finnish cricket association operations plan 2020 · 2. the development of children and youth...

Finnish Cricket Association Operations Plan 2020

www.cricketfinland.com

Andrew Armitage;Maija Scamans;Heikki Mahlamäki

[Date] [Course title]

2 Suomen Krikettiliitto – Cricket Finland

Contents

Finnish Cricket Association priorities for action in 2020: ................................................................ 3

1. GENERAL ...................................................................................................................................... 4

2. RECREATIONAL SPORT ................................................................................................................. 5

2.1. Non-competitive recreational sport ......................................................................................... 5

2.1.1. Children and youth cricket – get active through cricket ....................................................... 5

2.1.2. Adult non-competitive recreational sport – staying active for life ....................................... 8

2.1.3. Women’s cricket .................................................................................................................... 8

2.2. Competitive recreational sport ............................................................................................... 10

3. ELITE SPORT ............................................................................................................................... 14

3.1. World Cup pathway and international visibility ..................................................................... 14

3.2. National Team Development .................................................................................................. 14

3.3 The best against the best – Club Teams’ international elite tournament European Cricket League (ECL) ................................................................................................................................... 16

4. CLUB DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................................................. 19

5. EFFECTS ON SOCIETY .................................................................................................................. 21

5.1. Ethical values of exercise and sport ........................................................................................ 21

5.2. Equality and equal opportunities ............................................................................................ 22

6. CRICKET INFRASTRUCTURE ........................................................................................................ 24

6.1. Kerava National Cricket Ground ............................................................................................. 24

6.2. Tikkurila Cricket Ground ......................................................................................................... 25

6.3. Cricket infrastructure development ....................................................................................... 26

7. INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES....................................................................................................... 27

8. MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS ...................................................................................... 27

8.1. The goal is the recognition of cricket ...................................................................................... 27

8.2. Live streaming of matches ...................................................................................................... 29

9. COURSES .................................................................................................................................... 29

9.1. Umpiring and scoring .............................................................................................................. 29

9.2. Coaches and instructors .......................................................................................................... 31

10. ADMINISTRATION AND PERSONNEL ........................................................................................ 31

11. THE STRATEGY OF FINNISH CRICKET COMMENCING 2020 ..................................................... 34


The mission of the Finnish Cricket Association is to

make cricket a respected, successful, accessible, and

fun sport in Finland.

Finnish Cricket Association’s priorities for action in

2020:

1. THE TWENTY-20 WORLD CUP REGIONAL QUALIFIER 2020

a. The Association will ensure the financial resources and required staff for the

qualifiers.

b. The Association will work closely with the Ministry of Education and Culture and

alongside the cities of Kerava and Vantaa to ensure a successful tournament.

c. The National team will be given the best possible preparation for the tournament.

d. The possibilities for future use of the infrastructure will be ensured.

2. THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH CRICKET AS WELL AS WOMEN’S CRICKET

a. An official Women’s Cricket league or tournament will be held during the 2020

season.

b. An official Youth Cricket league or tournament will be held during the 2020 season.

c. Special support will be given to a club focused on Women’s and Youth Cricket.

3. STRENGTHENING STRUCTURES

As the Association’s activities expand, it is essential to strengthen the number of

committed volunteers and part-time paid staff, to secure the ascending progression of

the training and competition development.

A comment from the translator: The phrases Association, Finnish Cricket Association and Cricket Finland are

being used parallel in this document, hence meaning the same organisation.


1. GENERAL

The purpose of Cricket Finland (CF) is to promote cricket as a sport to as many Finns and foreign residents in Finland as possible, at all levels of sport, and to act as a common link for its members clubs. In addition, the Association promotes and monitors the development of the sport in our country and represents Finland in the sport’s international bodies.

The aim of the Association is to create opportunities for experiencing the joy of exercise brought by the sport, to as many different parts of the population as possible, and thereby contribute to the well-being and health of the enthusiasts, in addition to maintaining and improving their mobility. The special focus of the work is on guiding children and young people to the sport.

The Association achieves its purpose by carrying out education courses and training related to cricket, by supporting cricket clubs in their creation and internal development, by organising national cricket competitions at all levels of the sport, by supporting non-competitive recreational cricket and by creating opportunities for competing internationally. The Association also finances and publishes cricket related material, represents its members abroad, and maintains contact with similar organisations in other countries.

As a national governing body for the sport, Cricket Finland promotes the interests of cricket in Finland, and monitors that the Association and its affiliated clubs comply by the rules, regulations, obligations, and ethical principles of the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club), the ICC (International Cricket Council), Finnish sports law and directives, and other bodies that monitor and control sport and physical activity.

Cricket is a unique sport in Finland in the sense that it connects players, who come from countries that play the world’s second most popular team sport with grass-root Finnish enthusiasts. To those, who play cricket, this offers both the enjoyment of playing the sport and the opportunity to experience new cultural influences, as well as develop language skills. Joint participation is likely to bring migrants and the general population closer together, thus also reducing inequalities due to different backgrounds. Through its activities Cricket Finland is strongly involved in facilitating the integration of immigrant players into Finnish society, and through the diversity of the sport it is promoting equality and non-discrimination.


2. RECREATIONAL SPORT

2.1. Non-competitive recreational sport 2.1.1. Children and youth cricket – getting active through cricket The development of junior activities and coaching is the cornerstone of the future for the sport, to which Cricket Finland invests greatly with financial and human resources. The interest that arises from the introduction sessions to the sport, is channelled into regular hobby through a clear player pathway. The main activities are:

• Restarting club-based children’s and youth activity with a club specifically founded for that purpose, with a long-term goal of growing players also to those clubs that are not able to organise their own player development programme

• Focussing the school collaboration project on selected schools

• Training new coaches and teachers for school cricket

• Regular youth coaching, summer camps and tournaments

• The coaching of the U21 national team continues in cooperation with the adult national team

• The development of coaching for U17 players as a part of the player pathway

Collaboration with schools and municipalities The principle of the collaboration with schools is to have fewer schools than before, but more activities in the chosen ones. The hope is that schools will take school cricket as an integral part of their activities, both during and after the school day. The search for partner schools will be concentrated at this stage in the metropolitan area, Kerava and Turku regions, as well as in Oulu, Tampere, Jyväskylä and possibly other areas. At the beginning of the school year, the partner schools are offered group building sessions using cricket, introduction to cricket during physical education (P.E.) classes, training for teachers, and holding P.E. lessons together with a cricket specialist. In addition to Cricket Finland’s part-time coaches, this

Cricket equipment to the ICEC Westend daycare


project will include sport instructors from outside of cricket, who will be provided separately with cricket-specific training. In addition to school tournaments and other similar activities, partner schools are offered the opportunity to have club activities either during or after the school day. Cricket as a diverse sport, can also fit perfectly into a multi-sport club. School tournaments are primarily played with mixed teams and in the school cricket the starting point for the rules is that everyone gets to play. In this way, everyone can experiment with different aspects of the game and find their own strengths. The unique conditions offered by the cricket ground in Kerava are utilised in the school project, whereby the enthusiasm generated in the indoor games can be transferred to the outdoor grounds. An important role in expanding the awareness of children and adolescents lies with Cricket Finland’s different partners, with whom we are creating opportunities for young people to get to know cricket and this way find new ways to practice sports. A well-functioning and mutually beneficial cooperation exist with, for example, Blackbirds United ry, who are a floorball club from Kerava.

