Introducing our Strategy

In 2019, the ECB launched its strategy, Inspiring Generations, which at its heart had a single, unifying purpose of inspiring a generation to say that “Cricket is a Game for me”.

Underpinning Inspiring Generations was our first ever County Partnership Agreement (CPA); a contractual agreement between ourselves and the ECB that governs the funding that we receive from our National Governing Body. Within this first CPA were a series of 17 standards that aimed to bring the County Board network across the country to a consistent place.

Over the past five years, through aligning to Inspiring Generations and in delivering against those CPA standards, Wiltshire Cricket has experienced tremendous growth as well as significant professionalisation in the way in which we operate. As a Development team, we have doubled in size
during those five years with the increased central investment allowing us to employ dedicated members of staff across areas such as Women’s and Girls’ Cricket, Disability Cricket, Safeguarding, and the Talent Pathway. In 2021, we also merged the Cricket Board and our National County Cricket Club, so that Cricket in Wiltshire now truly operates under one united identity.

At Board level we have undergone two rounds of non-executive director recruitment in the past four years, and as a result now have a Board that is not only much more diverse in its make up, but that is also skilled and resourced to drive forward the size and scope of organisation that Wiltshire Cricket now is. Recent years have seen our turnover increase sharply, as the breadth of our work has increased. This has been both exciting and
rewarding, and so our thanks must go to ECB, to Chance to Shine, to Lord’s Taverners, to the MCC, as well as to our many sponsors and supporters that have helped to enable this growth.

As we launch our 2025-2029 strategy, we can reflect on the many achievements of the past five years and also look forward to an exciting period ahead for all connected with Wiltshire Cricket.

In October 2024, an updated Inspiring Generations was released; a strategy that emphasises evolution, not revolution of Cricket’s collective ambitions. At a county level, the ECB have streamlined the standards within the new CPA in return for empowering counties to produce strategies that outline the ambitions that are personal and relevant to them. We are incredibly appreciative of this empowerment, and are hugely excited to share within this document the plans that have been collectively developed by the cricket community in Wiltshire.

Similarly to the ECB we see the next four years as being a period of evolution, in which we look to consolidate on the growth of recent years and also work smarter in what we do and don’t do to allow us the capacity to focus on the areas that are pivotal to growing cricket in our county. Having that clear identified purpose has been a key cornerstone of developing this strategy, so throughout this document you will see strategic themes that are aligned to our vision of being “the most accessible and enjoyed Sport in Wiltshire”.

I mentioned that our plans have been collectively developed by the cricket community in Wiltshire. With that in mind, I would like to extend a sincere thank you to the various individuals, groups and organisations that have contributed to the development of this strategy. We have spent considerable time, as you will gather reading through this document, consulting with different stakeholders within the game so that our plans are truly reflective of our whole cricketing community. Therefore, to individuals who have completed surveys, to clubs that have fed back on specific issues, to the associations that have sat in focus group meetings, and to my colleagues within the development team who have led on the development of different sections of the strategy … I thank you all. This is a strategy that everyone connected with Wiltshire Cricket should be able to identify with; a strategy that is purposeful and ambitious, and a strategy that at its heart is trying to power cricket towards a place where everyone feels included and inspired to develop a lifelong love of our game.

Peter Sykes
Wiltshire Cricket Managing Director