I would like to begin by congratulating the NT Strike Senior Men’s side on making the final of the CDU Men’s Top End T20 Series today.
What a wonderful opportunity for some of our best young talent to play an international touring team such as the Pakistan Shaheens in a final at DXC Arena. The NT Cricket Board wish Captain Matt Hammond, Head Coach Udara Weerasinghe and the entire squad the best of luck in today’s game.
I am pleased to welcome all members and followers of NT Cricket to our new website where we look forward to sharing more regular information and engaging content.
During 2022 the Board of NTC provided regular member updates via personal emails, however moving forward we will use this new platform to keep members, stakeholders and valued partners informed of our efforts to ensure cricket is a thriving sport for all.
In my last communication we announced the arrival of Gavin Dovey as the new CEO of NT Cricket Ltd. Gavin commenced in January 2023 and hit the ground running. He presented the Board with a 100 day plan which involved a lot of listening and moving around Darwin in particular as he reviewed the operations of NT Cricket and established relationships with our stakeholders.
Gavin has brought with him a global network of contacts in cricket and he has impressed the Board with his analysis of NT Cricket and the Northern Territory, and the opportunities the NT has from a national and global perspective. I am sure members who have met Gavin will agree with our assessment.
I would like to recognise the invaluable contribution of the team of staff at NT Cricket who carried the business through the period prior to Gavin’s arrival. An impressive and dedicated group who Gavin is now privileged to lead.
The Board of NT Cricket have met regularly throughout the first six months of Gavin’s tenure and in addition to preparation for the Darwin and Districts Cricket Season, Cricket 365 and numerous other events, much of our attention has been driven by changes at Cricket Australia and the way cricket as both a sport and business is rapidly evolving.
You may recall in my last update I indicated we had commenced our negotiations with CA Management around the next four-year funding agreement with a view to achieving a return on our investment in Cricket 365 to further grow community cricket and embed a quality premier competition in the dry season/southern winter.
In order to grow the game in the NT we need the ability to resource the growth. The creation of Cricket 365 in the southern winter is our response to the advice from the CA Board that to grow the funding and resources available in the north, NTC needed to create a path that linked to the national strategy and was essentially in the national interest.
In February Mike Baird replaced Lachlan Henderson as Chair of CA and one of the first things Mike did was to move to a special one-year funding arrangement while the States and Territories ironed out some differences in approach around governance and the full four-year cycle. During this period Australian Cricket will review its operating model.
I am pleased to say that the CA Board have appreciated our early investment and unique cost base in the north and in addition to restoring our funding level to pre-Covid levels, they have provided a one-year supplementary input which goes some way to closing the gap between our current funding levels and what we have estimated the real cost of delivering a sustainable cricket business in the NT to be.
This additional funding now allows us to rebuild and restructure along the lines that Gavin has presented to the Board, including:
- Communications & Digital Coordinator - to help us tell our story better
- Participation & Growth Leads - to inspire kids to fall in love with the game
- Senior Curator - to help us better serve and grow the game in the red centre
- Head of Clubs & Competitions - to better support our major local competitions
I am also pleased to note that the CA Board will be meeting in Darwin this month for the first time and just the second time they have met in the NT. The last time they met (as the Australian Cricket Board) at Uluru and following that meeting, Ralph Wiese and I were able to present the potential of the NT for winter cricket and greater recognition of Aboriginal cricket. That meeting underpinned the later Test Matches in Darwin, and the growth of the Imparja Cup and the National Indigenous Cricket Championships in Alice Springs.
We are hopeful that following this coming meeting and the year on year growth of Cricket 365 that the CA Board will get a greater sense of the window of opportunity and the investment potential the north of Australia presents for a new and unique cricket product that builds even further on Cricket 365.
This year Cricket 365 has achieved some phenomenal growth in terms of Government support, commercial investment and interest from the national and international cricket community. Cricket 365 has received outstanding reviews, and the use of TIO Stadium has lifted the level of presentation of the event.
The broadcast of games has gone up a notch and with our sponsors and partners we have been able to better position the winter cricket product to 20% of the world’s population that are fanatical about the sport.
We are delighted and humbled that the Shaheens (Pakistan A) agreed to participate alongside the Melbourne BBL Franchise Academies, the ACT Comets and PNG Barras. This has enabled us to provide excellent exposure for local Darwin and NT talent, and we are thrilled the NT Strike side has competed and performed so exceptionally well.
It is the Boards intention to have this momentum recognised and supported through the next four-year funding cycle so that we can complete the vision set out in the NT Cricket Strategic Plan through to 2027 and beyond.
I hope this update gives you a sense of the issues the Board are dealing with and those that we foresee into the future. As always, the Directors and I welcome feedback and questions from members.
I will be attending the meeting with the CA Board and if any member wants to meet with me I will be in the NT Cricket office on Friday the 11th August and available.
All the best to you all.
DR BRUCE WALKER AM
PRESIDENT
NORTHERN TERRITORY CRICKET LTD