A low threshold sport

The threshold for starting cricket is very low. Introduction events organised by the Association are free for children and youths. In addition, summer camp prices are very affordable, covering primarily the cost of the snack lunch for the day. The price of the day camps will continue to be affordable. The junior cricket format, Street20 cricket, which is also being adjusted to schools, is technically and tactically easy to learn and so junior players get the experience of success right from the start. The game format is flexible, and depending on the situation, can be played with teams of 5, 6, 7 or 8 players. Since the game is short, a school cricket tournament is very easy to organise within a P.E. lesson.

Beginners do not need to make equipment purchases. The Association and its member clubs have the necessary equipment available to start the sport, so regular sport/outdoor clothing is all that is needed to start the hobby. This equipment solution works equally well for children and youths, as well as for adults.

A hit already on the first try


The Cricket Association will organise two junior summer camps in Kerava and/or in Tikkurila in the summer of 2020.

Juniors for member clubs, a member club for juniors

In 2020 efforts will be made to support those clubs that are ready to include junior players in their activities. This will require at least coaching and education support from the Association.

Cricket Finland will support a club focussing on juniors, which was re-established at the end of 2019. There will be support for the parents of the children and youths, as well as interested coaches, to get the club’s development to a good start and have a strong base. This is one of the most important strategic priorities of CF and a corner stone for the future in Finland.

To ensure regular junior activities, training facilities have been booked in Helsinki until April 2020, and active marketing has already reached several motivated players of various ages and their families. This activity strengthens the Association’s principal of having a low threshold for starting the sport.

Player pathway

A clear player pathway from school-age to adult players and to the national team is still being developed. Nonetheless, individual players have grown and evolved within the sport from juniors to national level. With a more centralised school cooperation project the Association will clarify the pathway, which will lead from introduction to the sport at school and through training, to a school’s internal tournaments, as well as to inter-school tournaments. The focus is at the beginning of the path and in the selected schools.

The next step from school cricket is local regular training for children and youth, which is already organised in collaboration with some local cricket clubs. The goal is to form regional teams in the next few years that will be able to play against other regional teams. Through regional competition we will be able to develop competitive age group activity in Finland and, for example, between the Nordic countries, and thus start age group national team competition.

In 2020 the youth national team squad will be offered regular high-quality coaching with the Finnish men’s national team coaching crew. These young players will play for their own clubs in the Cricket Finland leagues and get together a few times a month for a joint practice. The training sessions are arranged mostly together with the men’s national team. Additionally, the youth players will be included in the Twenty20 Elite series.

Summer camp in Kerava in 2019 Cricket demonstration at SM-viikko


2.1.2. Adult non-competitive recreational sport – staying active for life

Recreational events under the Association – cricket suits all ages

Non-competitive recreational cricket for adults continues as in previous years and is mainly driven by the clubs. Local and regional amateur tournaments will be included in the Cricket Finland activity calendar. If possible, the (timing of the) tournaments and mini leagues organised by the clubs will be adjusted to the league calendar so that the widest possible player base and supporter groups can participate in these events.

The Association encourages clubs to participate in sporting events in their region. Such events may include, for example, Unelmien liikuntapäivä (”The Exercise Day of Your Dreams” on May 10, 2020) or other such municipal or regional sports events.

The Association continues to expand its non-hard ball cricket activities (tennis ball, lightweight cricket ball etc.) as started in 2019. The use of a non-hard ball for the games lowers the threshold to start the sport and reduces equipment needs and ground requirements. Modified cricket using non-hard balls has also become a part of the ICC’s global development strategy.

Hobby license The hobby license that has been in use for a few years, has not yet fully established itself and does not yet cover all the cricket players outside the leagues. Using licenses, the Association seeks to obtain a better overall picture of the number of players and volunteers in clubs in Finland. In return, the members of the clubs are included in the Cricket Finland activities, educational courses, and events, while gaining financial benefits from, among other things, insurance and Association arranged discounted equipment purchases. The Suomisport application is used as a tool for all the Association’s licensing activities. The Cricket Finland softball-cricket working group that worked as part of club development in 2019, has sought to activate those players and clubs, who for various reasons have not participated in the official leagues. The goal in 2020 is to get these clubs and their players to better understand the benefits that Association membership brings. These include, for example, access to small-scale tournaments, the opportunity to participate in camps and training sessions organised by Cricket Finland (for example, umpire and scorer training) and access to the equipment purchase and insurance arrangements. This way the aim is to get these ad hoc “groups”, who practice the sport, and the new players from different ethnic backgrounds (including Finns), to join the Cricket Finland non-competitive recreational sports.

2.1.3. Women’s cricket

Although women’s cricket is growing at a fast pace globally, there is currently no separate official women’s league in Finland due to the small number of female players. In 2019 women’s cricket took a big step forward through both recreational training sessions as well as games organised by Cricket Finland. Developing women’s cricket to be even stronger and on an even larger scale is one of the main goals of the Association in 2020. The aim is to play at least one official women’s cricket tournament or championship league during the year.


Women’s cricket will be guided more and more to be run by clubs and this will be initiated by starting women’s cricket in the new club with special Cricket Finland support. The club will get support from the Cricket Association especially in organising coaching.

