Minutes – Women and Girls Development Meeting
Thursday 10th March 2016 @ Beversbrook Sports Ground
Timings – 7.30pm to 9.30pm
Attendees: (14)
Ali Goddard – Wiltshire Cricket/Trowbridge CC/ Swindon Womens CC
Jon Haines – Goatacre CC
Andy Day – Corsham CC
John Gale – Corsham CC
Kevin Thompson – Swindon CC
Jason Reeve – South Wilts CC
Nigel Sell – South Wilts CC
Andrew Short – Biddestone CC
Pippa Brown – Biddestone CC
Steve Jepson – Malmesbury CC
Helen Dolman – Goatacre CC/Spye Park CC
Chris Barrow – Chippenham CC
Greg Smith – Chippenham CC
Steve Richards – Calne CC
Apologies: (2)
Graham Gaiger – Potterne CC
Paul Vooght – Bradford on Avon CC
NB – All points of action will be highlighted in red
Initial Introductions – Ali Goddard
Ali Goddard’s role with Wiltshire Cricket is split across Schools Cricket and Women/Girls Cricket.
Neither role takes priority, however with regards to delivery, the schools element of the role is more
of an administrative role. Delivery of coaching in schools is left to our team of community coaches
and Chance to Shine deliverers.
As a result of this, a proportion of the Women and Girls delivery does take place outside of office
hours on a voluntary basis. As a result, there is limited scope to extend his work outside of the
programmes already delivered.
Wiltshire Cricket Limited, Development Office, Suite 16-17, Lansdowne Business Centre,
Bumpers Way, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN14 6RZ
Telephone: 01249 445225 Website: www.wiltshirecricket.co.uk
Company No: 7338735
The role includes the administration of:
 Chance to Shine
Including the competition elements associated with this programme.
 Secondary School competitions
ESCA, Chance to Compete Indoors and Outdoors, Lady Taverners
 All areas of Women and Girls Development
Including leading the delivery of county performance programmes and club development
Introductions from Clubs – With Feedback on Current Position
Trowbridge Cricket Club – Ali Goddard
Well established cricket club delivering girls youth cricket at present. Development to increase the
number the adults playing the game. However this development would be aimed initially at
participation softball programmes.
Participating in local “boys” leagues.
Corsham Cricket Club – John Gale and Andy Day
Well established cricket club delivering girls youth cricket at present.
Participating in local “boys” leagues and ECB competitions
Biddestone Cricket Club – Andy Short and Pippa Brown
Well established cricket club delivering girls youth cricket.
Participating in local “boys” leagues with an interest in developing a programme for players coming
out of junior cricket
Calne Cricket Club – Steve Richards
Well established cricket club delivering girls youth cricket. More recently delivering women’s
programmes
Continuing a hard ball development programme with a number of clubs in Wiltshire, Potterne,
Devizes, Marshfield.
Swindon Cricket Club – Kevin Thompson
Brand new girls only section being delivered by a parent of one of the players.
The club does also deliver an adult women’s participation programme as well.
Chippenham Cricket Club – Chris Barrow and Greg Smith
Delivering girls only cricket for the past 18 months. Female players have been and are planned to be
participating in “boys” league teams.
South Wilts Cricket Club – Nigel Sell and Jason Reeve
Resurrected section providing women and girls cricket to Salisbury and the south of
the county. Significant numbers of players across the age groups, looking to provide
further match play opportunities.
Wiltshire Cricket Limited, Development Office, Suite 16-17, Lansdowne Business Centre,
Bumpers Way, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN14 6RZ
Telephone: 01249 445225 Website: www.wiltshirecricket.co.uk
Company No: 7338735
Malmesbury Cricket Club – Steve Jepson
Cricket club new to girls cricket. Geographically pleased to have three county standard girls in their
membership.
Goatacre/Spye Park CC – Jon Haines and Helen Dolman
Well established cricket club delivering girls youth cricket.
A number of girls participating across many age groups.
