Three Pears Chat – Episode Three

Chair – Dominic Riley, CEO – Ashley Giles and Head of Commercial – Joe Tromans bring you Episode 3 of Three Pears chat.

Brought to you by Number Fifteen Recruitment.

Visit our website → wccc.co.uk/

Tickets → bit.ly/45PzgY9

Subscribe → bit.ly/SubToWorcsCCC

[Music] good evening everyone and welcome to the third installment of the three pairs chat from Wy County cre club I’m standing host for tonight I’m Joe tromans I’m delighted to be joined this evening by our chief executive officer Ashley Giles and the new chairman of wishi County Creed Club Dominick Riley uh we’ve got a lot to cover this evening um we’ve got we’re have a bit of a drinking Spotlight on on Dominic Riley our new chair um we’re going to pick up with Ash and others about performance throughout the season today in both the Vitality County championship and the Vitality blast um we’re going to go through kind of few challenges faced by the club over the last few months um what’s been going on behind the scenes uh we’re going to also move on to what’s happening off the field in the next few months to visit was to Shinu Road as well um before talking about um some future developments and things in the pipeline as well um before we move on to that though um I think it’s time to it’s perfect time to reflect on um what was some heartbreaking news between now and the last episode the three pairs chat um sadly one of our players Josh baker passed away at the start of at the start of May um it’s been a very difficult time for the club and our thoughts and everyone are still with Josh’s family and friends and I think it’s been very tough hasn’t it Ash yeah it’s um it’s difficult to believe that it’s now almost two months since we lost Josh and and in that two months it’s been incredibly difficult as you say for everyone at the club um it’s a it’s a call you take as a chief executive you never expect to take um and clearly as parents in in Paul and Lisa’s case who um have um well had an incredibly difficult time and and we’ve all tried to be there for them and and The Wider family and for our players as well who have found as as we said it’s uh just really difficult an awful situation um and Josh will be dearly missed as he is as he is currently he was a real bright Spark in that dressing room and uh we now often I think reflect um in a really nice way um and um you know we held Josh’s celebration of life at the ground which is a really lovely day as lovely those those days can be um but um yeah really difficult for everyone yeah I think Josh will obviously he was an infectious character he’ll never be never be forgotten at the club I think there’s some things in the pipeline when the time’s right and we’re going to support the family on what’s to do in to to remember Josh and his Legacy further down the line isn’t they yeah we we’ve talked about it a bit already there’ll be certainly some some stuff for us to talk about um Dominic and I and the board around what we can do that is more lasting in Josh’s memory and work with por Lis as well um they’ve been very keen to support a couple of Charities already one of those being the the wer Foundation uh as Josh came through the the Worcester system was was very much one of our own so uh we’ll take a good look at that uh and do something really special for him um as I say he continues to be missed yeah thanks Ash I think it is important to have support of the club’s always behind Paul and Le and the family and his friends as well um forever really Josh always remembered by everyone at the club um I’d like to pull in Dominic and actually welcome him formly to three pairs chat uh Dominic’s our new chair has officially announced and unveiled forly last week um Dominic you share a little bit about your background your journey why you’re interested in becoming um the chair of Wasing County Creek Club I don’t want it to feel like another interview yeah just share a little bit about insight into your background that’d be great well there’s been several interviews and the um the process has gone on for an enormously long time actually since about January I know the Cricket Club wanted a very thorough process to find a new chair and so they got the ECB in to help and ensure that everything was done properly and the the the widest group of people were looked at and the truth is I was approached along with a lot of other people and my interest was really peaked by three things first of all I love sport I um I’ve got a strong background in business and think I can help the club and also I’ve got a real fondness for worcesters sure and a bit of a history here as well which I’ll come on to but from a sporting point of view I went to a very sporting School played a lot of sports um I’ve got three three children and that got me into coaching and ultimately refereeing so I’ve been involved involved in sport as a player as a um a coach and as a referee um for for for more years and the school I was at I grew up at Nottingham it’s probably the closest school to Trent Bridge so Summers were watching Cricket at Nottingham sh and the winters watching nottingam Forest play at at the city ground so big bigger fashion fascination with sport business uh I did an MBA on the business school so took business professionally felt I could study and become the best I could be at at business business and then corporate life in marketing business development ultimately CEO myself Ash you that’s my my background and then the last 20 years I’ve been a chairman and a non-exec of lots of different businesses and I think that they thought that would be useful just the variety of businesses I’ve worked with some in the sporting field some in in other fields and one of those uh was Morgan Motor Company in Worcester and I was chairman at Morgan Motor Company for several years on on behalf of the Morgan Family um so I know westera well I know Molin well particularly and had a you know real success there with the working with management team and producing what were the best results in Morgan’s history so you know it when that combination came together and I got the call it was really uh just seemed to fit and fall into place and I was very very enthusiastic through the process so on to Big Cricket fan as well so other than ashy Charles hitting the winning runs at Trent bridge in the 2005 ashes what’s your best cricke in memory well I almost met Ash in 2005 he don’t remember cuz he was on top of an open top bus but he came past my office in London a few a few other sorry a few other people on board the bus were hanging out at the top I think at the time with Freddy flintoff but um no you did come past the past the offices on that ashing B team as I said my school was very close to Trent bridge and um we were very sporting school and our sporting our