Individual goals The Association’s actions Indicators

Ensuring regular training 1) booking the facility 2) an experienced coach at the trainings

yes/no yes/no

Increasing the number of participants at trainings

The coach writes down the amount of players Booking extra space, if needed Necessary coaching support

amount has/has not grown yes/no yes/no

Tournament/league in the winter of 2020

Booking the grounds yes/no

Confirming required officials yes/no

Taking care of social media visibility

yes/no

Outdoor league/tournament during 2020

Will be taken into account in

the LSC’s match schedule

yes/no

Ensure a big enough player pool

enough/not enough (Suomisport)

The tournament is finished, and the feeling is good


2.2. Competitive recreational sport The main focus for competitive recreational sport is on the competitions organised by Cricket Finland, which are complemented by competitions organised by member clubs and other organisations. The Association is giving special attention to ensuring that events organised by other organisations fit together with the Association’s own plans and that the organisers commit to ensuring that at least the minimum required safety levels exist.

Balance between the different formats

In 2020 the Association will organise the following competitions in order of priority (the situation on 11/2019):

Format Match Length

Teams No. of levels

(2019 -> 2020) Field resources/

match Resources totally

(2019 -> 2020) Notes

Twenty20 3h 1st XI 3 -> 2 1,0 100 -> 119 More matches

Twenty20 3h 2nd XI 0 -> 1 1,0 32 -> 46 More matches

One-Day 6-7h 1st XI 3 -> 2 2,0 188 -> 144

One-Day 6-7h 2nd XI 0 -> 1 2,0 0 -> 30 Burden sharing with the clubs

Ten10 1h Open 1 0,5 15 -> 33 3-day tournament -> league

Ten10 1h Open 0 -> 1 0,5 Not known

Cage Cricket 1h Open 1 Not significant Not significant ”SM-viikko” competition

Indoor Cricket 1h Open 1 Not significant Not significant Winter season

The use of resources has been calculated according to the actual availability of grounds for reservation, which m the relationship to the length of match (second column) is not direct and consideration is also given to necessary organising activities before and after each match. Therefore, the resources needed for the shortest Ten10 matches are approximately half of those needed for a Twenty20 match, because the organising activities before and after each match are the same.


Developing the structures of the leagues and the League Sub-Committee

Cricket Finland will continue to clarify the responsibilities and obligations of the evolving and increasingly complex competition structures by opening the league license system to all clubs that participate in competitions organised by Cricket Finland. The league model that previously has mainly functioned based on competition rules, club membership and player licenses, will change to relying more on agreements. This way the Association will improve its ability to coordinate especially the range of the summer season competitions, and to license the copyright of media materials of the competitions.

The League Sub-Committee composition will be expanded, and its work will be further developed towards a more autonomous and formal direction. This development is part of Cricket Finland’s goal for independent sub-committees, who form a network within the organisation, and whose interactive coordination will happen at a management committee level (later as ‘Management’). Cricket umpiring, which currently functions under the League Sub-Committee (LSC), will be formed into its own subcategory under LSC, and all the activities and staff will be coordinated by a volunteer team leader.

The various summer season competition formats will be coordinated by volunteer League Managers, who will also be responsible for various routine-type decisions.

Clubs’ second teams (2nd XIs) will be moved into their own T20 competition structure, and the organisation of the One Day matches for 2nd XI teams will be left to clubs to arrange outside of the league structure. The use of resources will drop greatly compared to previous years. Through these changes it is possible to allow more time for playing shorter formats on grass grounds, but the ability to increase access to grass grounds is restricted to the availability of reserved game time at the Tikkurila Cricket Ground. Gravel ground resources are improved by the Käpylä ground, as its permanent artificial wicket will be available for the whole season.

The one-hour long Ten10 format matches will be added to the range of leagues on offer. Previously only played during SM-viikko as a weekend tournament, the game also suits beginners, and therefore both hard and soft ball leagues will be established. In the implementation of the latter, astroturf grounds in indoor halls can also be used since they are more available during the summer.

The Cricket Finland role as the national guardian of the sport

As the significance of Cricket Finland has internationally grown considerably since of the rise of the men’s national team ranking score and the European Cricket League agreement, the Association must now pay more attention to its role as a national guardian of the sport. Cricket Finland will renew its national and international competition sanctioning - or licensing - system to better meet the need to protect its own competitions and to enable the compilation of statistics of all cricket played in Finland and by Finnish teams abroad. The process, which began in 2019 has understandably caused contradictory feelings in the Finnish cricket community, as the participation in competitions outside Cricket Finland leagues has previously not been limited, even during the summer league season.

Recreational matches played outside of the Cricket Finland competitions will be brought into the Association’s statistics and sanctioning. Based on the experiences from 2019 the sanctioning process will be made simpler and faster for the organisers of recreational cricket competitions.

The playing rights of licensed players outside of Cricket Finland organised games has been limited starting from the 2019 season and development work will continue with the sanctioning system. Player licenses complement the club licenses by tying the players clearly to the Association’s multi-layer rule-model and by ensuring personal commitment to, for example, the mandatory transferring of copyrights and data protection rights for live broadcasted games.


SM-Viikko (SM week)

Cricket Finland will participate in the Finnish National Championship Week (SM-viikko) to be organised in Joensuu on 31 Jan – 2 Feb, 2020. This time the chosen format is cage cricket, which was first played in the first SM-viikko event in Tampere, in 2016. The Cricket Association has so far participated in all SM-viikko events.

Individual targets:

Target Association’s actions Indicators

Increase the focus on shorter formats (under 30 overs)

Shift the use of resources from longer to shorter formats

change 2019 -> 2020

The work of the League Sub-Committee will intensify and become more visible within the cricket community

The structure will be made clearer, formalised and announced to the cricket community

did/did not happen

The Association has visibility to all cricket played in Finland and by Finns abroad

Sanctioning of club games will be solidified

The process has been described and explained clearly on the Cricket Finland website

have/have not used the sanctioning process

The sanctioning system for licensed players will be solidified

Number of applications received through the process / penalties issued due to unauthorized participation

Cricket grows as a competition sport

Attract more players to competitive cricket by changing the focus point of the different formats and by establishing new competitions

Growth in the number of licensed players 2019 -> 2020


SM-week finalists 2019 in Tikkurila, Vantaa


3. ELITE SPORT

3.1. World Cup pathway and international visibility The international arena has changed significantly since 2018 after the ICC renewed its membership categories, the criteria for international cricket, and the format specific tournament pathways. As a result of the clearer qualification structure, the national team activities have become more target oriented and, for players, more inspirational.

The definition of international Twenty20 matches (T20I) that build up ranking points has from the start of 2019 been extended to include all official matches between members of the ICC. All matches played under the approved circumstances will be counted towards the ranking of the Finnish national team.

