The Club Debate: Club cricket’s unsolvable disputes – how many do you recognise?

The post-season committee meeting is a forum for essential discussion, but even some of the best ideas often fall into inaction. While the freshers air their proposals, the battle-hardened acknowledge that some time-worn arguments are largely irreconcilable. While the club must modernise and strive for inclusivity, it can’t please everybody.

As captain and committee member I’ve been privy to such discussions for over a decade. In that time, the club has swelled from two Saturday teams and one colts team to four Saturday sides and one of the largest junior cricket factories in our county. Along the way I’ve seen many quietly positive changes, as well as a few, very vocal negatives. It’s an ongoing battle between fault-finders and workhorses for the soul of a cricket club, all of us hamsters on the wheel.

The Club Debate: Selection politics.

The team selection process can be a minefield unless the appropriate policies and personnel are in place, writes @Rich_Wisden. #clubcrickethttps://t.co/RBSF8lgvK1

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) August 6, 2019

As part of ECB Clubmark obligations, our club chairman emailed a player survey to 280 members and associates. Thirty replied, anonymously; 21 identified as players, 15 as junior parents and three as non-playing members (some fell into more than one category). Our satisfaction score was healthy, but of course it’s a medium that invites criticism. What are the most common gripes voiced by members of a cricket club, and why is there rarely a catch-all solution?

Selection problems

“Why should he walk back into the first team?” ~ “We should have a chairman of selectors”  ~ “Why is he taking my best players?”

Team selection is a hotbed of politics and fragile egos. While captains should respect their place in the food chain, the process is marred by self-interest, not helped by certain players or captains disregarding the need for fluidity between teams. A clear junior pathway is imperative, but club stalwarts must continue to feel valued too, while fringe players being pinballed around from one XI to the next must be handled with care. Some rue the role of the ‘fill-in’ – someone who’s out of his depth and unlikely to bat or bowl – yet one skipper will blast another for taking his best player. Limited but dutiful players may resent the more talented but less committed being prioritised in an awkward battle between loyalty and performance.

“One of the main problems for the club, and especially the third and fourth XI, is: do we have enough players at any one time?” says Mist. “If you’re the lowest team, you probably need 15 at the start of the week, because by Friday some players higher up may drop out. We have availability problems in late July/August – the holiday season. It is a problem, with no simple answer – other than having 70-80 players, but then most weeks half of them won’t get a game.”

Can’t pay? We’ll take it away!

“We should clamp down on non-payers”

Another one linked to selection, like so many of the game’s headaches, is whether to continue to field players who haven’t paid their subs. The skipper or membership secretary has chased those owing but to no avail: do you omit the offenders from your Saturday squad? While the club will of course be accommodating if the player is facing financial hardship, every year a member of the committee suggests we adopt a tougher stance with non-payers, but what’s the alternative – not having enough players to put out a third or fourth XI, leaving some paid-up members without a game? Some of those calling for a clampdown are also pushing for the instalment of a fifth team. The return of students may allow a tougher stance in the second half of the summer, but by then there are promotion pushes, relegation dogfights and holiday season to contend with.

Social issues

“We should have more social events and family days”

A club is so much more than what happens within the boundary rope – its survival often rests on the effective running of fundraising endeavours, but such social events require volunteers and for players to contribute more time to a cause that already swallows up most of Saturday. Even with organisers installed, buy-in from the membership is far from guaranteed. “It’s the same group of 12 or so people turning up for the pre-season working party every year,” says Mist. “The other 45 don’t, which is depressing. I say to people, ‘Give us an hour a month’ – that’s 12 hours a year – not too difficult is it? If every player did that it’s an enormous amount of time.” Twelve survey responders said they’d like to help our club more; my chairman contacted the anonymous individuals several weeks ago but not one has made themselves known.

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Monster topics such as availability, time, team selection and junior development are interconnected, routinely discussed every season in dressing rooms, pubs and committee rooms. Members must recognise that many proposals and viewpoints, which seem logical at first, can spark chain reactions. This is where communication from the executive committee is key. And while constructive feedback is crucial, members adopting a consumer stance, demanding value at every turn, is counter-productive, especially when the glue holding the whole organisation together is a bunch of ardent volunteers devoted to managing the largely unmanageable.

Your views on last month’s Club Debate

READ THE DEBATE

Where do we draw the line on player behaviour?

“Harpenden’s director of cricket Peter Frost was right: the Spirit of Cricket needs to be drummed into players’ minds constantly. A fairly strict line has to be drawn on player behaviour, otherwise the club game will lose umpires as football has lost referees. Very bad conduct such as striking an opposition player or an umpire (even worse) should draw a ban of at least a year. There needs to be naming and shaming and no sweeping under the carpet. A big problem is that many players play only league cricket and get so hyped about how they do. If they played friendlies as well it may relax them and they may realise that they should enjoy the game rather than seeing it as life and death.” David Rimmer – via email 

“Unfortunately, there are one or two clubs who don’t have the right tone, sledging under 15s on a Saturday afternoon. Pathetic.” Hampton Wick Royal CC – via Twitter