Wiltshire Cricket’s Young Player Pathway
Explanation given of how Wiltshire Cricket’s development of women and girls cricket stems from the
board’s formalised document created in autumn 2015. Based around cricket outcomes to create a
sustainable future for the game.
Specific to women and girls cricket is the areas of:
 Strengthening the landscape of Youth Cricket
 Focusing on School’s cricket
 Increased participation in clubs and schools
Women’s Cricket Super League
As included with these minutes, a presentation that was produced by Bobby Parks of Hampshire
Cricket explained the effects of WCSL on Wiltshire Cricket.
In summary:
Wiltshire Cricket have agreed to be partners in the Southern Central Super League bid process.
Based out of the Ageas Bowl, the partners include:
 Hampshire – ECB Div 2
 Sussex – ECB Div 1
 Dorset – ECB Div 4 South & West
 Wiltshire – ECB Div 4 South & West
 Berkshire – ECB Div 1 (and by association Buckinghamshire – ECB Div 4 South & West)
 Oxfordshire – ECB Div 3
 Isle of Wight
 Southampton Solent University
The objectives are to provide high quality competitive league environment for the players. Create a
defined player pathway and increase awareness in the game.
The competition will develop into a T20 and 50 over format. However in the first year (2016) it will
remain as a T20 only format with matches being played between 30 July and 14 August, with the
finals day on 20/21 August.
Wiltshire Cricket Limited, Development Office, Suite 16-17, Lansdowne Business Centre,
Bumpers Way, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN14 6RZ
Telephone: 01249 445225 Website: www.wiltshirecricket.co.uk
Company No: 7338735
While promotional elements to the team were going to be publicised, for speed, decisions were
made by the organising group without the input of the other partners.
The team will be called the Southern Vipers and will be coaches by Berkshire head Coach Nick
Denning. Matches will all be played at the Ageas Bowl and the adjacent Nursery Ground.
Team colours will be orange shirts and black trousers.
The playing squad will have 15 players, with their selection broken down as:
 3 England Appointed players
 3 England Academy Appointed players
 3 Overseas players (although 5 may be approached to participate)
 6 players not in the three categories above.
NB – That will mean that the seven counties, plus Isle of Wight and Solent University will provide six
players between them.
The remaining six players will be selected by the Vipers selection panel. Note that Wiltshire have
recommended eight players for consideration. It is likely that the remaining six counties will all have
recommended at least the same number. Therefore selection will be interesting.
Training for the full squad will take place during the latter part of April 2016. However there is scope
for this programme to be supported by an academy development programme as well. At this time
we have no indication as to how many players this would incorporate.
Anticipated training bases for these programmes are:
 Reading – Using Berkshire coaches
 Arundel – Using Sussex coaches
 Ageas Bowl – Using Hampshire coaches
Coach development for other counties coaches would take the form of coaches being invited to
observe these development sessions. There are currently no plans to expand coaching opportunities
outside of these three counties.
A further update on WCSL will be passed onto clubs as soon as we have it.
Point of Action – Wiltshire Cricket to ensure that the Southern Vipers are kept up to date with the
Wiltshire players performances who are pushing for consideration for selection.
Wiltshire Cricket Limited, Development Office, Suite 16-17, Lansdowne Business Centre,
Bumpers Way, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN14 6RZ
Telephone: 01249 445225 Website: www.wiltshirecricket.co.uk
Company No: 7338735
Wiltshire County – Winter Programmes
Confirmation that Wiltshire have continued their winter programme during the past three months.
In total, we have included the following number of players:
Under 11s
28 players (North x 14, South x 14)
Under 13s
10 players on a 2 to 1 programme
14 players on a squad session programme
Under 15s
4 players on a 2 to 1 programme
5 players on a squad session programme
Under 17s
6 players on a 2 to 1 programme
8 players on a squad session programme
Seniors
10 players on a squad session programme
Total inclusion – 85 players
Trials were held for Under 11s, Under 13s and Under 15s programmes.
