Berkshire Cricket Foundation

The ECB released a statement to the recreational game on Wednesday 6th January - read the full statement here.

In summary, all indoor and outdoor privately owned cricket facilities will now need to close for all but elite cricket activity and disability cricket outdoors.

Cricket clubs in public open spaces such as parks can continue to provide outdoor spaces for individual permitted activity.

The ECB Chairman, Ian Whatmore, has released the latest instalment of his blog which you may find interesting - read more here

Grounds Maintenance
Government restrictions permit that you can continue to go to work if your work cannot be undertaken from home. So people employed or volunteering to work on grounds maintenance over the winter can continue to do so subject to suitable COVID risk assessment and control measures being in place. Further information on winter maintenance of cricket grounds under COVID can be found at the end of this article.
The GMA also have a new online training resource for clubs and volunteers - read more here

Financial Support for Cricket Clubs
The ECB Return to Cricket Grant scheme has been extended and will remain open until the end of March. This support scheme is designed to help clubs who have incurred unrecoverable expenses during the 2020 season and close season. Further information can be found here

Government support for businesses affected by closure due to Tier or Lockdown

In a similar fashion to the one off payments in the early part of 2020, the Government have made cash grants available to businesses that have either closed or been adversely affected by the tier restrictions or the national lockdown. This would be particularly relevant to cricket clubs who have been unable to operate their clubhouse/bar due to not serving food in Tier 2 restrictions. If your club pays business rates to your local authority then you should be eligible for financial support. There is a one off cash payment of up to £9,000 (depending on the rateable value of your premises) for the current national lockdown, a Christmas Support Payment, as well as monthly payments for loss of business due to restrictions. The support is administered by each Local Authority, so in the first instance you should check the relevant website for details on how to claim. Should you need any advice, support or are unsure if you are eligible we would be happy to help where possible - foundation@berkshirecricketfoundation.org

Sport England have reopened their £16.5 million Return to Play: Small Grants fund to refocus on helping groups, clubs and people who deliver sport and physical activity through the additional challenges that this period of national restrictions will bring. They have also made important changes to the criteria to ensure they are giving the right help at this time.

Their two other coronavirus-related funds, Return to Play: Community Asset Fund and Return to Play: Active Together, are also open for applications.

Berkshire County Cricket Club Performance Pathway
With all indoor activity currently suspended we have been unable to complete the programme of activity that started in October - something that is obviously frustrating after the effort that went into getting the programme planned and started, twice. Subject to Government restrictions permitting a return to activity, we are aiming to restart on the 22nd February and run through to the completion of the pre-Christmas programme before moving into a squad based second phase of activity - much of this may well be outside if this is possible. We are exploring options to utilise outdoor facilities from the start of April and through the Easter break from Schools, to allow players to be involved with club activity from late April, with the Summer programme also under review. It is our aim to enable players to be involved in as much cricket activity at all levels as possible, although this does bring its own logistical problems.
The new 'Hub Programme' for Boys under 13 and 15 players and Girls is also under suspension - all players who were due to attend a trial in the coming week have been contacted. We will also be looking to commence this project when restrictions allow.

Club Youth Competitions

Barry Carter has been in contact with all clubs on the entries for the 2021 Youth Competitions, with the closing date of Friday 8th January for club returns. If your club has not yet completed their return, please do so as soon as possible or contact Barry (youthcomps@berkshirecricketfoundation.org) to discuss any issues. We are, of course, planning and hoping for a full season of club cricket in 2021!

Online Training Courses
With all of our planned face to face courses now suspended, we will shortly be releasing details of a series of online courses for club volunteers (coaches, welfare officers, officials, and committee members)

DBS checks during national lockdown
As in the previous lockdowns, DBS checks will now only be available through our central staff. if you have coaches, managers, or volunteers who need to update their DBS please contact safeguarding@berkshirecricketfoundation.org

Our team are currently working on flexible furlough, working the hours that are needed to plan and prepare for a return to activity - this may result in a slower than normal response time to enquiries. Information on All Stars, Dynamos, Coach Development, and Young Leaders will be communicated to clubs as soon as it is available.

Contact Details
We use the play-cricket system to communicate with clubs, so please ensure that the contact details for your key club contacts are up to date in the 'about us' section of your clubs site. We are unable to amend these centrally, so please contact your clubs administrator in order to add or remove contact details. This is particularly important around this time of year when club officers change due to AGMs, age group changes, etc