Wiltshire Cricket Board

Wiltshire Cricket Board is made up of a group of volunteers that work throughout the County to develop all aspects of the game. The Board itself is affiliated to the ECB, and it is the directives from the National Governing Body that dictate where a large amount of resource and time is spent developing the sport within Wiltshire.

Development Manager

To deliver this work the County Board cannot rely solely upon volunteers and so the ECB with support from the Board employ a Cricket Development Manager to lead this work programme. Appointed as CDM in April 2006, Steve Silk has, in a short time, changed many areas of cricket for the better. One area that was clear when he started was that although there were many strengths, there were clear weaknesses and areas for vast improvement. His whole ethos is about making Wiltshire as good and as professional, both on and off the pitch, as it can possibly be.

With ECB improving as a National Governing Body and more officers being employed at national and regional levels, more and more initiatives are making their way to each County Board. With this being the case, Steve made it one of his early tasks to secure external funding to employ more officers to drive Cricket within Wiltshire. Since his time in post he has secured funds for a Full Time Development Officer, Pete Sykes, and a Full Time Community Coach, Bob Powell.

A current need is to bring more money into the County from external sponsors. In the last 2 months the County Board have secured a 6-year deal with kit suppliers Surridge. They have come in as title sponsors to the Wiltshire County Cricket League and kit suppliers of the County Age Group Squads, District Squads, County Ladies' Squad and the Development XI. This needs to improve further, and Steve is currently working towards a new 5-year development plan that will move Wiltshire further forward. With this complete the County will be able to attract sponsors, and the hope is that by the end of 2008 Wiltshire Cricket Board has a long term headline sponsor.

Development Officer

Pete began in November 2006, and with being a local lad got straight into the job. The role that Pete leads is split 2 ways. First, he is employed to work 16 hours per week within schools as a Community Coach; and second, he is employed to work on specific key projects. Much of his work can come under 3 headings:

  • Coach Education - Workforce Development
  • Chance 2 Shine
  • School Liaison