Wiltshire Cricket Development Team Update - Updated working hours and Furlough arrangements

Since the launch of the Government’s Job Retention scheme at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic last year, Wiltshire Cricket has been utilising the scheme to help support our Development team through these challenging times. The introduction of the flexi furlough scheme part way through 2020 was of great benefit in that it enabled us to provide working hours to reflect what we were able to deliver at given points during the year. As government restrictions have varied over the past ten months, so too has our ability to deliver our full range of Cricket programmes and unfortunately we are at a point right now in which the ability for us to deliver Cricket is significantly hampered. It is therefore a moment during which financial prudency and increasing our use of the Job Retention scheme becomes a priority. With this in mind, Wiltshire Cricket has today reviewed the working arrangements for our team and can confirm that the Development team will be at reduced capacity for the immediate future, with working arrangements looking as follows:

  • Peter Sykes, Managing Director – Full working hours
  • Sam Dent, Women and Girls Development Officer – Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays
  • Aled Evans, Community Coach – Working hours TBC dependent on virtual coaching programmes we arrange with primary schools in Wiltshire
  • Ali Goddard, Head of Junior Cricket – Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays
  • Harry Mattingley, Disability Development Officer – Working hours TBC dependent on virtual coaching programmes we arrange
  • Karen Smith, Administrator – Tuesdays and Wednesdays

Whilst we are in a challenging period in terms of being able to physically deliver any Cricket, we would like to stress that;

  1. The Development team will continue to be here to support the Cricket network in Wiltshire with whatever support you require during this difficult time
  2. During this challenging time we will be looking to be pro-active and creative in terms of how we engage with the Cricket network throughout Wiltshire
  3. Our ambitions to ‘Drive Cricket’s Future’ and grow all aspects of the game remain unaffected. We believe Cricket has a great future and, as it did last summer, will play a pivotal role in lifting spirits when we emerge from this difficult period
  4. As we move through this winter and in to the Spring we hope to increase the Development team’s working hours as momentum builds towards what we still believe can be a fantastic summer of recreational Cricket