Under 17s programmes were by invitation due to limited space. However all Under 17s, 1st XI
players and non County Adult players were invited to attend the senior programme.
Coach Education Programme
Certificate in Coaching Children’s Cricket
Wiltshire Cricket promote opportunities for coaches through their subsidy package for females
wishing to begin their coaching careers. JEM Heating Limited, sponsors of Wiltshire Women’s
Cricket are able to offer a £100 reduction to the cost of coach education programmes for
prospective coaches meeting the criteria for the programme.
Wiltshire Cricket have also agreed a relationship with WASP for them to provide an additional £100
reduction to the cost of the course. Wiltshire Cricket will continue to invite female participants onto
the Coach Education programme using these methods.
Note that coaches wishing to make use of the programme will need to commit to delivering
elements of Wiltshire Cricket coaching programmes during the 12 month period of the coach
education course.
Coach Support Worker Courses
Part of Wiltshire Cricket’s sponsorship package with JEM Heating Limited is to continue to provide
development opportunities for players coming through county age group cricket. For this reason,
annually, Wiltshire Cricket will provide the opportunity for its Under 17s players to participate in a
Coach Support Worker course for no charge.
This programme will ensure that players will be able to go back to clubs and offer
their services as volunteers to be able to help clubs deliver their own coaching
programmes.
Wiltshire Cricket Limited, Development Office, Suite 16-17, Lansdowne Business Centre,
Bumpers Way, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN14 6RZ
Telephone: 01249 445225 Website: www.wiltshirecricket.co.uk
Company No: 7338735
NB – Reminder that a Coach Support Worker is not a qualified coach and is not permitted to deliver
coaching programmes to children unattended by a fully qualified coach.
Point of Action – All clubs to be given a list of Under 17s players who will attend the April 2016 Girls
only Coach Support Workers course.
Cricket Activator Courses
As part of Wiltshire Cricket’s support to schools, and to provide officials for the ECB Kwik Cricket
competitions, Wiltshire Cricket are delivering a series of Cricket Activator courses for Secondary
Schools across the county. Participants are more regularly boys, however there are an increasing
number of girls participating in these programmes.
The Cricket Activator course provides participants with the skills required to either deliver small
practice sessions or umpiring and scoring support. These participants could be important to your
clubs as each individual will be looking to complete ten hours of volunteering work as part of their
certification process.
Therefore these children may be in a position to be of use to you for the purposes of delivering club
based activity.
Point of Action – Wiltshire Cricket to provide to all clubs, names and contacts of secondary schools
who have participated in the Cricket Activator programme for 2016.
Wiltshire County Match play Programmes – summer 2016
To give clubs an idea as to how many games County players are scheduled to play during the season,
we brought the following information to attention:
Under 11s
5 x North v South practice matches under T20 format
2 x (minimum) out of county practice games
NB – Under 11s girls is not an official ECB Age Group programme
Under 13s
8 x 35 over county matches
Under 15s
8 x 40 over county matches
6 x T20 county matches
Under 17s
8 x 45 over county matches
6 x T20 county matches
1st XI
4 x 50 overs county matches
6 x T20 county matches
NB – Players could potentially play across two or more of these age group teams.
Wiltshire Cricket Limited, Development Office, Suite 16-17, Lansdowne Business Centre,
Bumpers Way, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN14 6RZ
Telephone: 01249 445225 Website: www.wiltshirecricket.co.uk
Company No: 7338735
Club Cricket – Hard Ball Opportunities
A discussion was had around the potential for more matches to be played between clubs in
Wiltshire. Currently we are aware that at junior level, hard ball match play is part of either ECB
National Competitions or local “boys” league programmes.
Women’s Senior Cricket
For women, there are a number of matches being played on an unofficial basis between Calne CC,
Devizes CC, Marshfield CC and Potterne CC.
