sportscotland cash boost for Scottish Cricket

Wednesday 21 February 2007

As Scotland’s cricketing heroes get ready to head off to the World Cup in the West Indies, sportscotland is delighted to announce its annual investment in Cricket Scotland of £336,300, the fourth consecutive year of increased investment.

This investment, of which £156,300 comes from the sportscotland Lottery Fund, will go towards organisational and club development, volunteering, player improvement, coaching and medal success, including specific funding to support the players leading up to and including the World Cup.

Scotland’s cricketers gained huge acclaim and a place in the Twenty20 World Cup following their excellent performance in the World Cricket League and they hope to carry that added experience into their World Cup matches against Australia, South Africa and the Netherlands next month.

Sports Minister Patricia Ferguson said: “Scotland’s cricket team has successfully climbed the world rankings over the past year, and the whole country is eagerly anticipating their performance in this year’s World Cup.

“Not only has the team made real progress on the international stage, Cricket Scotland has worked hard to support both the elite end of the game and the grass roots of the sport, in particular, youth development.

“I hope that this increased funding package will help support Cricket Scotland’s work in securing the future development of the game which will help us to encourage more young people into the sport and increase our chances of competitive excellence.”

Scotland has over 160 registered cricket clubs with 8,000 people regularly participating in the sport and this investment will allow Cricket Scotland to work closer

with the clubs and towards the implementation of a new academy structure with the aims of producing the cricket stars of the future.

The academy is part of the newly developed integrated player pathway and will consist of winter training programmes within the existing districts, summer playing programmes between the East, West and Caledonia regions. It will also be linked to International programmes at Under 15, 17 & 19 levels.

Cricket Scotland currently has seven development officers in place, working throughout the country with plans to expand further, within the new regional academy structure during 2007.

Stewart Harris, Chief Executive, sportscotland said: “Scotland’s cricket team produced some fantastic nail biting performances in Kenya and we all hope they can take that form into the 2007 World Cup.

“We have high hopes for Cricket Scotland’s new academy structure and look forward to seeing Scotland competing at the highest level for years to come.”

Roddy Smith, Chief Executive of Cricket Scotland said “The support we receive from sportscotland is critical to our ongoing work. The game has made significant strides forward in the last few years with the investment received supporting our network of development officers, the management of our growing business and the delivery of the new UKCC work. Our new regional academy structure has been devised in close consultation with sportscotland and we look forward to developing this new initiative this year.

“In the three months lead up to the World Cup we have been required to make considerable financial outlays to cover salaries for our international players but the news of sportscotland’s investment to specifically assist with these costs has been a huge boost.”

• Free photographs from today’s announcement are available from Steve Lindridge, Ideal Images – 07718 919597
• The £336,300 investment is made up of £156,300 from the sportscotland Lottery Fund and £180,000 from sportscotland Exchequer funding from the Scottish Executive.
• Athlete Support, is administered through the governing body and supports the training and preparation programmes for elite athletes.
• All athletes who receive Athlete Support will be supported by the sportscotland medical scheme.

Identified athletes receiving athlete support.

John Blain Bradford BD13
Dougie Brown Birmingham B45
Gavin Hamilton Leeds LS20
Majid Haq Paisley PA2
Paul Hoffman Glasgow G71
Douglas Lockhart Glasgow G11
Ross Lyons Glasgow G46
Neil McCallum Edinburgh EH16
Dewald Nel Edinburgh EH12
Navdeep Poonia Wolverhampton WV13
Glenn Rogers Stirling FK7
Ryan Watson Dundee DD5
Fraser Watts Edinburgh EH10
Craig Wright Edinburgh EH4
Colin Smith Banchory AB31