As a result of the current international ranking, Cricket Finland has achieved greater visibility through the live broadcasting of national team matches and the T20I series played against Spain, as well as a surprising increase in the betting value of domestic competitions. The increased visibility will be utilized through the rights owned by Cricket Finland in all events in the year.

National team

Regional World Cup qualifiers in Finland!

In June 2020 Finland will be hosting one of Europe’s regional World Cup qualifiers. In addition to Finland, there will be seven other European cricket countries participating. The participating countries will be announced at the end of 2019. The tournament will declare, which country is to continue on the path towards the final, which will be played in India in 2021.

The qualifiers will be played at the Kerava National Cricket ground and in Tikkurila Sports park the week

after midsummer (22.-30.6.). This tournament will be the biggest and most significant cricket event ever

held in Finland and arranging it will be a big effort for the Association. In addition to financial resources,

organising this event will require a great number of talented volunteers for a number of tasks. The

tournament will be offered to different colleges as a practical and development path opportunity for

sports and media/communications students, as well as sports facility care students. This has been briefly

discussed with both Eerikkilä and Vierumäki Sports academies.

Cricket Finland will receive financial support from the ICC for some of the organisational fees. The

Association is also applying special funding from the Ministry of Education and Culture for financing the

organisation of big sports events. If finances allow it, Cricket Finland will hire a professional event

organiser to lead the preparations and implementation of the tournament. In addition, the Association

is seeking commercial sponsorships for the event.

For the national team, this tournament and the preparations leading up to it, will be the main focus for 2020. The national team preparation for the qualifier tournament is being supported with a training camp in Spain at the beginning of May, and a practice tournament between Finland and Spain (official ranking games) will be organised during the camp.

3.2. National Team general development The focus of the national team coaching is on individual level skills, teamwork, and physical fitness.

During 2019 the national team coaching group has grown with two specialised coaches (a bowling coach

and a batting coach). The group has succeeded in creating a culture of positive continuity and

consistency to the coaching. The team has also been supported by a professional fitness expert and,


since summer 2018, also by a sports psychology student from Jyväskylä University. All these activities

will continue and partially expand in 2020 as part of the preparations for the World Cup qualifying

tournament, while they are also a basis for future development.

Individual Targets Association’s Actions Indicators

Individual skill development Updating of player specific development needs analysis

yes/no

Customised training programs for every player for winter 2019-2020

yes/no

Confirmation of winter training facilities (Pallomylly)

yes/no

Search for better indoor training facilities

yes/no

Improvement of players’ physical performance

Continue individual fitness measurements twice per year

Every player’s fitness level has improved

Create individual training regimes using information from the fitness measurements

yes/no

Diary of every training session (centralised log)

yes/no

Strengthening of the team’s internal activities

Team supervises its own training (amount and quality)

Does/Does not require actions from the team management

Improvement in the team’s internal communication processes

Information is/is not distributed to all persons without delay

The Finnish national team and the coaching group at Kerava in August 2019


Players’ commitment to common goals and actions

1) Deviations/no deviations 2) Players did/did not participate in the Elite League

3.3 The best against the best – Club Teams’ International Elite Tournament European Cricket League (ECL)

In the autumn of 2019 the Association made a multi-year cooperation agreement to participate in the international European Cricket League tournament. The tournament, which included eight countries when organised in 2019, gathers Europe’s small and medium-size cricket countries’ champion teams in short format cricket to play for “Europe’s Cricket Championship”. The tournament of 2020, when organised in Spain, greatly increases the visibility of Finnish club cricket in larger cricket countries both in Europe and worldwide.

The participation in the ECL is expected to have a positive effect on the level of interest in the Finnish Twenty20 Championship. For the first time the champion team can expect “Eurogames”, and because the ECL’s tournament timetable stays similar to 2019, meaning it lands exactly at the beginning of the Finnish grass-pitch season in late May early June, it serves as a starting motivator for the top level national matches.

The Finnish participant in the tournament will be the winner of the Twenty20 Premier League, Helsinki Cricket Club. The ECL tournament, which was founded in 2019, is conceptually similar to football’s Champion’s League – the only difference being that for the time being it is played in approximately one week in one location – and already in its founding year it gained great interest. More teams will attend the 2020 tournament than last year, so the amount of interest is expected to increase.

T20 Elite League The T20 Elite League, held for the first time in 2018, will continue. The core goal of this league is to allow Finland's best players to play together in the best possible operating environment. This league plays a central role in the individual training of national team players. All players in the national team play in this series together with the “best of the rest” from the national leagues. This increases the quality of the matches and takes the sport towards international standards. The league is played in a tournament format, whereby players from the national team also receive necessary tournament experience.

Stati5stics from the 2019 ECL tournament


Young people to join the national team pathway

The national youth team players from 2019 have been added to the adult national team squad. The Youth National team will be further developed by bringing in new, talented players.

The National team captain “flying” against Spain


The Spanish star batsman is out!


4. CLUB DEVELOPMENT

Tähtiseura Star clubs

At the beginning of 2020 the Finnish Cricket Association has altogether 32 membership clubs, with two new clubs joining recently, at the end of 2019, namely Joensuu Cricket Association and Saimaa Cricket Club from Lappeenranta, whose membership will be confirmed at the beginning of January. The growth in the clubs’ membership, however, brings increasing quality demands for club operations and administration.

It appears that all CF member clubs have not yet understood the key role that club operations play in the development of the sport. For instance, the widespread introduction of women and children/youth to cricket can succeed only with the support of clubs. Selected clubs are being supported to gradually establish these forms of action. Clubs are offered support especially in children’s and youth activities.

Cricket Finland is a part of the Tähtiseura club development project run by the Finnish Olympic Committee. The project was briefly introduced to member clubs during 2019 and with the support of the Association three cricket clubs have been chosen to begin their journey on the Tähtiseura path and to pilot the programme within cricket. The project will offer the cricket clubs the help and support they need to develop their clubs. In addition, the communication between Cricket Finland and the clubs will be strengthened, initially with this small group, which will then enable building a toolkit for best practices.


Multi-sport clubs give new opportunities

The focus of the resources within the Cricket Finland member clubs is currently on the participation in the CF organised summer season competitions and in the winter season on coordinating practice sessions. Most clubs do not organise beginners’ courses for individuals interested in starting cricket, and recreational junior activity does not exist outside CF organised training sessions. Most underage players have found the sport through family members or relatives, who play the sport, and school cricket does not produce significant conversion to league players, as the Association or the clubs do not have a player development pathway to offer to new players. Furthermore, the clubs’ volunteer resources do not grow, since parents of junior players cannot be expected to commit to club action, or the parents are already engaged in club action.