head of sport got some of the not interest players to come come down and we got the chance to Bowl against them one of them was Derrick Randall if any of you old enough to remember Derrick Randall very fine in cricket and a very particularly great a great field in his day but so we had the chance to bowl at Dereck Randall in the Nets I was probably about 15 years old and I started off bowling at him and after two or three balls he put his back down picked up a stump and started batting me with the stump and tonking me all over and that sort of taught me what what a level these guys were were playing at but it’s the thing that sticks in the memory so I think as a new chair of the club if you got any sort of vision any kind of plans in mind for the future I think it’s early stage um from my experience being a chair the key is to work with the teams work with Ash work with the management team we’ve got a very very good board at the club and and I want to work with the existing board and really work together on a strategy for the club one of the things that I obviously know on on day one is is the level of flooding that we’ve had and and even during my interview process this year the number of times we’ve been flooded clearly that’s very high on our our agenda and the knock on effect that’s had in terms of gate receipts and all those things that that go with it you know we had so many games rained off we had to go to kidderminster and that’s had an effect on the club so there are some short-term priorities the team’s done a great job um but we do have to do the short term and then look at the longterm Ash has talked about a few things in that area and we will be working as a team on a new strategy I’m also very keen to meet meet the members you know I’ll be here on on Sunday for the uh the England women’s game and I’ll come as often as I can and meet the members and get feedback there but we as a board and as a management team will’ll work on the strategy you touch on some of challenges there what other challenges you do you face in the what’s the biggest challenges the club face right now in your opinion the focus for the club is is sustainability right and that is on the pitch off the pitch we are not the biggest Club in in cricket you know it’s we’re in a fabulous position we’ve got a wonderful position in the city it’s both a cricketing venue and also a venue for events a venue for entertainment so we’ve got a number of things going on and off the pitch but at the same time we aren’t the biggest team in the division you know we don’t have the largest wage bill so we’ve got to be as competitive as we can with the resources that we have and I think that’s the challenge that probably Ash faces because he’s running both the cricketing side and non- cricketing is making the non-cricket work getting the profits generated off the pitch that we can invest into the team and put the best team we possibly can on the pitch and getting those things right is is definitely a challenge but not one with not one we’re frightened of at all but any immediate opportunities which you see for the club well I’ve been around a few times and I’ve got a few ideas Joe but I’m holding back on them because you’ve got quite a busy slate of work already but yes I see a few things I think some of the recent Investments you’ve made the the beard Terrace for example fantastic location and perhaps we can make more of that on non match days um the ground itself is superb I think the chance to Market that more for as a business venue and as a a venue for for events is also you know big immediate opportunities and then sponsorship I think we we as a as a business in the heart of Worcester I think we’re terrifically well placed we have a great audience that come to the games coverage on TV as well the game the England game on Sunday is going to be on TV so in terms of sponsors there are lots of opportunities for for sponsors of wor to get a very high profile yeah I mean how important do you think the support from the local businesses are sponsors and partners of the club and the future of the club I think it’s crucial and and one of the things we were talking about earlier Ash is I want to get to know some of the chairs around other other Cricket uh counties because what we do in Worcester isn’t necessarily competitive with what happens in Essex or not in we can take the best ideas from other counties and successes they’ve had but I think for for businesses that are are locally based or targeting a Worcester Shore or more broadly you know black country audience we’re so well placed for that and and we should be right at the top of their list of of Partners to think about and I think that’s twofold if I might say Joe you know I think when you look at a sponsorship you’re looking at one measure which is how often do you get on TV how much exposure I get in social media man I was marketing man as you are and so you’re looking at bang for your buck but let’s not forget the social value of what we do you know we’re very very embedded into the community we encourage Cricket at every level across the local area and we’re the beacon of that and that as a for sponsors is to me as important as how many eyeballs have we got what watching a match let’s not forget all the things that surround what we do that are there right through the year and that have a real positive impact on on youth Cricket on women’s Cricket on men’s Cricket at every level so those things are both important to me so looking ahead where do you see wishi count G in five 10 years time well winning the county Championship Ash I hope but we put out a good team winning at least one or two one or two of the I think in five or 10 years it’ be nice to win at least one of the trophies wouldn’t it in that time so I think on on the pitch performance I come back to Joe sustainability and that is financial sustainability sustainability of the team the club the pathway for players and the flooding this is not a problem that’s going away and and I sort of hesitate to come back to it but we must come back to it because the sustainability of the club does require finding a solution to a ground that’s flooded eight times you know I’ve known as I’ve as I’ve grown up the weather has definitely changed in recent years and it’s not getting any drier in the winter so it’s a problem that isn’t going to weigh and we’re going to have to face it and in five or 10 years deal with that problem thank you very much so handing over to Ash a little bit in the immediate next um phase of three pairs chat um we threw the first block of Vitality blast fixtures we threw the first block of Championship Games what’s your summary of that so far yeah well I think one thing we’ve always been um on three pairs is is honest and open um I think we’d well what I’d