Cricket adds swing to city’s economic momentum

Neil Snowball, chief executive of Warwickshire CCC

Today is Neil Snowball’s favourite day.

Tomorrow the umpires will call play on the start of England’s 1,000th Test.

But today, as the final preparations are made at Edgbaston to welcome tens of thousands of cricket fans over the next few days, is the one when he can take pride in his own team.

“My favourite day is the day before a major match day,” said the Warwickshire County Cricket Club chief executive.

“There’s a real buzz about the place, it’s the day the whole organisation comes together. The day before is the day I really enjoy.”

Snowball joined Warwickshire ahead of the 2016 season, after what he described as “10 years of putting on events in other people’s venues”.

It’s an understated way for the former Goldman Sachs director to summarise the part of his CV which reads head of sport for the London Organising Committee of the 2012 Olympic Games and chief operating officer of the 2015 rugby union world cup.

But now he “loves” running a club, saying “it’s an emotional thing to do”.

The lifelong cricket fan added: “If the team is winning or losing, it affects the whole mood of the club.”

Warwickshire’s performances have swung around since Snowball arrived. A mid-table finish in the County Championship’s first division was followed by an abject year in 2017 that ended in relegation with just one win in 14. But an immediate return is now possible, with the club top of the division two table as August begins.

The upbeat mood is also boosted ahead of the arrival of England and India, following up last year’s historic day/night Test match against the West Indies, the 50th Test at Edgbaston.

The ruthless win, by an innings and 209 runs, was wrapped up in three days and reinforced the ground’s reputation as Fortress Edgbaston. England have lost just one Test in the last 13 at Edgbaston, winning nine, in a run that goes back to 2001.

An even better omen is that India have never won at the ground, losing on four of their five visits. Their last visit, in 2011, ended with England’s biggest-ever Test victory at Edgbaston.

The inaugural day/night test match at Edgbaston

The reputation as Fortress Edgbaston (where England’s Test record reads played 50, won 27, lost 8) has other benefits, too.

Snowball lobbied hard for a switch in the traditional summer schedule next year, and was rewarded with the ground being chosen to host the high-profile first Ashes Test in the hope of starting the series with an England win.

Before then comes the Cricket World Cup, when five games will be held at Edgbaston, including England-India and the second semi-final.

“Next year is the World Cup and the Ashes,” said Snowball. “It’s a huge year for the club and for the city.”

The major matches in 2018, which began with the England-Australia T20 match last month and finishes with the annual T20 finals day in September, are forecast to deliver £23m to Birmingham’s economy.

Next year will be even more lucrative for the city, with Snowball estimating the economic impact to be “north of £50m”.

Beyond that Edgbaston has secured 31 major match days between 2020-24, including another Ashes Test, three other Test matches, six internationals and five T20 finals days.

There is also “a possibility” that Women’s T20 could still be part of the Commonwealth Games in 2022.

Neil Snowball, chief executive of Warwickshire CCC

The major matchdays produce significant revenue for the club and Snowball said the wider business has also had a “very solid year”, with continuing year-on-year growth. But he’s always looking for more.

He said: “When we have got really big matches it’s good for the brand. Last year the interest in the day/night Test was incredible and in terms of raising the profile of Edgbaston, that was very good.

“But a lot of people still don’t know how good the conference and events is. We rely on people coming along and having a great time.”

That ethos flows through to the hospitality offer, with Edgbaston having to work harder to attract the corporate coin.

Snowball said: “Going back a few years we would see the big banks and big corporates, that’s changed. They increasingly struggle to justify hospitality and there are all sorts of regulations.

“What we are seeing, which we love, is quite a lot of SMEs and that gives a real diversity to the people coming in.”

There is also the issue of starting a Test match on a Wednesday, rather than the more traditional Thursday.

“Our spectators are creatures of habit,” he said. “Do they like day one or coming on a Thursday?”.

Either way, thousands of empty seats are expected today and tomorrow.

Reaching new audiences is an ongoing challenge for nearly all sports organisations in the UK outside of football’s Premier League and that need is driving major change within the domestic game.

“It’s an exciting time for cricket, there’s a lot going on,” said Snowball, returning to his understated style.

Not since the introduction of Twenty20 cricket 15 years ago has there been as much controversy and disagreement about a competition.

T20 Finals Day at Edgbaston

The Hundred, a city-based franchise competition that will see each team face 100 balls, has been criticised for many reasons, not least because 100 cannot be divided by six.

One article in The Guardian was headlined “Cricket for idiots: there are 100 reasons not to like the ECB’s big idea” and summarised the concept as “an idea no one in cricket likes, and no one outside cricket knows they want”.

But Warwickshire, which will be hosting one of the city teams at Edgbaston, has been “one of the biggest advocates” for the new competition and Snowball remains on the front foot about cricket’s prospects.

“We need really strong leadership from all of us to take the game in a positive direction,” he said. “Just within England there’s been a complete revamp of the governance structure, both centrally and here at Warwickshire.

“There’s the new competition, which has gone through an awful lot of review and will now happen. Off the back of that, there’s a fantastic new broadcast deal that secures the future until 2024.”

Plus the major matchday schedule has also been confirmed up until 2024.

“To have done all of that in a 12-month period is quite a lot,” he added.

There remains more to do. Snowball acknowledges clubs “have our own challenges” when it comes to county cricket and is adamant “we need to protect red ball cricket”, before adding “but it doesn’t underpin the financial side”.

He also believes the 50-over game, which the counties play in the Royal London One-Day Cup, “has sadly lost its way”.

But overall Snowball is confident cricket is “in a good place”.

He said: “It has been quite a bruising time for the game but now is the time to to pull together and move forward.

“We are in quite a crowded marketplace and we need to make sure we provide a good offer.”

Watching a winning team helps, and hopefully by Sunday night Fortress Edgbaston’s record remains intact. But that is outside of Snowball’s remit.

“What we can do and what we can control is the experience,” he said. “We have worked very hard at the Edgbaston atmosphere.

“What we need to make sure is that when people come to Edgbaston they have a great experience.”

Today might be Neil Snowball’s favourite day. But he’s pretty excited about tomorrow too.

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