Post by John W on Nov 22, 2024 16:59:01 GMT
The Lancashire chairman addressed a full house at the Lancashire & Cheshire Cricket Society last Monday. Amongst the questions and answers were -
Q - How are we (Lancashire) doing with the balance of tradition versus commercial?
A - We need the commercial side to pay for the traditional county cricket but there's more we can do. At the Oval it feels about the cricket but we lost that in the modernisation of our ground and it is important to bring it back. Would like to see a project to re-purpose the pavilion to give it a strong cricket feel rather than a staff canteen.
Q - How do you explain the contrasting results achieved with the Olympics and with Lancashire?
A - We need to be better at bringing in the expertise seen in other sports into cricket management and get the player roster right with a better blend of experience and youth. Mark Chilton is the right man, he needs time, tools and resources to do the job.
Q - How are our finances with having no concerts next year?
A - We hope to have concerts back in the future. Three concerts make £1 million a year. There's been a temporary? row with the main concert promoter. Our finances are tightest in the next three years but manageable. The money from the hundred will put us in a very safe place. The big decision is whether to sell some of the 51% stake in MO being gifted to us. We are considering the pros and cons but we want to have a strong partnership with a top cricket team so we can benefit from their expertise and better player access.
Q - Can we afford to pay the full salary cap to assemble the best squad?
A - We absolutely give the cricket department the authority to spend the full cap if they need it. The cricket department find there is a limit on the players they can attract so they don't want to spend excessive sums of money recruiting broadly similar players. In the past we haven't spent enough on the squad and that was reflected in the performances last season with not enough experienced players in the squad. Hopefully, next year we will be able to find the best players and spend the available money.
Q - What is our ambition on the pitch for the next three years?
A - The best chance to win a trophy is the Blast so we should make it our priority for player recruitment.
We will see...
Q - How are we (Lancashire) doing with the balance of tradition versus commercial?
A - We need the commercial side to pay for the traditional county cricket but there's more we can do. At the Oval it feels about the cricket but we lost that in the modernisation of our ground and it is important to bring it back. Would like to see a project to re-purpose the pavilion to give it a strong cricket feel rather than a staff canteen.
Q - How do you explain the contrasting results achieved with the Olympics and with Lancashire?
A - We need to be better at bringing in the expertise seen in other sports into cricket management and get the player roster right with a better blend of experience and youth. Mark Chilton is the right man, he needs time, tools and resources to do the job.
Q - How are our finances with having no concerts next year?
A - We hope to have concerts back in the future. Three concerts make £1 million a year. There's been a temporary? row with the main concert promoter. Our finances are tightest in the next three years but manageable. The money from the hundred will put us in a very safe place. The big decision is whether to sell some of the 51% stake in MO being gifted to us. We are considering the pros and cons but we want to have a strong partnership with a top cricket team so we can benefit from their expertise and better player access.
Q - Can we afford to pay the full salary cap to assemble the best squad?
A - We absolutely give the cricket department the authority to spend the full cap if they need it. The cricket department find there is a limit on the players they can attract so they don't want to spend excessive sums of money recruiting broadly similar players. In the past we haven't spent enough on the squad and that was reflected in the performances last season with not enough experienced players in the squad. Hopefully, next year we will be able to find the best players and spend the available money.
Q - What is our ambition on the pitch for the next three years?
A - The best chance to win a trophy is the Blast so we should make it our priority for player recruitment.
We will see...
