. The opportunity for Jason to return to South Australia as their Head Coach means that his time with us has been cut short. I believe that the work Jason has done over the last three years will bring long-term benefit to Sussex Cricket.

On a brighter note as Jason mentioned in his report, we have been able to extend contracts with a number of our younger players who have broken through this year.

We are very hopeful that this is the start of steady trickle of players graduating from our Academy into our senior squad. The appointment of Richard Halsall as Head of Talent Pathway is recognised as being very beneficial to the future of Sussex Cricket. The structure launched in 2019 is already producing results.

The lack of spectators has definitely affected the atmosphere at Hove, however, as happens in many other walks of life, we have seen a massive increase in on-line viewing. The enhanced streaming received over one million views during the season. These are astonishing numbers and show that the interest in Sussex Cricket is alive and well.

The ECB has confirmed that it is their intention to maintain our financial distributions during 2021, however, at the moment and understandably, they can’t guarantee the payments for year’s three to five of the current five-year arrangement. The ECB has also confirmed immediate funding will be re-introduced for the Chance to shine programme at both junior and senior schools, Street Cricket is back as well as the All-stars & Dynamos initiatives.

The reach of Community Cricket in Sussex is immense. We have approximately 230 clubs playing senior cricket in Sussex. 143 clubs play in The 1st Central Sussex Cricket League and they enter about 340 teams in the 35 divisions being played all over Sussex. The other 90 clubs play friendlies.

It proved impossible to get league cricket going in 2020 so the executive of the league asked clubs if they would like to play in The 1st Central August Cup. The response was overwhelming and much-welcomed competitive cricket was enjoyed across the county.

A mid-week competition for both men and women called the Sussex Slam was launched and was also very successful with 58 clubs entering into the men’s and 15 into the women’s competition. Both competitions proved to be very successful and planning is underway for the 2021 season.

Naturally, the junior leagues suffered, however, league fixtures started on the 11th of July with many clubs participating. The Sussex Junior Cricket Festival played in July and August was a runaway success. Record numbers of teams were entered at every level from U11 to U18 including dedicated weeks for U13 & U15 girls.

We are very fortunate in that our Women & Girls programme is based at the Brighton Aldridge Community Academy (BACA) in Brighton. Significant investment has been made by both the Academy and the SCF ensuring that the facilities are second to none.

This investment has led to a large increase in female participation and a definite increase in standards as our results have proved. We have also developed a Women’s & Girls’ Softball Festival programme where local clubs run festivals aimed at providing women and girls’ with an opportunity to play cricket in a fun environment.

By now I think anyone reading this will have realised that our work in the community is also very important to us with several initiatives in place. In conjunction with the Lord’s Taverners we have launched Wicketz. This is programme to help disadvantaged children aged between 8 and 11. For our senior citizens we now have groups participating in Walking Cricket and for the less active, along with many other counties, in the Sporting Memories programme.

The Sporting Memories programme is aimed at helping people aged over 50 to reminisce about watching and playing sport. Many of our members attend to enjoy the company of other older sports fans, some of our members live with dementia or have memory problems, some have experienced depression, they may have had a stroke or live with Parkinson's, all have one thing in common, a love for sport!

Sussex is renowned for its commitment to providing cricket for the less able. Our DIScoverABILITY day at Hove is the highlight of a programme using cricket as a source for good for those suffering from some sort of disability. Unfortunately, because of Covid the programme could not take place this year but, all being well, will be resumed next year.

Mental health decline and poverty brought on during the current climate are real issues and under the leadership of our President, Sir Rod Aldridge, Sussex Cricket launched two programmes.

The first is a mental health & wellbeing platform which will be rolled out in the coming months. This is an online platform which allows anyone with potential mental concerns to log on and access a resource hub, linking them to various professional organisations able to help them further whilst also accessing various video content.

The second are programmes to tackle food poverty; one called ‘Tea for Two’  which has been launched with the help of our affiliated clubs and the second called ‘In the Bag’ which has been launched in Brighton and Hove in conjunction with local charities funded by SCF to deliver 1,200 meals to families struggling during the summer holidays.

We can’t run cricket without volunteers and in Sussex we have over 7000 helping in one way or another. To supplement our existing volunteers the SCF will continue to run course for umpires, scorers, groundsmen, and coaches.

Sussex also has links with a number of local organisations and they include the Aldridge Foundation, the Arundel Castle Cricket Foundation, the Spen Cama Foundation and the Matthew Hobden Trust. We have also linked up with one of our main sponsors, 1st Central, who are sponsoring the Covid Heroes Awards, that have been designed to recognise our volunteers in Sussex who do a tremendous amount of work to help get the game on in Sussex.

In conclusion I would just like to reiterate our two aims; firstly, to be able to provide the resources to enable our professional squads to reach the highest level possible and secondly to continue to grow cricket in the community and be a source for good.