like to do is split up the performances so look at Red Bull first and then also look at the white ball because they’re very different competitions and offer different challenges we we said as early as the winter soon after promotion that we knew division one Cricket would be extremely challenging I believe we’re the most promoted team in the country and therefore we’re probably the most relegated team in the country so staying up um some not think a huge goal but we believed actually that’s that would be a fantastic effort for us and and and part of it is because of some of the stuff that that Dominic’s just just touched on so you know we’re up against some sides here with much greater resources much more depth in their squads um much bigger revenues ultimately uh and as I’ve said before you know my job um and I and I love that word dominant use sustainability we’re on the same page sustainability on and off the field if we’re not sustainable off the field we’ve got no chance on the field so um that’s the difficult balance to strike and if you look at our Squad um you know we’re a squad of 19 four of those guys are rookies young players who um you know haven’t really been challenged in an environment that’s as tough as that division one uh we have a number of injuries right now so so gibbons’s injured you had vinder sing’s injured Dolly still struggling with his shoulder Joe leech our most experienced Bowlers injured um additionally we’ve lost seven players over two years seven senior players almost a whole team um to other counties now there’s a bit of mitigation there um but the challenge remains we want to stay in division one uh and we’ve got to you know we we realize we understand that challenge is very difficult the last three three games two of them have been against Su who in my mind are the the toughest side in the and the strongest side in the country um and have the the deepest resources so that’s the Red Bull uh again the challenge remains stay up in that division will be an incredible effort for for Allen and the boys but um we know that’s not going to be simple and then we look at uh the Vitality blast in which we played so well last year uh uh and I think that’s the are areas there where we’ll be disappointed there’s probably three or four matches within that tournament where we could have and probably should have won matches that have gone down to the last ball um and when you’re delivering your skills um consistently and effectively you’ll win those matches and that’s been disappointing I know the dressing room will be disappointed with that but again there will be some mitigation there we’ve got new new guys in a lot of guys moved out so we’re finding still finding the feet finding our feet as a time and our lineup in in T20 cricket and you just don’t get that time so um you can see why uh richo and the coaches would have changed things a little bit mixed it up as they’ve gone along because they’re trying to find that formula they will get some criticism for that from the outside but you’d get criticism if you didn’t if you just sat still and didn’t change anything so um what I do know is it’s been uh really challenging couple of months uh we talked about Josh that’s not using that as a crutch but that’s definitely had an effect on everyone at the club I don’t think we can underestimate that but overall um you know what has impressed me even over the last few days is the fight we’ve shown against sry that really good team uh and we’ve got to continue to show that and when we come back and play blast Cricket again we’ve got to show a bit more skill and just deliver our skills a bit better so um you know must be better but um in terms of from what we’ve got and where we’ve come from I can’t ask much more of the team and the coaches and we just got to continue to push it’s a long season but push all the way through the Finish Line uh and hopefully we’ll achieve that uh that goal of staying up I think you touched on there the challenge of um small Squad turnover players a lot of injuries from with your one hat on as a sporting director and probably in your past experience as a head coach how difficult is that to manage that big turnover the loss of players the small Squad and kind of what what options do you have both as a sporting director and a head coach well it I know from experience it’s incredibly difficult the most successful teams I’ve worked with and managed there is consistency and there’s consistency over a number of years there may be a little bit of in andout um and that may be age that may be formed but the core of your team almost you know in football terms the spine of your team Remains the Same just talked about seven players there’s a reason the seven players who’ve left have left is because they’re very good players and other Counties have come in for them um and as I’ve said before we’re going to we’re going to face some of that in the future uh so it’s it’s incredibly difficult to to manage for for Allen I feel for him um but we’ve got to do the best we can with the resources at our fingertips um and one thing we have to do uh that we’ve done very well in the past is continue to develop players and give players opportunities and not get stuck in this this Gap in between of trying to be a Sor or trying to be a war sheer because and I and I understand the sentiment from from Dominic the new chair winning the county championship for us right now is not a realistic proposition um that’s um that’s a real Leicester if not if not lower down the leagues rexam probably winning the the Premiership at the moment the resources we have compared to to S and I know I’ve talked about that before but to give some sort of um context um s are fantastic business this isn’t um a slight on sori it’s not about them having all the money in the world for no reason but their turn over last year was somewhere around 60 million quid ours is around six so the depth of those resources are very very different and we have to um understand that and people might they might be looking down the camera right now and so we’ll go out and get more players got make more money commercially we we we simply can’t afford to do that um we talked about sustainability we talk about balancing both sides of the business Joe you’ve done a fantastic job of sponsorship already we’ve doubled sponsorship this year um but there is a ceiling year on year to what we can manage as there is to what we can sell at the ground and and we are doing everything we possibly can to give cricet as much Resource as we possibly can um but in the meantime we need to be clear about our purpose play um competitive Cricket develop players and um and bring people in we talk about a lot Joe to have great experiences at was to some of them would have gone away during T20 not