Not everyone's got all day: making club cricket easier to play

By Michael Rigby

I've played club cricket in Lancashire for a long time, and I've watched a lot of players drift away. Not because they stopped liking cricket. Mostly because cricket stopped fitting round the rest of their life.

If clubs want more players, the answer isn't always finding new ones. Sometimes it's making the game easier to play for the ones already out there.

Life gets in the way

Let's be honest about what we're asking. A full league game, plus travel, teas and a pint after, is the whole day gone. Then do it again next week. And the week after.

For a lad in his twenties with no ties, fine. For someone with a job, a partner, kids who need ferrying to football and swimming, and a parent who needs looking in on, it's a big ask. Shift work doesn't help either.

I've seen it plenty. Mum or dad takes the kids to a Sunday morning junior game, then goes straight on to a senior game of their own, and doesn't get back till 8 o'clock at night. That's not a hobby, that's a shift. It can't last, and it's exactly the people clubs need most, the parent-players and volunteers, who end up burning out.

These people love cricket. They just can't give it a full day every week, and if that's the only option, they stop altogether.

Shorter formats are your friend

The good news is cricket doesn't have to take all day. T20, evening games, shorter matches. If your league runs a midweek or evening competition, get a side in. If it doesn't, ask whether it could, or arrange some friendlies with clubs nearby.

A game that starts after work and finishes by dark is a much easier sell than a whole day. People can get home, see the kids, and still be at work in the morning. It suits parents, juniors moving up, and anyone easing back in.

Mind, it's not always down to the clubs. League committees can be wedded to the old ways, which is understandable when the long game is what most of them grew up on. So the short stuff tends to get shunted to midweek evenings rather than given a weekend slot. Fair enough for some, but a short game at the weekend might keep a few more people playing.

None of this means ditching the longer game. It just means having something for the people who can't give it a full day.

Let people turn up and play

Not everyone wants to be all-in. Some just want a game when they can make it, a pint after and home for their tea. That should be fine.

Clubs sometimes treat that player as half-hearted. He's just busy. Somebody who plays eight games a season and enjoys every one is worth a lot more than somebody who's given up because it was every week or nothing.

So make it easy. Let people say when they're free without a guilt trip. Don't expect a full summer up front. Keep a list of the occasional lads and give them a ring when there's a gap. You'll thank them the day you'd otherwise have been two short.

When the club's a lifestyle

For some people, the club is their life. They're there every night. Every social, every working party. Their whole world revolves round the place. Nothing wrong with that. Plenty of clubs wouldn't survive without them.

But it can put off the casual player. He turns up, plays, and gets the feeling he doesn't fit unless he's all-in. Missed the quiz? Not on the WhatsApp at midnight? Before long he wonders if it's worth the bother.

Both sorts of player should feel at home. The club needs the people who are there every night, and it needs the people who just come to play.

Welcome them in properly

If someone's taken the trouble to turn up, make them feel they belong.

• Say hello. Somebody should introduce themselves before the game, not at tea.
• Captains, introduce new players. Tell the side who he is, where he's played and what he does.
• Give them a proper go. A decent bowl, a bat higher than 11 now and then, somewhere sensible in the field.
• Look after the family. If his partner and kids come along, someone should say hello and offer them a brew.
• Keep it simple. Tell them where to be, when, and what to bring.

Give everyone a fair crack

Then there's what happens on the field. Some sides have the same two bowling every over, or as near to it as they can get away with. More often than not, they're the best batters as well. It's not their fault they're the best. But that doesn't mean they should take the whole opportunity. If the other nine are only there to field, don't be surprised when they find something better to do.

The clique

One barrier needs saying out loud: the clique. Same faces at the same end of the bar, in-jokes and nicknames nobody explains, "we've always done it this way", and a committee that's been the same handful of people for years. Nobody means it. They're just comfortable. But from the outside it can look like a locked door, and people who feel left out don't kick off. They just stop coming.

The fix isn't complicated: talk to someone new, mix tables at socials, and ask new faces to help with small jobs rather than leaving it to the same few.

Make it easier, not harder

Most clubs I know are scratching around for players and volunteers. So it's worth asking what's making our cricket hard to play. The length of the games? Being expected every week? Feeling you need to be in with the right crowd?

Shorter games, room for the occasional player and a proper welcome won't fix everything, but they make it easier for people to say yes. And remember: a healthy cricket club isn't a winning cricket club. It's a cricket club where everyone gets a fair crack and enjoys it.

Written by CricketRight (cricketright.com), selection management built only for cricket.