Strategy
Improvement Planning Process
The Improvement Planning Process (IPP) is the process through which all county boards go through on annual basis in order to receive their performance related funding from ECB. This performance related funding accounts for 30% of the overall central funding that is received from ECB. There are two documents that form the basis of the IPP process and both are target setting documents that provide direction for county boards and help shape work plans for cricket board staff on an annual basis. The IPP year runs from 1st October to 30th September and all targets from within both documents need to be met in order for performance related funding to be achieved. The two documents are as follows:
Agreed Strategic and Contractual Programme Targets and Operational Improvements (Quantitative Targets)
This document is effectively a quantitative targets document and the categories within the document are the same for every county board across the country. The categories within the document cover the broad spectrum of core county board activities and the purpose of the document is to establish a base position (ie. where are we now) for each category of work and set targets for 12 months time against this base position.
Annual Improvement Action Plan
The second document that forms part of IPP is the annual improvement action plan and this is a much more qualitative document and is a strategic plan that looks different for every county board across the country. This is because it contains local priority areas of work as opposed to national ones and so is the opportunity for counties to shape their work plans based on local need. However, in order to establish local priorities there is a comprehensive process of self assessment that takes place on annual basis and the results from this self assessment form the content of the improvement action plan.
ECB National Strategy - Grounds to Play
Grounds to Play is the current national strategy from ECB and it covers the period 2010-2013, providing the template for growth over that period. It follows on from the previous strategic document Building Partnerships.
Nine Characteristics of a High Performing Cricket Board
Sitting alongside all other strategic documents is a paper that the ECB released to support county boards entitled Nine Characteristics of a High Performing Cricket Board. This document supports county boards with their governance and strategic capabilities and in Wiltshire the document is used for self assessment purposes when identifying priority areas for improvement in order to become a higher performing cricket board.
ECB National Club Strategy
In July 2012, ECB launched the National Club Strategy.
The strategy seeks to find the balance between perceived future risks to cricket clubs and what are known areas of development required for sustaining and developing the game.
The work that underpins the ECB National Club Strategy sought to understand the dynamic nature of what influences a club and motivates people to progress towards a modern sporting offer within the community.
The ECB National Club Strategy is intended to form a broad roadmap from which more detailed plans can be drawn, and is central to planning at all levels of the game for at least the next five years.