A significant new way in fixing the problem are multi-sport clubs in big cities, under whose umbrella a cricket club would gain significant visibility within the parent club’s other sports clubs, and could thereby attract more players to cricket, as a secondary sport at first. The only club so far that has existed under a multi-sport club is in Alajärven Ankkurit, but even in that club cricket action has not been organised for a few years. Club cooperation has been done in junior activity, but it has not yet produced more competitive recreational players.

This would primarily be a process between an existing cricket club and a multi-sport club, where the Cricket Finland would act as a helper and messenger. If any multi-sport club activity would have been born out of clubs’ own initiative by now, the Association would not have to function in this arena. However, because this has the potential to grow the number of players significantly, the interest of Cricket Finland in the matter is significant.

With new international game opportunities (World Cup qualifiers, European Cricket League) the player pathway is also now more tempting and, for the time being, as the player numbers are low, the progress on the path can be very rapid for talented players. The same reasons add to the aspirational factor of cricket as a sport towards multi-sport clubs; especially as cricket’s international significance and hidden potential in Finland are exposed.

Individual targets Association’s actions Indicators

3 clubs participate in the Star

Club (Tähtiseura) project

Support, instruction, and guidance

Included/not included

Clubs will be met “face-to-

face”

The team meets every club before the end of 2020 and 50% during 2019

Yes/no

Identify the most important organisational development areas in the meetings (jointly agreed)

Yes/no

Offer templates for administration

Offered/not offered

Club coaching abilities Arrange coaching courses Arranged/not arranged

50% of clubs participate 50% reached/not reached


5. EFFECTS ON SOCIETY

5.1. Ethical values of exercise and sport

The Association has coded into its Code of Conduct, and in the lower level regulations that are based on the Code of Conduct, the sport’s ethical values. The Spirit of Cricket defined in the Preamble of the Laws of Cricket functions as the guiding principle in all cricket matches.

Specific regulations have been created for the following areas:

- equal opportunities and equality (Equal Opportunity and Equality Plan) * - Code of Conduct and Spirit of Cricket * - Disciplinary Guidelines * - Antidoping, punishments in doping situations (Antidoping Program, Anti-Doping Rules) - Match corruption (Anti-Corruption Code)

* = rules will be updated by the beginning of the summer season 2020

As domestic cricket competitions became a target for foreign betting agencies in 2019, the Association has an interest in cooperating with parties offering Finnish targets, in order to prevent match manipulation. The Association has a confidential system in use to allow the reporting of suspected match manipulation. In 2020 special attention will be paid to the internal marketing of the system, as betting now extends to domestic matches. Match reporting will be developed to match more closely the Association’s feedback and development needs, as well as considering the increased reporting needs brought about by betting.

In 2020 Cricket Finland will investigate the need to create separate ethical guidleines specifically for administrative use.


5.2. Equality and equal opportunities

The exceptionally diverse group of licensed players and active club members in the Finnish sporting field is the best guarantee for the continuation of the activities of Cricket Finland as an organisation that recognises cultural sensitivity, and if needed reacts to it, but at the same time maintains cricket’s universal character and preserves the integrity of competitions. The Association reacts strongly against suspected discrimination due to gender, ethnicity, faith, or any other reason both at competition events and outside of them. Competitions organised by the Association are open for everyone, but the need for (from the perspective of license player demographics) a separate competition for the minority genders is obvious according to the statistics.

On a more concrete level, to enable equal opportunities, Cricket Finland is giving strategic support for women’s training and games, as in previous years. A specific aim for 2020, is expanding competitive recreational cricket to women’s championship series level.

The Association will update its Equality and Equal Opportunities Plan in 2020.

Supporting the integration of immigrants

Cricket plays a strong part in lowering the cultural boundaries by having a low threshold to allow immigrants, who have played the game elsewhere, to take up the sport in Finland, joining a wide variety of players from Finland as well as from other countries and backgrounds. In this way, people who have recently entered Finland, can become involved in activities, which can help them feel as an important part of the Finnish sports family.


Reducing regional inequalities Although cricket is widely played around the country, the game is largely concentrated in the metropolitan area. In order to equalise opportunities for clubs outside the metropolitan area to participate in the Association’s leagues, the Association will continue to use the league travel fund to compensate clubs for travel expenses. In the system those clubs that have to travel considerably more than others, as well as further afield, will receive support for their extra costs. Cricket Finland will continue its established activities to support the development of cricket throughout the country, even if the local clubs do not participate in the CF official leagues. With the help of these activities Cricket Finland encourages clubs outside the Helsinki-Turku-Tampere triangle to participate in the CF competitions by organising the league schedule in a way that clubs travelling from further away can play several games within one day or a weekend. The Association will also increase the cooperation with its geographically peripheral clubs by assisting them more than previously in organising competitions between themselves.


The Association’s rules will be updated to match the growing organisation’s needs and the changes that have happened in the field of action

The Association’s Code of Conduct will be updated during 2020 for the AGM to approve. A team will be established for this process.

Yes/no

Updating of the equality and

equal opportunities plan

The plan will be updated

Updated/not updated

Preventing match corruption Continuing and improving the confidential reporting system

Informing clubs about the

above issues

Have/have not been informed

Development of match reporting

Developed/not developed


6. CRICKET INFRASTRUCTURE

In the CF strategy work of 2017 three central areas of development concerning infrastructure were identified: The possibility for batting and bowling practice in the winter season, the lack of indoor facilities, and the need to increase the amount of suitable outdoor cricket grounds (size and grass pitch).

The significant international tournament that is being planned for 2020 sets certain demands on the further development of the chosen grounds (Kerava National Cricket Ground and Tikkurila Cricket Ground). The negotiations concerning these, and in some parts the preparations as well, have started by the end of 2019.

The lack of suitable infrastructure for the sport is still a factor that limits growth. For this reason, the development of this area is crucial for the sport’s survival. The good experiences from multi-sport use of the Vantaa grass ground function as a model and a starting point for future projects.

The framework/goals for developing cricket infrastructure are based on the ICC ground requirements for international matches.

6.1. Kerava National Cricket Centre

The Kerava Cricket Ground is Cricket Finland’s “crown jewel” and the Association will continue to invest in the upkeep of the ground in 2020.

The fixed sight screen, scorer’s hut, and relocated scoreboard projects that were implemented during the summer season of 2019, will be finalised during the spring of 2020.