Issues around these matches came from:
 Where matches would be played
 The number of players on each team
 Length of games
Confirmation that, if required by the clubs, Sunday afternoons could be set aside by Wiltshire Cricket
to ensure that county players are able to play for club sides where available.
Club Sundays – These are days set aside by the ECB for club cricket only. That is days where County
Under 15s, Under 17s and 1st XI cricket is not permitted to be played.
8th, 22nd May 5th, 19th June 10th, 31st July 7th, 14th, 21st August
This gives nine “free” Sundays during the season.
Discussion from the group was around a balance between playing midweek evening games and
Sunday afternoon matches. Further discussion was around the number of players that would be
required to play.
Discussion outcomes
 Five clubs were in a position to offer women’s hard ball cricket at this time – South Wilts,
Calne, Biddestone, Corsham and Potterne. NB – there was no representation from Devizes or
Marshfield clubs at the meeting.
 Consideration would be given as to the number of players on each team on a game by game
basis. Eight, nine or ten a side matches would be acceptable to ensure games took place.
 If venues were an issue, consideration would be given for matches to be played on a
“festival” basis with matches all taking place on the same day at the same venue starting at
10.30am, 1.30pm and 4.30pm. By that method, three matches could be played on that day.
 For health and safety purposes, adult cricket would be considered as players being in school
year 9 and older. That is players not playing Under 13s cricket.
Points of action – A formal offer to go out to clubs to gauge interest in this
programme. Potential Club Sunday dates could be offered to clubs. Alternatively,
teams wishing to play matches on weeknight evenings could do so. If it is suitable,
clubs would be more than welcome to play on Sundays and/or midweek evenings.
Wiltshire Cricket Limited, Development Office, Suite 16-17, Lansdowne Business Centre,
Bumpers Way, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN14 6RZ
Telephone: 01249 445225 Website: www.wiltshirecricket.co.uk
Company No: 7338735
Girl’s Hardball Cricket
For girl’s cricket, similar to the Boys, the ECB do run an “FA Cup” style competition at Under 13s and
Under 15s age groups. Entries for these two competitions are made directly to the ECB back in
January annually. Therefore teams who have not entered for 2016 will now be too late.
Similar issues were raised with regards to intra county matches as with the Women’s senior
matches:
 Where matches would be played
 The number of players on each team
 Length of games
Discussion outcomes
 Five clubs were in a position to offer girl’s hard ball match play at this time – South Wilts,
Calne, Corsham, Trowbridge, Chippenham. Malmesbury, Goatacre/Spye Park and Swindon
would be happy to play a combined team with another club to enable them to participate.
NB – there was no representation from Devizes or Marshfield clubs at the meeting.
 Eight, nine or ten a side matches would be acceptable to ensure games took place.
 Matches could be played on a festival basis or during evenings.
 For health and safety purposes, girl’s cricket would be considered as players being in school
year 8 and younger, perhaps down to Under 11s players at primary school level. Decisions
on inclusion would be considered on a game by game basis dependent on ability.
Points of action – A formal offer to go out to clubs to gauge interest in this programme. As with the
Women’s events, if venues are an issue, a “festival” venue could be considered.
Club Cricket – Soft Ball Opportunities
Women’s Softball Cricket
Discussion was based around delivering girls softball options rather than those for women. However
it should be noted that of those clubs present, there was history of softball adult participation
matches being taken. Certainly Swindon and Trowbridge clubs have a capacity for playing matches
at this level.
Points of action – A formal offer to go out to clubs to gauge interest softball participation cricket for
adults.
Girl’s Softball Cricket
There are two official girls softball competitions held annually with regional finals days:
Under 11s – Pairs match – Overs min 8/max 16 – Regional Finals Day – Monday 25th July
Under 13s – Standard rules – Overs min 8/max 16 – Regional Finals Day – Tuesday 26th July
Discussion outcomes
 Feeling in the meeting was that a festival programme would be better than
a weekly league for these two competitions.