having great experiences we lost and we apologize for that but um we’re certainly trying to put that right absolutely I think you touched there on um young players bringing young players through I think wue have become quite famed for the production of bit of a conveyor Bel of talent which has come through the English first class system G on play wsh other couns as well from your point of view Dominic how important is that going to be going forward as well well I’m glad Ash raised that because I think that’s going to be very important and I think Ash’s points are well made lovely to win the county Championship great aspiration for 10 years but realistically we don’t currently have the resources and so when we do talk about about players I think Ash has been very good by the way and this the team on finding some some lone players and the overseas players as well Ash as well you know have been a really good choices this season and have had a real impact so I think wise wisdom in bringing in players you know we’ve got some l e now as well but we’ve got to be developing our own players so the the pathway of players into the team and it’s pleasing as you said Ash to see so many of our players having come through that that pathway you know giving an opportunity to local players to to to to develop and play professional cricket and then go on even from werer as you say um to even you know to the highest levels of the game uh so it’s going to be so important with the resources we have that has to be a crucial part of our playing strategy and I think Joe it’s important to say the the ambition remains that’d be great for us to to have a seat at back at what I call that big table with those big teams but that’s going to take um work that might take a different strategy different Road a different path for us but we are open to all of those options because’ be nothing better than seeing wor to Shear back where they were in the 8S yeah um winning major trophies consistently competing at that level um that’s a very exciting prospect but at the same time we have to keep our feet on the ground and be very aware of where we are right now I think that’s all part of being trying to be and aim to be the best we can be all the time isn’t it on and off the field I think we’ll probably come back to that later but I just want to touch on um Dominic mentioned you’re doing a really good job on bringing loan players in and overseas players in um we may have touched about this on this on on previous shows actually but I think it’s worth going into a bit more detail because I’ve seen slightly from the outside how much hard work that can be I think probably for you probably for the cricket operations guys yeah how difficult is that these days all this kind of almost weirding and dealing not just overseas players loan players and actually things like trialist as well it’s a lot of work isn’t it difficult for everyone including you because ultimately when it comes to Kit it always comes back to your door Carrie Lloyd our fantastic um director of cricket Ops um does a great job there uh yeah getting players in is is always a difficult task and getting the quality um and getting the right fit with the dressing room as well because what what you don’t necessarily want to do and you want to avoid is is again playing wacka where we got a gap we just get someone in because anyone you bring into that dressing room we we’ve got you know a fantastic group guys really great um culture in that dressing room you don’t want to disturb that we’ve been really lucky with the people we have bought him we’ve done a lot of work on the guys we bought in permanently like Tommy Taylor Rob Jones Ethan Brooks but then when you look at Nathan Smith as overseas couldn’t ask for anymore uh Jason hu came in can’t ask for anymore and then people like bash who’ve been in who’s been in recently uh again just add to the dressing room um and it is a route we we may have to go again I’ve talked about the size of our Squad I’ve talked about our injuries um it’s a real issue for us we’ve probably only got 12 bodies standing uh who are fit to play so it is a challenge but it’s all part of the the rich tapestry uh and it’s an opportunity for for counties with deeper resources and more players to let those players out and I think I certainly thank the guys who supported us in doing that yeah in terms of I suppose it’s I think we’re looking for overseas players and to une Earth Someone Like Nathan Smith it’s not a five minute protest yeah it’s a lot of planning it’s a lot of research I mean what does for the benefit of the everyone who kind of has kindly tuned in to watch what does that process kind of enta yeah well it’s probably slightly different in this role for me because I’m ultimately chief executive and I carry director of cricet responsibilities if I was purely director of cricet I’d probably lead on all of it and bring the coaches in um richo Alan Richardson’s fantastic in this and that he and his team including the coaches and the analysts um will almost put a long list of candidates together and then I can come in and we can work through them and I can challenge and we can go through the the risks and the benefits and um But ultimately allot that hard work’s done by that team first and then I I say we can go through and we get to a short list and and we get we get to the RS I have to say Nathan Smith was was a real pick from inside the dressing room richo and the team so they’re still arguing over the whose idea that was I think yeah well I think they would because he’s been that that good in the um I think we we’d claim him as English if we could um but it it works for both sides because well we clearly get a great overseas player uh who adds to the dressing room he gets opportunity to show what he can do and um hopefully go on and get International honors yeah and I think the bits that probably people on the outside don’t understand is even once you’ve chosen that a player you want there’s still quite a few Heros to cross as well aren’t they you’ve got things from like you then have to speak to agents yeah governing bodies naal cricket boards U before getting a deal done and then you’re looking at things like visas and it’s still quite laborious process isn’t it yeah it’s it’s a long old process and um I have spoken about this for but an example of that is the Assam air situation with T20 so two or three days before the T20 competition started Samir had been fantastic overseas player for us last year really added um and we have to get something called an nooc a non non-objection certificate from uh the Pakistan cricket board um they would not sign that uh there was nothing under hand there it was part of their rules and regulations I think was Lost in Translation somewhere um and Asama couldn’t come