The Kerava ground needs further development in preparation for the international tournament in the summer of 2020. The ICC inspected the grounds in 2019 and pointed out certain areas of development that are a requirement for organising the tournament. Negotiations with the City of Kerava commenced already in 2019 and the cooperation progresses in a positive manner.

From a timing and match perspective the most critical individual area of development is the small expansion of the ground in the southeast area. This development will ensure that the ground fulfils the ICC’s specified minimum requirements. This work must be done by the start of the growth period of 2020, so that the grass surface is strong enough by the time of the tournament.

The other important areas of development for the tournament and also for general league use are:

• Rain covers to protect the wicket and bowler’s run-up areas (all in all 50m x 4m)

• Increasing safety by building a protective net at the south end of the ground (the Keravantie 148 side). This has already been done on the northern residential side by using old electric line poles to support the netting.

• Renewing and possible expansion of the practice batting cages

• Road signs directing people to the ground, similar to those used for the town’s ice rink and sports halls. The signs show and remind that an international sport exists in Kerava.

Trainings and games are held at the Kerava ground as much as the grass surface allows. Usage of the ground as efficiently as possible is important for both the development of the sport as well as the CF finances. In addition to international matches and league games, the ground is also used for the national team and club trainings, school cricket events and the CF annual junior camps.

The live broadcasting of matches played at the grounds is being further developed in 2020.


The Association is also looking for ways to take better advantage of the Kerava infrastructure in the

winter season.

6.2. Tikkurila Cricket Ground League games have been played at the Tikkurila cricket ground ever since the 2018 SM-viikko and it has become the second most important ground after Kerava. The cooperation with the City of Vantaa has been very positive. In 2020 the ground will continue to be shared with football as much as the wear of the grass surface allows.

The World Cup qualifying tournament requires development especially at the Tikkurila ground. The developmental needs have been discussed with Vantaa City in a very positive manner at the end of 2019. The development of the ground that will be done for the tournament, will also serve the further use of the ground.

The most crucial areas of development are:

• Size of the pitch: The size of the pitch is currently slightly less than noted in the minimum requirements for the size of the pitches used in international matches. As a solution, the south side of the pitch will be enlarged by filling the dip, so that it is at the same level as the rest of the ground. This work needs to be done by the start of the growth period of 2020, so that the grass surface is strong enough by the time of the tournament.

• Safety: Safety must be increased by adding an approximately 10 meters high protective net on the south side of the ground (the side of the residential area). At the Kerava ground this has been done with the help of old telegraph poles. A temporary solution is also possible.

• Building batting cages: A two lane batting cage will be built next to the pitch before the tournament

• Sightscreens at each end of the pitch: A simple solution shall be placed at both ends of the pitch, that can easily be moved away after games, so that it does not disturb other pitch users.

• Rain covers: A framework plus a rain-proof tarpaulin. Both grounds used for the tournament – Tikkurila and Kerava – should have as equal conditions as possible, so that if it rains, all teams have as identical opportunities as possible to play the matches. After rain, it is equally important on both pitches to be able to continue as fast as possible, as the tournament’s game schedule is not flexible.

• Broadcasting of the matches and the need for a scoreboard at the ground will be clarified before the tournament.

Käpylä

Successful cooperation between the City of Helsinki and the Cricket Association led to the instalment of a permanent artificial wicket at the Käpylä gravel ground at the start of the 2019 summer season. The ground was used very actively for almost all the summer season of 2019, and this will continue in 2020. The negotiations of possibly developing the ground further will continue. One option that was discussed is installing natural grass or turf in place of the current gravel. Other smaller scale equipment related changes are also being evaluated. For example, better storage facilities would contribute to the possibility of playing on the ground.


6.3. Cricket infrastructure development Development of indoor training opportunities

As listed in the Cricket Finland strategy, the administration has continued the work to the development of indoor training opportunities for the winter season. Negotiations that began in 2019 with Eerikkilä Sport Academy led to an agreement on a cooperative project and the Cricket Association has applied for special funding for developing the sport from the Ministry of Education and Culture.

If the funding is granted, Eerikkilä, the Ministry of Education and Culture, and Cricket Finland will together fund the construction of cricket specific practice batting cages at the Academy. In that case the construction work will begin in early 2020, so this new training facility will be available for use during the first quarter of the year. In addition to the batting cages the academy offers good opportunities for training for outdoor skills.

Cricket Finland will use the training facilities offered by Eerikkilä especially for developing the national team. The most crucial factor guiding the timetable of training is the international tournament to be played in Finland in the beginning of the summer of 2020. The national team aims to be in its best shape by the start of the tournament. Eerikkilä will also be available for use by the cricket clubs and CF will market this possibility to its members.

The 2020 indoor league will, unlike previous years, be played in the Pallomylly indoor football arena. This will provide more similar conditions to the outdoor season short format games, which will also support the development of summer season skills.

The search for a functioning cooperation solution for playing cage cricket continues. The cage solution would enable the training of other sports possible in the same space (and at the same time). If possible, the cage would be placed in the same hall as the batting cages. Cage cricket is the format that will be played at the 2020 SM-viikko in Joensuu.

Other infrastructure development

The lack of full-size cricket grounds is still a factor that strongly limits the development of the sport. In addition to the right size grounds, the goal is to get more grass grounds in the country (natural grass or turf). Even in the metropolitan area, where there has been good development in this respect, many league matches are still played on gravel grounds that are too small.

Outside of the metropolitan area, only the Kupittaa ground in Turku is big enough, but unfortunately it is a gravel ground. Regarding Kupittaa, negotiations with the Coty of Turku have begun about a possibility

Käpylä cricket ground worksite – June 2019


of developing it further. The Association together with the Turku-based club strongly support the development of the Kupittaa ground. In Varsinais-Suomi negotiations with the town of Salo continue concerning the implementation of ground requirements for the 2021 SM-viikko cricket tournament.

Cricket Finland will continue the discussion with at least Espoo and Tampere sports authorities in order to get the ground needs of local clubs clearly highlighted and taken into consideration, when planning the cities’ sport facilities. The Tikkurila multi-sport ground is a good example of how cooperation enables the growth of cricket with small investments and without other sports suffering from it.

7. INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES

In 2018 the International Cricket Council (ICC) changed the development priorities and structures, the World Cup tournament pathways, and in particular, the scorecard weightings and the criteria for distributing financial support based on the said scorecard. These changes continue to have a significant impact on the functioning of the Association.

