One job. Done properly.

I built CricketRight because I got fed up of my phone. I've played club cricket round Blackburn for years, and for a good chunk of that I was one of the people picking a side. Every week it was the same routine: a message out to the group, a handful of thumbs up, a few "maybe", a lot of silence, and then a night spent texting people one by one to find out who could actually play. By the time the side was sorted I'd had enough of cricket before a ball was bowled. I wanted something that took that bit off my plate, and nothing I tried did it simply. So I made it.

If you've ended up here after typing "cricket team management app" into Google, I'd bet you're in a similar spot. You might think you need something that runs the whole club, but when you get to the bottom of it, the thing that's actually wearing you down is the weekly cycle of availability and picking. That's what this post is about, and it's the one job CricketRight sets out to do.

What's really behind the search

"Team management" can mean all sorts. For some people it's subs and memberships, for others it's scorebooks and league returns. Those are real jobs, and plenty of clubs have them covered one way or another. But talk to any junior coach or senior captain and ask what eats their week, and it's rarely the scorebook. It's not knowing who's free. It's the lad who says he'll let you know and never does. It's the parent who replies in the wrong chat. It's the late dropout that means starting again.

That's the bit of cricket team management that falls on volunteers, week in, week out, and it's the bit that makes good people stop doing it. So rather than build something that tries to do everything a little, I built something that does cricket team selection, and tries to do it well.

To be straight with you, that means CricketRight isn't club management software. It doesn't take payments and it doesn't do scoring. If that's what you're after, it's not the right fit, and I'd rather tell you now than have you find out halfway through a trial. If your headache is getting a side out every week without losing your evenings, read on.

How the one job works

It starts with availability. Players and parents submit their availability easily with one quick tap, so there's no reading back through forty messages to work out who said what. Junior coaches and senior captains then pick the side from that, and everyone knows where they stand without a flurry of "am I playing?" texts.

The feature I'm proudest of is Fairness First. It's optional, so a club switches it on only for the teams it chooses, which tends to be the junior sides and maybe a social XI. When it's on, it suggests a fair side, so the kids who've not had many games aren't quietly forgotten about. It's a suggestion, mind. The coach always has the final say, because the coach knows things an app never will.

There's also the matter of phone numbers. Most clubs end up with giant group chats where everyone's number is shared with all and sundry, including people who've long since left. With CricketRight, players' and parents' numbers stay with club staff, meaning coaches, captains and admins, and aren't handed out to every Tom, Dick and Harry. That's one less reason to keep those sprawling chats going.

It's not just match days either. Clubs can set up winter nets and training sessions, players and parents say whether they're coming, and coaches can see who's attending. Handy when you're trying to work out whether it's worth booking the second lane.

If you want a fuller look at what a good selection tool should do, I've written about that in more depth in Cricket Team Selection App: What Your Club Needs. This post is more about why doing one thing properly beats doing ten things half-heartedly.

Fair pricing for clubs, not players

I've seen too many clubs put off by tools that charge for every player, which hits hardest exactly where you want growth, in the junior section. CricketRight is priced per club by active teams, and never per player. Starter covers up to 3 teams for £9 a month or £90 a year. Club covers up to 10 teams for £19 a month or £190 a year. Unlimited is £29 a month or £290 a year. Every feature is on every plan, so a small club with two sides gets exactly the same app as a big one running a dozen.

There's a 30-day free trial too. It does need a card to start, which I'd rather be upfront about, but it gives you a proper month to try it with real fixtures and real players, and to see whether the chasing gets easier.

Is it for you?

If you came looking for a cricket team management app because you wanted the whole lot in one box, CricketRight might not be what you need. But if, like me, the thing that actually grinds you down is picking sides and chasing replies, give it a go. Get one team on it, run a few fixtures and see how your phone feels at the end of the week.

You can start your free trial at cricketright.com whenever suits. No pressure, and if it's not for your club, no hard feelings.

Michael Rigby, CricketRight