and that was a you know when you look at blows as well that was a big blow for us cash Miss Missing the the first the few games of T20 also a blow so so all those things again upset the balance but there is a hell of a lot of work that goes into it and with many of these guys no guarantee they’re going to be with you for a long period anyway whether that be because of selection um injury or any other issues and we’ve been really lucky uh with Nathan and that we’ve been able to have him across formats um and that you know have him around the guys all the time and and we look after him as well so this game’s a great example you know you think against sorry we got to have Nathan out there we had to rest him he’s played so much Cricket we have to do what’s right for the cricketer as well we can’t just burn these guys because they are ours you know we need to look after them um and that that care is very important I think on the flip side of the really long process of trying to sign an overseas player two days before the first game AMA couldn’t come as as tou about talked about very quick process involving quite a few people to end it with Hayden Walsh I think who was on the golf course sent straight to the airport arrived at the premier un visit was Shin road with these clubs ready to go wasn’t he well that I mean and that yeah that’s the complete opposite and the extraordinary bit about modern cricket and particularly franchise Cricket um that you can one minute be on a golf course in the West Indies and I think pretty much 20 hours later he was in uh the premier in um with only I think a ruck sack that he had over his shoulder and he set a golf club he set a golf club so um obviously the essentials um but yeah Hayden’s you know been a great addition again to us it’s very difficult you know Matt no matter how many of these competitions these guys play just to come in and expect to settle but um he’s been a good addition to us he’s a real live wire around the dressing room really good fund so it’s been great to have him off the field yep we’ve talked about in previous two shows every members forum and probably all over local news national news um the effect of flooding New Road um we’ve talked I think in previous shows and quite regularly that fats not been able to P those first two championship fixures at New Road cost us in excess of qu million pound um but is there a bigger commercial knock on effect to that as well which is affecting the club and I feel that some of this might be coming back to me it’s odd hybrid role as host and contributor probably but what is that kind of knock on effect is it much cheaper yeah so I mean both of you can add I mean from my perspective the initial is probably around a quarter of a million pound hit and that is uh the the the move to kinster lifting everything up taking the infrastructure there it is the loss of earnings during that period at new road but then what we’ve almost seen is a is a bit of I think consumer nervousness around um new road and are we open aren’t we open and I can certainly say we are open we’re open for business um there’s a lot going on Dominic touched on the the non-match Day stuff the hospitality and obviously we got T20 matches still uh and we need people’s support we need people to come to to New Road and support us so um I I think also it would be fair to say that the weather’s been an issue we’ve not had had great weather for the start of the blast we are now I mean a gorgeous couple of days um and I hope that continues but I’m pretty sure that’s had an effect because I don’t think we’re alone in T20 numbers being down um but again we need everyone’s support we need everyone to come back to the club and um and spend their pennies with us yeah I think starting on T20 numbers I think um what I think we do in cricket really well is collaborate across the counties ultimately off the field we’re not competing against each other we we do a lot of work with each other we Benchmark and kind of compare and help each other out as much as we can and we are seeing those drop off in Blast numbers what there is coming forward is more support in terms of promoting the blast going forward from the ECB um each County I think I’m right to say is getting a pot of money to help them promot promote the blast going forward and make that bigger and better that’s both in part of the marketing efforts and actually the match their experience side of things as well which should really help us we’ve talked about great experiences that’s a massive part of that we’ve expanded commercial team this week actually we’ve taken a new marketing manager to help with that help get more people into the venue both cricket and non-cricket as Ash has just touched upon I think we are seeing that consumer nervousness um we are very much open at this W isue new road we’ve got a load of great events on um this summer we’ve got a great concert lineup we’ve deliberately tried to put different types of concerts on um for different groups of people and different demographics to try and spread that out um there’s a lot more Cricket to come this year there’s more T20 games we’re really ramping up that off field experience to complement the cricket as well so there’s a huge amount to be excited about still this summer at New Road really um so it’s kind of just working hard everyone as a team and kind of taking a breath and seeing what we can do to make sure that everyone knows we’re open for business and we wanted to deliv those great experiences can I add because I’m an occasional visitor to new Ro right I didn’t grow up in Worcester so you you who have spent all your time here you you almost don’t realize what a fantastic venue it is and coming on the Friday night to the to the Birmingham game the T20 is a brilliant place to watch cricket you know it’s probably the finest ground I’d say in the country in terms of Outlook and on the Summer’s evening it’s an absolutely brilliant place to watch cricket and I think that something you might forget if you you were there every day but both F pretty much seven days a week actually out there but it is a wonderful place to come watch cricket it’ll be a wonderful place for a concert or for any kind of activity and as you say it’s good that we want people to get behind that and go and have a great great night out and the T20 was a great night we lost but it was still a great night and the The Lads put in a great performance on the pitch and the the off the pitch the you know the hospitality the the the the availability of food drink the spaces they were fantastic I was really really impressed by it yeah and you’ve got mean you touched on the the concerts upcoming the I mean the the Sun comes out Dominic said the the the setting with the cathedral in the background for the we got the Rocket