An active regional cooperation has been developed further with the national cricket associations of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, and starting in 2019, also with Germany. The advantages of this cooperation have been identified and initiatives have taken place with, for example, national team activities (Nordic Championship, tournaments etc.), women’s cricket and junior activity, in fundraising and sponsorship development, and as a new area of action, within partner cooperation in equipment purchases. The interest and support that the ICC has towards developing cricket in the Nordic countries is a positive sign for Cricket Finland.

In recent years, the cooperation with the Danish Cricket Association has worked well and all efforts will be made to strengthen together the development of the sport also in future. Denmark has the longest cricket history in the Nordic countries and its international level is clearly the highest in the region.

International role

The work of the Finnish Cricket Association Chairman, Andrew Armitage, as the ICC’s European representative will continue until 2020. With the help of this important role, the Finnish Cricket Association has the possibility to network internationally and gain valuable insight into how cricket develops as a sport worldwide. Working actively at international level has played an important role in ensuring financial support for the Cricket Association.

8. MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS

8.1. Aiming for recognition

Increasing the awareness of cricket among Finnish sports enthusiasts is challenging. In marketing for sports, and more broadly for leisure activities, cricket competes not only with traditional Finnish sports, but also with the entire digital entertainment market. Even the number of spectators that locally attend important games is only a fraction of the total audience following via live streaming services.

Cricket Finland has created a multi-channel marketing plan to increase the visibility of the sport in a financially efficient manner. The most important channels for the Association are the CF webpage, Facebook (4300 followers), Instagram (840 followers), Twitter (14 200 followers) and YouTube (7000 subscribers). Additionally, cricket has been successfully sharing the content it has created through (earned) media and its partners’ contact network.


For example, participation in the small-scale sports event SM-viikko, and the three-day-long

international tournament hosted by the national team against Spain, brought cricket valuable national

visibility from for example YLE, MTV and Helsingin Sanomat. The live broadcasted SM-viikko final was,

according to YLE, viewed by 98 000 people. The Finland-Spain match weekend gathered a big audience

to the Kerava National Cricket Ground and the live broadcasts from the matches were followed by over

half a million viewers.

The Cricket Association recognises that any sport’s visibility is directly in correlation with the number of players. Cricket Finland continues its active media work in 2020. The highlights of the year will be participating in SM-viikko with the indoor cricket concept, the national team visit to Spain during spring 2020, the Finnish Twenty20 league champion team’s participation in the cricket “Champions league” ECL (European Cricket League), and hosting the World Cup Qualifiers in cooperation with the cities of Kerava and Vantaa in summer 2020.

Finnish women’s cricket has developed further once again, and Northern European cricket communities have already sent invites for competitions. This, as well as the different game formats, bring further opportunities for creative media output. For example, the one to three-hours long T10 and T20 formats are good for changing the sometimes counterproductive impression that cricket always lasts several days.

The specific areas of development for marketing and communications in 2020 are:

• Producing high quality content, that address different audiences, into chosen media outlets

• Enabling dialogue between different audiences, for example through social media channels

• Serving the media by offering cricket-related content that is interesting from a Finnish perspective

• Activating volunteers, especially to enable big events

• Developing partner communications; for example, the hosting of the World Cup qualifier requires efficient project managing and communication with the International Cricket Council and with Kerava and Vantaa City representatives and other parties.

• Strengthening corporate cooperation; the values of Cricket Finland resonate with many companies’ corporate social responsibility programmes and in addition, it offers national and international visibility. The aim is that the strengthening of company cooperation will be done by its own committed work team.

• The coordination of the big picture

Triumph and national visibility


8.2. Live streaming of matches Live streaming of matches on the CF YouTube channel and via the CricHQ platform has significantly improved accessibility of cricket. Matches broadcast live from the Kerava cricket ground will continue. Live streaming will be further developed, within the limits of financial and human resources, by adding new microphones closer to the pitch (in the centre) and by adding commentating on selected matches. The aim is for all league games played in Kerava to be broadcast live, and changes are being made to the league rules to maximize the use of the Kerava ground. The Finnish Cricket Association is a pioneer in streaming matches. The know-how gathered over the last two years will be used more actively for the benefit of cricket associations in other countries that are also interested in live streaming, and likewise CF will try to apply the experience gained from the much larger resources of bigger cricket countries. Streaming increases significantly the accessibility of the sport, and both sport enthusiasts and occasional armchair athletes can enjoy top level domestic cricket and international games at the Kerava ground, regardless of their place of residence.

9. COURSES The educational courses in various forms strongly support the activities of member clubs. The primary objective is to safeguard the basic training of Cricket Finland and the clubs. Basic training includes courses for cricket coaches, league umpires, and scorers, as well as the training of cricket instructors for children and adolescents. In addition, clubs are supported in administrative development. Due to the different backgrounds and origins of active club members involved with their club’s governance, the general administrational quality is a constant challenge to the Association. As Cricket Finland’s activities will grow significantly at the international level in 2020, the national operational environment must respond to the challenge, and most member clubs must be able to produce higher and more consistent quality documentation than at present. Cricket Finland will support and guide clubs to this direction by sharing examples and best practices (e.g. the Tähtiseura project, multi-sport club cooperation), by improving monitoring (automatisation of the monitoring of player licenses and information), and by clarifying the responsibilities and obligations of clubs playing in Cricket Finland organised competitions (team licensing will be expanded to cover all levels and competitions). It is hard to offer general functioning tools for clubs that are all very different. The Cricket Finland approach focuses therefore on strengthening basic level of administration routines and offering further development resources for those interested.

9.1. Umpiring and scoring

Umpire training will continue with online courses, organised in the winter season, where the Laws of cricket are studied with the help of the CF broad selection of video material, and run by the Cricket Finland Head Umpire. The internationally unique online training serves both the experienced umpires’ training, as well as the new dedicated umpire trainees, practicing for the new season.

A common international umpire training and classification is expected to be released in 2020. While waiting for this, the Association continues the cooperation with the England and Wales Cricket Board Association of Cricket Officials in organising short umpiring courses.


The Association requires the summer season umpires to at least do an online update course, where the rule changes of recent years are studied. The update was not required for the 2019 summer season, so the demand is expected to be significant in 2020.

Continuous learning for development-oriented new umpires is being supported by inviting them to weekly umpire meetings during the summer season and by offering officiating roles in international matches organised in Finland to the most deserving that participated in winter training.

As the amount of trained and experienced umpires grows, nearly all top-level matches can be officiated by top class umpires, and at least one Association panel umpire can be provided to most of the lower level games.

