2020 Club Development Plan

Our Club

Acton Cricket Club (ACC) is one of Middlesex’s leading cricket clubs. However, it is not a position we take for granted, and we are continuing to look for ways to improve facilities for our existing members and lay the groundwork for the club to thrive over the next few decades.

ACC is run by an active committee with members from all areas of the club. The committee meets on a regular basis to keep the club ticking on a day to day basis, but major decisions are taken to the AGM for the club members to decide upon.

Ground and Facilities

ACC are in a very unique situation with The Park Club (now Club des Sports) being our parent partner. This is not dissimilar to the relationship between Middlesex CCC and Lord’s Cricket Ground, with ACC playing at the Manor Grounds with the largesse of Club des Sports. However, this is all due to change. ACC are about to get a chance to be independent and to be in full control of their club and grounds. This is an exciting phase for the club, but the change needs to managed carefully and we will need the support of the Middlesex County Cricket League (MCCL) and to a lesser extent, the ECB. The key changes from a legal perspective are that ACC will be granted a new lease of 30 years and imminent planning agreement for our own clubhouse. Recent growth at Club des Sports has made the use of changing facilities by the cricket section unworkable. This has accelerated our need for a new permanent structure, as without it, the future of ACC is at risk.

Colts

A consequence of being in a state of flux is that ACC’s junior section has taken a bit of a hit over the last couple of seasons. It is no secret that colts represent not only the key to on-field success at all levels of the club. More fundamentally, they also remain the club’s single biggest source of revenue. Without a thriving colts setup, there may be long-term concerns over the future of the club.

Although on the field they remain a strength – indeed, a number of the younger colts are now part of the Middlesex CCC setup - the overall numbers have suffered as we are presently unable to provide the permanent facilities that both parents and colts deserve. The lack of facilities has also lead to an absence of a real social base, which is key for the retention and attraction of members. But we are not standing still:

We have already started an aggressive advertising and recruitment plan for February half term and Easter Holiday camps.
We have winter training for retention of the old members.
The committee has taken active steps to respond to negative feedback about communication and team administration by adding an additional helper to each age group and will be using the Teamer app for team availability and selection.
On top of this we are opening the door to a mixed age girls team and have just secured two adult females to assist.

Retention amongst the older age groups (15 to 19 year olds) is an issues, but have done some winter recruitment amongst the football clubs on-site and we are hoping this will bear some fruit and improve our squad numbers.

With our partners at Club des Sports, we are in a real transitional period. For the past 19 years we have relied mainly on a private health club with minimal public access to supply our senior and junior members. Now with it being a community-driven project, the sheer numbers have grown dramatically. ACC now need to build a new and exciting infrastructure that will enable us to tap into this marvelous opportunity. We need to make the most of this opportunity to grow and strengthen the junior section and introduce a junior female section.

Senior cricket

2019 saw a mixed bag for our senior sides. The 1st XI and 4th XI gained promotion and the 2nd and 3rd XIs were both relegated. The 1st XI’s success was crucial, as it is mainly the metric by which a cricket club is judged and our top 3 teams are now all competing in the 2nd tier with realistic chances of playing for promotion this year. The club was also bolstered by an excellent run for the cup side in the Club Cricket Conference (CCC) Cup, and it helped raise the club’s profile across the South-East region.

Temporary facilities at the main ground is not making recruitment easy, but the promotion has meant that there is renewed interest from new members. Needless to say, our retention level remains fantastic. We are now starting to get some ex-colts through into the senior sides again and hopefully they will all develop into good club cricketers. We are very aware of the benefits of home grown-talent as the promotion team that made the Premier League in 2010 had 9 ACC colts in the team. Plans are for the current squad to help the 1st XI return to the Prem soon.

Looking ahead – Plans for the new clubhouse

2020 will see us spending hard-earned savings on the temporary clubhouse. We feel we have to provide a decent level of comfort for our visitors and are also aware that we have to look after what we have. However, that is not sustainable for another season, and it is essential that work on the clubhouse (both in terms of construction and fundraising) begins in earnest.

With the new clubhouse in mind, we have various fundraising events planned through the year and are currently in talks with a sponsor to hopefully pay for our temporary toilets and changing facilities for this year. A darts night, Summer Ball and Autumn Ball are already in the calendar along with a crowd funding page. Colts Awards, 6-a-side and Karaoke Night all remain staples of the ACC calendar. Started in May last year, there is a separate Funding Committee who are looking at private sponsorships and funding applications with the main governing bodies. They have a massive job ahead as the clubhouse funding target is in excess of £250,000!

Overall the future is looking positive for ACC, but there is a need to band together over the next 12 months.

Our main objectives for 2020 are:

1. Receive planning permission and commence construction of new clubhouse ready for the 2021 season

2. Grow ACC Juniors, Strengthen ACC seniors and introduce ACC female section.

3. Develop temporary clubhouse to our best efforts for forthcoming season.

4. Build an infrastructure of systems and volunteers to ready ourselves for the busy times ahead.

5. Promote our “One Club” policy where every member matters.

6. And finally, to play hard and at our best with a smile on our faces.