Man and the ughs vi the ’90s or 90s with the 0s which is right in my sweet spot Joe um more of an 80s man myself this time but um yeah should be a couple of great nights out so come down that’d be fun I think as Dominic mention it’s good to hear someone coming as an occasional visitor and saying I great the experiences we keep talking about great experiences we’ve invested a lot in those experiences both in terms of infrastructure and both of resource and training in terms of people and we’re going to continue to do that on me I think it’s that’s Central to what everything you and I have been trying to do yeah and you’ve been amazingly supportive of me and the commercial Department that for the last year now I think yeah it remains essential we we’ve said at members forums we we’re not going to get everything right and we hold our hands up to that we accept that and we welcome the feedback but we are trying to deliver uh and make those uh incremental improvements all the time as long as we’re improving and we’re moving that d then then that’s the most important thing and that’s what I see over this last well I’m almost making a year anniversary now um in the role so um yeah it’s um those those great experiences are essential um and that you know we’ve talked a lot Jo about the ultimate vision is is around um being the destination of choice for for all those things life sport Hospitality um uh you know and other events that’s what we want to be uh in wor year and there’s no reason why we can’t be that and I think as well I think it’s good times to touch on I think the human element of this is the absolute Cornerstone of what we’re trying to do in lots of different ways I think when I came in I’ve been I’ve been at the club six years when I came in I kind of walked through the office office doors and went well where’s everyone else I think you probably had a similar experience and probably Dominic you have as well from your background but I think what the size of the workforce gives us and the size of new road visit W you New Road in particular gives us is that opportunity to give everyone that really close-up human welcome to the club and I think that’s where we can really be different to other grounds these bigger grounds where and entertainment venues where you I think you can go in and not get noticed because you’re just a number in a stadium but for me I think it’s great that you can come to New Road someone will look interact with you smart and say hello and try and help you personally I think that’s something that really set us apart isn’t it yeah definitely and you’re right I mean I had that experience you say walked in the office and saying so where is everyone yes this is it um so that and that’s just a reminder to everyone out there we’re not blessed with hundreds of staff so um you know when you see people around the ground and you ask who does what it’s pretty much that group of people does does everything and they’re trying to deliver but I do think that human element’s really important you get that at the smaller venues and the smaller clubs it becomes much more personal and less corporate um but that doesn’t mean the experience and the quality shouldn’t be high as well and that’s what we’re trying to deliver yeah and as as the new boy I’ll add to that because the welcome has been second to n it’s fantastic as you say I’m a remarkably small team but very very warm welcome and I I I’ve seen that on Match day as well and experienced it myself and you know the team visit W New Road couldn’t be nicer but also very very professional it’s it’s a really good combination we got also we’re looking today as they’ve got a great loyalty in the team we don’t have a very high turnover and of of staff and so it’s a it’s a factor that people really are good at their jobs and um that presents well to anybody visiting the uh the ground brilliant I think I just want to move on now to actually talk about the women’s Rapids for a bit yeah um I think we’ve got some exciting news to share um and lot share some detail around that I think Ash you want to Le from the front on that one yeah so there’s there’s been a lot of questions in the past around the um the tier one and tier 2 process for the women’s game uh everyone will know and been asked a lot of questions about why we didn’t bid for tier one I think I’ve answered that but we have bid for tier two and that process is very much underway now actually over the next couple of days uh we’re going to be sitting with ECB and um going through our bid which I think is a really good bid and to reinforce we take women’s Cricket very seriously we want to support our women and girls in werer um and give them the same same opportunities that our our boys and our men do and uh even if that means you know that our players move on at some point and join uh the professional ranks fully professional ranks then then that’s what happens but our our job is to develop high quality players and give them opportunities and and I suppose just to give a bit of background there tier two differs from tier one because whilst the the setup the coaching setup and back staff will be professional the players will remain amateur um be fully fully funded in terms of expenses and so they won’t be out of pocket but um they will be an amateur team compared to tier one which would be fully professionalized but um yeah we’re very hopeful that we’ll get one of those teams and I’m looking forward to it to Dominic from your point of view how important is the club supporting the growth of women’s Cricket to you I’m glad you asked that it’s very very important and as I said I’m coming back on Sunday to see the England women’s game and I I want to see us support women’s Cricket I want to see women’s Cricket at new road as well by the way so as much as possible in the future if you we could add that into our fiveyear 10e vision as as seeing seeing more women’s Cricket in our ground um and we’re going to grow that through through the application as as Ash has just said that’s that’s going to be important but you know I’ve been as I said I’ve been involved in coaching and refereeing different sports and the growth of of of girls and women sport over that period has been one of the things that has been fantastic and one of the things we should celebrate um the success of the England women both in football and in cricket is probably outshines the England men there I say in many respects so um that’s the measure isn’t it we want to be part of that we want to be involved in in developing players and putting on entertaining Cricket well the next bit was meant to be a queue in for me plugging the England women’s game against New Zealand that visit W J Road on Sunday however it’s not needed could be sold out which is great it’s the first time we’ve