Scorers’ activities will be consolidated. In the Twenty20 Premier League level the use of compulsory scorers has significantly reduced the amount of scoring errors compared to previous seasons.

The commitment of the officials to uphold the competition and association rules and regulations shall be confirmed by a statutory or contractual basis.

For the 2020 season a professional experienced umpire from outside of the Association will be hired to especially focus on training and monitoring the clubs’ named umpires, but also to umpire the top-level leagues most important games.

In 2020 an umpire, who umpires any of the CF official league matches (One Day, T20 or T10):

• has successfully completed an Association approved umpiring course (at least the beginner’s course)

• a successfully completed course only allows the umpire to be a main umpire in an Association organised match providing the umpire has officiated as an assistant umpire in a sufficient number of matches (activity criteria). If the activity criteria are not fulfilled within 12 months of completing the course, the course must be repeated.

• the League Sub-Committee (LSC) defines the 2020 activity criteria during January, so that clubs have enough time to plan the training of their umpires

The Finnish Cricket Association continues and develops the cooperation with CricHQ to further develop the electronic scoring system, which is the most widely used scoring platform worldwide. The system has been combined with the live streaming of the Kerava games, so in addition to live picture and sound the online viewers also see the scoring situation in real-time.

The Finnish umpiring team in August in Kerava at the international series match between Finland and Spain

Umpire training in September at the Sporttitalo


9.2. Training and coaches

An essential part of the development of juniors is the presence of suitable coaches and their adequate training. This training is offered both in cooperation with various European cricket associations and through ESLU (Sports Federation of Southern Finland), who provide VOK courses (sports instructor and coach training based on the Finnish Olympic Committee programme).

In 2020 the Finnish Cricket Association will train coaches and players interested in coaching by organising workshops and basic training courses in different cities.

In addition to this basic training, Cricket Finland, in cooperation with the ICC Europe will organise top-level internationally approved training course/courses. The aim is to implement these courses in cooperation with other Nordic countries.

The goal is to strengthen coaching skills in clubs, allowing clubs to develop their own training culture. Additionally, the Association seeks partners through instructor training, which aims to further enhance the awareness of the sport, while seeking more talent for a partner school project.

10. ADMINISTRATION AND PERSONNEL The Association has recognised that the scale and quality of operations cannot be improved without strengthening governance and structures. The Cricket Finland Board has not been able to keep up with the strategic level, while the operative management has committed themselves even to the most detailed tasks and have not been able to focus on the key areas of development.

The volunteer search of 2019 did not improve the situation significantly, so the search for extra resources will continue. To support the functioning of the administration, working groups/teams will be established, and volunteers will be recruited to at least the following areas:

• Managing the different activities of the leagues (LSC) (umpires, scorers, rules, etc.)

• Organisation of the international tournament that is already underway

• Development of women and junior cricket

• Disciplinary action

• Internal and external marketing and communication

• Club development

• Integrating softball cricket into Cricket Finland

• National team development

• A team for maintenance of the Kerava grounds [and clubhouse]

• An event organising team

The aim is to have a competent team of experts in all key areas to support the functioning management.

The Operations Director and the leaders of each of the teams described above will form an Executive Committee; the name will be confirmed during 2020. The task of the Executive Committee is to transfer the strategy of the Board to practical actions on the ground, and this way support the CF administration and release its resources to promote key goals.


According to the Finnish Cricket Association constitution, the Association Board will determine the roles and powers of the various working groups. The CF operational management consists of part-time employed personnel. The Chairman of the Association, who is also the National Cricket Development Director, has been part-time employed since 2016. The job description of the part-time Operations Director, responsible for operational functions, remains unchanged. As the importance of women’s and junior cricket grows, it requires a major investment in human resources. A club that focuses specifically on this area of grassroots cricket was reactivated at the end of 2019 and needs significant administration and educational support. The support of current member clubs is connected to the Tähtiseura programme. The project is being piloted by three of the Cricket Finland member clubs. With this, the aim is to discover the specific needs for support in cricket clubs, which then can be used to guide work in the coming years. New member clubs will be supported especially in their administrational management and in documentation. The cooperation that started in 2019 with regional sports associations will continue. This will allow the support of new clubs in their development already in the winter of 2020.

For the season 2020 a professional experienced umpire from outside of the Association will be hired, who’s tasks include training and monitoring the clubs’ named umpires, but also to umpire the top-level leagues most important games. The umpire will be hired for five months. As in previous years, a part-time groundsman will be hired for the Kerava Cricket Centre during the summer season (April to October). The members of the CF Board do active and valuable volunteer work to promote the work of the Association. Similarly, the professional management team that has worked with the national team, has worked on a voluntary basis. The Cricket Finland office is located in Sporttitalo [the House of Sports] in a shared office space with a few other small associations. Cricket Finland will continue the lease agreement form 2020 onwards. The Sporttitalo premises and new operating models will continue to increase collaboration between different sports and reduce management costs.


Volunteers found for key operations

Start application process by 2020

yes/no

Management team formed and its duty and mandate defined by the end of March

yes/no yes/no

Teams to be formed by end of April

yes/no


The Association’s operations shall be more structured

An “Annual Activity Clock” has been prepared before the next AGM

yes/no

Requirements and timetable for the “Annual Activity Clock” have been distributed to the community

yes/no

The targets collected for the Operation’s Plan will be gathered earlier and organised by bringing the leaders of the functional areas more into the goal setting process

The preparation of the Operation’s Plan begins in August/September by collecting targets

KNCG ground keeper Hire ground keeper before the start of the summer season

yes/no

The audience were excited to cheer for the Finnish National team at Kerava


11. FINNISH CRICKET’S STRATEGY COMMENCING 2020 The Finnish Cricket Association has started updating its strategy in autumn 2019. The updated strategy will be given to the AGM to approve in the spring of 2020. The process has not identified any completely new and direction changing guidelines, but the focus and goals of the current activities will be adjusted and clarified. One of the questions that arose during the strategy work is whether or not the main operational language should be changed from English to Finnish. In other Nordic countries, the language used is the local national language, however the structure of the cricket community in Finland differs significantly from the comparison. The structure of the strategy will most likely cover a six (6) year period, which would be updated every three (3) years.

The Finnish Cricket Association 3.12.2019


Spain’s and Finland’s national teams and the “Finnish Bears” supporters in August at Kerava after the international series match

Operations Plan 2020

The Finnish Cricket Association – Valimotie 10, 00380 Helsinki –

www.cricketfinland.com

finnish cricket association operations plan 2020 · 2. the development of children and youth...

Documents