Oxfordshire Cricket remain committed to removing talent inclusion barriers within Pathway Programme in 2024-25 and have continued to adopt two interventions to achieve this within Phase 1 of the 2024-25 programme.
Oxfordshire Cricket provides an equitable, accessible and inclusive Pathway for both Girls and Boys that is open to receiving eligible player nominations via the annual player search process that solicits player nominations. The OCB recognises that players may face talent inclusion barriers into talent pathways and have sought to minimise barriers to access by welcoming eligible player recommendations from any individual via the OCB player search process for the second consecutive year.
To ensure that finance is not a barrier to participation, Oxfordshire Cricket have committed to again delivering Phase 1 of the pathway free of any participation charge to reduce barriers for talent inclusion. This has been achieved by making use of the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Additional County Age Group (CAG) funding to reduce the overall programme costs to parents across the ECB defined County Age Groups of Girls’ Under 11 to Under 18 and Boys’ Under 13 to Under 18. To ensure that the removal of phase 1 participation charge is fair and equitable to all players within the pathway ages, Oxfordshire Cricket have continued to commit their own financial reserves to support the Boys Under 11 to Under 12s who do not benefit from the additional ECB Funding.
Phase 1 Headlines
- Oxfordshire Cricket delivered in excess of 354 hours of developmental opportunities across the Under 11 to Under 18 Age Groups which comprised 177 sessions that took place in November and December 2024.
- 863 players accepted their place within Phase 1 of the pathway programme and were coached and continually assessed for their readiness to participate in Phase 2.
- Players who participated in Phase 1 were offered 3 or 4 x 2 hour sessions over a six week period depending upon the age group that were free of participation charges
Pathway Manager, Sam Arthurs said:
“Being able to remove cost as a barrier for participation within our opening observation phase makes our pathway more accessible to aspiring cricketers, especially those from diverse groups. In addition to this, our player bursary support mechanism will help to reduce the cost of participation, for those who require financial assistance, in phases 2 and 3.
We believe in a longitudinal approach to talent identification and development and as such we have opted to provide players with either 6 hours or 8 hours of contact time during phase 1. These sessions help us to identify pools of players to be selected to progress to phase 2, but more importantly provide players with access to coaching support which we hope will influence their long-term development and involvement within the game. Additionally, we have been delighted to offer all of those involved within phase 1 the opportunity to access supplementary support in the form of a bespoke Psychology programme and a support series for parents, guardians and carers via the ECB and non-Perfect Dad, which commences in 2025.
We are excited about the ongoing progressions being made to our pathway programme and continue to work toward making cricket the sport of choice in Oxfordshire.”
Performance Director, Matthew Barnes said:
“We remain committed to reducing barriers to entering the pathway and have evidenced this by sustaining our interventions that remove accessibility and financial barriers to Phase 1 of our pathway programme.”