Wiltshire Cricket Limited, Development Office, Suite 16-17, Lansdowne Business Centre,
Bumpers Way, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN14 6RZ
Telephone: 01249 445225 Website: www.wiltshirecricket.co.uk
Company No: 7338735
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Consideration would be given as to whether the whole competition should be played on one
day or if it should take place over two dates. That way all teams would be able to play each
other over the course of the two dates.
Venues would need to be found that would be available on Sundays and also be large
enough so that boundaries would be of a sufficient size.
Confirmation that softball matches would be played on the outfield rather than needing a
prepared grass track on the square.
All clubs in attendance were in agreement that they would be interested and able to enter
teams (or combined teams) into these competitions.
Points of action – A formal offer to go out to all clubs to enable clubs to enter teams into the Under
11s and Under 13s competitions. Once entries are in, we would be able to look at dates and a venue
for these competitions. Wiltshire Cricket would be looking at a volunteer(s) to help administrate
these two competitions. This is because it is likely that these festivals might take place on “County
Sundays” on which Ali Goddard would already be committed to 1st XI matches.
Schools Cricket – Match Play Opportunities
Primary School Cricket
Wiltshire Cricket currently deliver three different primary school competitions. All played under the
pairs concept of the game.
ECB Kwik Cricket
Played by almost 50% of the schools in the county, this competition is well established in the school
diary. There are two separate versions, mixed and girls’ only competitions. For both, there are local
qualifying competition dates followed by a county final in June.
Chance to Shine Participation Festivals
44 schools across the county participate in “Chance to Shine”, a programme designed to increase the
amount of participation in schools, as well as developing teachers understanding of the game. One
of the KPIs for the programme is increasing the number of games played by each school.
For this reason, during July, Wiltshire Cricket will be running eleven cluster festivals involving four
teams each at club grounds across the county.
Chance to Shine Indoor Festivals
As a talent spotting programme prior to our autumn trials, Wiltshire Cricket invite primary schools
across the county to participate in small sided indoor girls only festivals. These traditionally take
place in Swindon, Melksham, Chippenham and Salisbury during the last week of September.
Depending on the amount of funding still remaining, these festivals will include teams from
approximately 40 schools from Malmesbury to Salisbury and others in between.
Wiltshire Cricket Limited, Development Office, Suite 16-17, Lansdowne Business Centre,
Bumpers Way, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN14 6RZ
Telephone: 01249 445225 Website: www.wiltshirecricket.co.uk
Company No: 7338735
Points of action – Wiltshire Cricket to ensure that all clubs are aware of the dates of all the festivals
that take place during the summer to enable them to be able to provide coaches on the ground and
flyers to be able to promote their clubs and programmes.
Throughout first part of the summer term, Wiltshire Cricket will be producing flyers to go into
schools to promote cricket clubs local to that school. Wiltshire Cricket will require up to date
contact details for all clubs to be able to do this:
 Boys and girls lead coaches
 Dates, times and venues of outdoor and indoor coaching programmes
Secondary School Cricket
There are no hardball cricket competitions for schools participating in girl’s cricket. However there
are indoor and outdoor softball competitions for schools at Under 13s and Under 15s levels.
Both of these competitions have qualifying rounds, county finals and regional finals as well.
Points of action – Wiltshire Cricket to ensure that cricket clubs are aware of the dates of these
festival days. Wiltshire Cricket will be able to hand out flyers to schools promoting cricket club
coaching programmes during this period.
Any Other Business
Some additional questions were asked of a nature pertinent to those attending the meeting.
However there was nothing raised that was of urgent nature to the meeting.
Meeting Closed
The meeting closed at 9.15pm with all of the above points of action to be forwarded to clubs
attending and not attending the meeting.
Wiltshire Cricket Limited, Development Office, Suite 16-17, Lansdowne Business Centre,
Bumpers Way, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN14 6RZ
Telephone: 01249 445225 Website: www.wiltshirecricket.co.uk
Company No: 7338735