2020 ANNUAL REPORT

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE COUNTY CRICKET CLUB 2020 ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 16 Those that were experiencing any kind of financial strain due to no cricket being played were signposted to funding that could support them. Details of the Sport England Emergency Community Fund, the Government’s Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants and the ECB’s Emergency Grants and Loans were shared with recreational clubs immediately. So far, a staggering £725,000 in emergency funding has been allocated to recreational clubs in Nottinghamshire alone. Zoom calls were also organised with specific people within the network, such as groundsmen, umpires and officials, to ensure these individuals felt supported too. When the UK went into its first lockdown, we worked closely along- side the ECB to swiftly produce clear Covid-19 guidelines and safety measures for recreational clubs in Nottinghamshire, so that as soon as the sport was able to resume, clubs were in the best place possible to implement robust social distancing measures, hand sanitising stations and other essential health and safety measures. The Nottinghamshire network finally returned to the field from Saturday 18 July.That our sport was able to return is testament to the collaboration and partnership between Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club, the ECB, and the network: the clubs, the leagues and the volunteers. While the Community and Development team worked hard to facilitate and support, it is the volunteers who devised and executed the plans to get the recreational game back on its feet. Without them, recreational cricket simply would not have happened this summer.The urgency, initiative and endeavour they showed was fantastic. Throughout July and into the summer, regular contact with recreational clubs continued to ensure they were compliant with Covid-19 safety measures whilst cricket was being played. And the strict, meticulous manner in which these clubs adhered to these measures was heartening to see. Ultimately, a ten-week recreational cricket season was possible this summer. Considering no one thought any cricket at all would be played when lockdown first commenced, we feel this is something to be immensely proud of. Indeed, we firmly believe that the challenges and hurdles we overcame in 2020 have made the recreational game stronger ahead of 2021.The relationships, trust and collaborative spirit we have forged in the past few months can only stand us in good stead. And – with a junior indoor cricket league in place for the first time, and with parts of the club’s strategic county plan being brought forward by two years – we will be doing everything we can over the next year to make up for lost time. Away from the work of clubs and leagues, a number of projects saw off the many challenges of 2020 to ensure that cricket retained its foot- hold in communities countywide. A new Kwik Cricket league was launched in the final few weeks of the summer, squeezing another cricketing opportunity into a disrupted year. Some All Stars cricket sessions were delivered for five to eight-year- olds, albeit on a smaller scale than usual, and we saw an increase in the number of schools and clubs registered to take part in All Stars and Dynamos (for 8-11-year-olds) in the years to come. In instances where it was impossible to come together as we would have liked, we used technology to our advantage. Our OSCAs event, usually a night of celebration at Trent Bridge, was held in a virtual capacity on YouTube, with hundreds of people “OUR PRIORITIES FOR 2020 WERE SWIFTLY CHANGED BY LOCKDOWN; OUR FOCUS NOWWAS ON ENSURING CRICKET COULD RETURN IN ANY FORM AS SOON AS IT WAS SAFE.” Tim Eatherington