2022 ANNUAL REPORT

13 CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REPORT for the first time. The women and girls’ game has been a leading strategic priority for our club for some time, and in particular since the onset of our ‘Inspiring NottinghamshireThrough Cricket 2020-2025’ strategic plan. It has, therefore, been encouraging to see seismic progress in this area during the course of 2022. Additional momentum gathered behind the women’s game during the course of The Hundred, culminating in a record crowd of 10,286 for the fixture betweenTrent Rockets and Welsh Fire. As we seek to grow the game and encourage more women and girls to watch cricket, it was great news that an unprecedented 32% of tickets for games at Trent Bridge throughout the tournament had been purchased by women. In September, we were able to announce that Trent Bridge had emerged successfully from a com- petitive process to become the East Midlands host in the elite regional structure for the women’s game, replacing Loughborough University to become the home of the team now known asThe Blaze. Since they reported for pre-season training in November, it has been great to see the coaches, playing squads and off-field teams from Notts andThe Blaze working in tandem, and the elevated way that the regional women’s team is now being presented as a public-facing brand. It’s clear to see that the players, coaches and support staff feel inspired by being at Trent Bridge, and we believe that access to our facilities can assist us in developing and attracting talent. The fixtures for the 2023 season rightly takeThe Blaze around the region, withT20 double headers in place at Trent Bridge and the corresponding headquarters venues at Derbyshire and Leicestershire. Working together across the East Midlands, with Lincolnshire also incorporated alongside the three First-Class counties, we are all committed to improving the strength and depth of the female talent pool and providing a clear and visible route for the most talented girls from across the region to progress from their own county age group teams into a regional structure. If we can make women’s cricket progressively more visible at elite level – and support that with partici- pation initiatives within our commu- nities as well – we hope it can lead to a concerted period of exponential growth, and that can only be for the overall good of the game. It has, therefore, been heartening to see that our showpiece women & girls participation events led by our community and development team have been so well attended during the past year, and that the number of competing female teams in Notting- hamshire is continuing to expand. Our club’s equity, diversity and inclusion action plan, ‘WeWelcome Everyone’, published in May, constituted a further statement of intent regarding our wider commit- ments around enhancing the diversity and improving the experience of those who play, attend, follow, govern and volunteer within the game. The Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) spent much of 2022 capturing informa- tion regarding the lived experience of individuals, with the final report and recommendations expected at around the same time that we publish this Annual Report. Building upon the nationwide commitment to the ECB’s existing five-point, 12 action plan, the report will provide another opportunity for the game to make further progress in pursuit of being as welcoming as possible for all. At a time when society as a whole, together with so many of the organ- isations within it, is facing a steep learning curve due to the increased impetus behind the sharing of lived “WE ARE INCREDIBLY PROUD TO HAVE BEEN SELECTED TO HOST A WOMEN’S ASHES TEST MATCH AND ARE COMMITTED TO PLAYING OUR PART IN THE AIM OF ATTRACTING A SIX-FIGURE CUMULATIVE AUDIENCE TO ENGLAND WOMEN’S FIXTURES IN A SINGLE SUMMER FOR THE FIRST TIME.” Lisa Pursehouse