ever sold out women’s fixture at visit W Ro which again I think speaks massive volumes for how much the game’s growing and how important people in wer should see that as well really in terms of our application for tier 2 is there anything in there what kind of details in there what have we done to maybe stand out as a as a as an application well actually I mean you you could probably um pick this up a bit more than me but there I mean there’s a couple of things that we’ve done already with the women’s Rapids and and again you’ve LED on Standalone sponsorship I think is really important so giving putting the spotlight on the women’s game because so often we see sponsorships piggyback on the on the back of the men’s game and and almost be a bit soft but ativo have come in sponsoring our women’s Rapids team and we’re looking to to grow that um I think the element that we’ve talked a lot about Joe and as you termed it uh Rapids on the road um is actually taking the women’s game out to clubs as well Dominic’s Point’s a really good one about them playing yeah at new road but actually taking women’s Cricket out into the clubs into the community and putting a show on around that whether that be you know food food um food Village entertainment the mascots getting kids interested and be able to play cricket um in the intervals so really taking out there and and sharing with the rather than expecting people just to come to us on the time yeah and I think to come back on that again weirdly as hos and a contributor um the whole rapid on the road concept is actually we could play all the women’s Cricket at new road is that the best thing for the growth of the women’s game within werer actually I think as a group we’ve looked at and thought in the short term short to medium term actually getting that women’s R Rapids team out around werer to different ground grounds around wsh in the black country building that match day experience activate around that and help grow the women’s game actually we’re going to be in a much better position in the longer term with a much kind of broader group of people interested in women’s cricket and understanding to grow that in the longer term get more players on the pathway whilst actually using showcase games at new road as well yeah um that’s kind of the basis behind the Rapids on the road kind of strategy on there I think Ash has touched on it commercially as well it’s something that the commercialization of the women’s game for me and I think for us should stand Al loone from the men’s game um as Ash said ativo have come in and been really Keen they’re really supportive of that and actually the commercialization of that is to bring more money to support that women’s program as well just so actually yeah there’s tier 2 money involved but actually we’ve set quite a high Target above that so we can put even more into that program I mean it’s that important to us isn’t it yeah and an element of that is working really closely with the foundation who um many of the County Career clubs now the first class counties those those two organizations are joined we’re not we’re still separate organizations but I’m really Keen we work closely together I think we have a really good relationship we sit in the same office even don’t we so we we do um we do get on well and spreading the word of cricket through Recreation through the women’s game through girls and boys and getting them playing and involved in cricket is is really important to us and and that connection with the community which you know I know at times when results are tough there’ll be there’ll be elements out there who go oh you just don’t care about us you know we’re not important Cricket’s not important absolutely is and certainly our contact with the community is really important and we we really want to build that so moving on moving forward more um lots of questions as normal about the 100 where are we at with the 100 yeah well I mean most of it has been shared in the media I think not by us um what I can say I think is that we are making good progress in terms of uh some agreement amongst the counties around what the future of the 100 looks like and the possibility of of private investment which my personal view is that’s going to happen and I think it’s important it happens and I know I’ve said it time and time again but one of the most important reasons it happens is that it it’s important money’s into the game that underpin the whole game it’s not just about money underpins a franchise competition or makes the rich richer we all own the 100 and therefore we will all benefit out of the sale of of those sides so um I think it’s really really important we’ve come a long way down the line uh I think we’re getting there as I say but as with all these things the devil’s in the detail so when it comes down to the detail there’s going to need to there need to be a lot of work done but there’s the desire and the intent to get that work done so we can um you know we got the right product to go to market if it goes when when it goes to Market and we want that competition to be as successful as it possibly can so you’ve talked about potential sou if that was to happen there was a lot of questions coming from Members it’s a question to both of you um what would the club do with any potential what people have termed a winfall from the 100 sou of the club well well look I think there’s a i there’s quite a broad question there be a broad answer so and and doic can come in in a second there there are a number of different things happening at the moment and that that people will be aware there’s the project underway with the ground that um the board the board made a statement about looking all options for staying at New Road and what that would take in terms of mitigation of flooding Etc development and option two is well what would an alternative venue look like so that project’s going on so we don’t know what the outcome of that will be we’re hoping that by end of July we’ll have option one pretty much finished and we’ll be able to communicate that um with members and supporters um option two depending on option one is probably a bigger piece of work but coming back to any sale any monies a lot of a lot of that will depend on what I’ve just talked about option an option too you know we we also carry a fair bit of debt as a club and and that debt profile if anything is what what is costing us because you know W without that debt and with the work you’ve done commercially Joe we we’d be in a pretty good spot but we um you know the the the pay down on that the repayments on that that debt the interest um can be quite crippling uh and it becomes difficult to work with day-to-day so to be able to clear that debt at some point or at least reschedule it would be um also a nice bonus but um what we don’t want to do certainly what I wouldn’t want to do is just waste that money this is probably a one-time deal and going back to that word Dominic used at the very beginning this has to be about us being sustainable in the long term um and there are a number of different images of what that could look like but a sustainability is crucial well I think hash has put it very well but you when I first came along and um looked at the the challenge that the flooding brings to US Financial costs of that we we’re very open with the members in terms of the financial position of the club at the AG you you laid out the position and and the level of debt in the club and when I look at the 100 um you know one of one of my job one part of my job along with Ash is to go and represent werer up at Lords and with the ECB and we will be fighting W’s corner at every level what the 100 in the short term the sale of the 100 the sale of the franchises the competition isn’t being sold itself of course but the sale of the franchises the shortterm benefit for us to will hopefully be an injection of cash and as Ash said there will be some funds for development depending how large that sum is but the priority has to be um paying down the debts you know we’re profitable Club but we have quite a level of debt in the business in fact most County crickets I think nearly all of them carry what I would consider probably too much debt for the level and size of the business I me I you know as I said i’ spent a lot of time business and we do look at debt levels in in as ratios to to companies profitabilities and you’re looking at a comfortable debt level is basically a certain ratio of your profit and I would say was just is a little bit higher than I would like to see be honest with you and be honest with with the m and viewers the debt levels in cricket are too high and so a windfall from the 100 for westers would Prime would initially be spent I would say Ash on on paying down debt because the debt service and debt repayment schedule is tough even for a profitable business and that’s just being straight with people so that getting the debt level down getting those franchises sold getting wor to shares as much as we can secure paying the debts down puts us in a much more sustainable position because therefore what’s left of that can be invested and future profits can be invested as well but if you’re making profits to pay interest and debt repayments that is a more difficult position to push the club on and so if we can improve the debt position it puts us in a much stronger position off the pitch and on the pitch as well as wouldn’t waste it all the way but a profitable Club can can clearly put some more resources onto the pitch yeah absolutely so half for the year half of the season um talking a bit more short term now what are you both looking forward to between now and the end of the year or the end of the season Dominic well I’m going to come and see a lot of games I’ve got to get into the business side I’ll be honest my my my my main focus as as chair is the business side of the club you know Ash Ash and the team manage the on Pitch aspects very well and and although I say if they’re looking for a number 11 who doesn’t bowl and you know if we’re very shter players I can step in at short notice but um the business side of the club is going to be my focus the other focus is is going actually to as many games as possible and some of the away games I want to get to know some of the other uh board members in other counties and chairs and so forth and just to see if we can learn things Jo from other counties I don’t think anything they do is competitive with us so the more we can learn from what works in other other County crickets areas and stadiums the better so I think that’s sort of sees me through to the end of the season and then uh the winter we’ll be looking again at the budgeting cycle and how we look for next year yeah well firstly I mean it’s great to have Dominic on board we’ve been without a chair since fos left in December um and Dave Baker’s done a fantastic job as Vice chair and Pidge before that and the rest of the board had a huge amount of support but to have a chair now is a is um is a big boost um and to lead on that overall strategy and the governance is is is so important and and has probably eatting up quite a lot of my time um this last period so looking forward to that I mean for us Joe both of us um I suppose in many ways it never ends does it so we move from game to game we move from event to event and um sometimes sleepless night from to sleepless night but it’s great fun it’s a great club and we’ve got a lot of work to do as we talked about the beginning to to play better in the blast um but to stay up in division one we’ve got to play some Cricket we’ve got to win a couple of matches but um with the group of guys we have if we can get some of them back on the park as well then no reason why we can’t do that coming up this is one thing I’m most looking forward to as well uh metran one day Cup last year um it was brilliant we really changed what we wanted match days to look like we really changed at what the ticketing model was um to seeing visit W New Road packed full of families kids on bansy castles whil watching the cricket um just a great family day out which I think was really good value I can’t wait for that to come around again this year and that is going be very soon that was great fun yeah um and we played good Cricket uh hope we’ve got a team we can stick together by by then um but more than that as you said and the weather was great it just felt like really good oldfashioned days out of the cricket oh it’s brilliant I think for me one of my first memories in you Road was coming down playing on the Outfield in the lunch interv we got kids and families back on the Outfield they could play with their families if they want we organized some stuff with the foundation which they could take part in as well um and then afterwards autographs with the players and things like that and it just felt like a multigenerational brilliant family day out and it was just great fun right in the middle of the summer yeah and I can’t wait for it again let’s hope the Sun stays out we you some more I think right so I think that actually wraps it up for today um first of all I just want to thank number 15 recruitment for being our title sponsor for this and their support of that along with Midland Road studios here uh massive thanks to Ashley chares as CEO for joining us today and massive thank you and welcome to Dominic Riley our chair for joining the club and joining us today as well um thank you very much for tuning in um we’ll be on to episode four before you know it I’m sure thank you very much and we’ll see you at visit W New Road soon