--- title: "Cricket Match Day Planning Guide for Community Clubs" url: https://tidyhq.com/blog/cricket-game-day-planning-guide-uk date: 2025-03-12 updated: 2026-04-20 author: "Isaak Dury" categories: ["Sport-Specific", "AI"] excerpt: "Seven hours of cricket, a tea that can make or break your reputation, and a ground that needs to be ready by 11am. Here is the planning guide." --- # Cricket Match Day Planning Guide for Community Clubs > Seven hours of cricket, a tea that can make or break your reputation, and a ground that needs to be ready by 11am. Here is the planning guide. ![Community sports - Cricket Match Day Planning Guide for Community Clubs](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/bp0k7h82/production/1a3f13e58e0533add689ca65112c1e3b5ecaad74-2400x1260.jpg?w=1200&fm=webp) ## Key takeaways - Cricket match days run seven hours or more - the planning needs to reflect that, not treat it like a two-hour fixture - The tea interval is an institution and your club's reputation depends on it. Plan it like you would any other catering event. - Ground preparation starts days before the match with wicket preparation, outfield mowing, and boundary marking - A volunteer roster for cricket needs to cover morning setup, the tea, the bar, and the afternoon - that is four distinct shifts It's 11:30am on a Saturday in June\. The toss is in thirty minutes\. The square hasn't been mown because the mower broke on Thursday and nobody organised a replacement\. The outfield was last cut ten days ago and the ball will die in the long grass at mid\-wicket\. The sight screens are still in the store because the person who usually moves them is batting today\. And the tea \- the single most scrutinised element of any club cricket Saturday \- is being organised by someone who didn't know they were doing it until this morning\. Cricket match days are long\. A Saturday league fixture runs noon to 7pm at minimum, and can stretch to eight hours with rain delays\. That length demands planning that most clubs underestimate because the cricket itself fills the day \- but the operational work around the cricket determines whether the day runs smoothly or unravels\. ## The week\-before timeline ### Monday - **Confirm the fixture\.** Check your league's system \- Play\-Cricket or your competition's platform\. Confirm opposition, start time, home or away\. - **Wicket preparation begins\.** Your groundsperson or square custodian needs to know which strip is being used\. Preparation for a Saturday match typically starts by Wednesday at the latest \- rolling, mowing the strip, marking the crease\. But the decision about which wicket to use needs making now based on recent usage and condition\. - **Umpire confirmation\.** If your league appoints umpires centrally, check the appointment\. If you're providing your own, confirm who's standing and ensure they're qualified to the standard your competition requires\. ### Wednesday - **Volunteer roster published\.** Cricket's long match day needs four distinct roles across different time periods: \- Morning setup \(two people, 9am–12pm\) \- Tea preparation \(two to three people, arriving by 1pm\) \- Bar \(one to two people, 12pm–7pm, can be split into shifts\) \- Pack\-down \(two people, after close of play\) - **Tea planning confirmed\.** The person making the tea needs to know the headcount \(typically twenty\-two players, two umpires, two scorers, plus committee \- roughly thirty people\), have a menu planned, and have a shopping list\. - **Outfield mowing\.** If you maintain your own ground, the outfield should be cut by Thursday at the latest\. Freshly cut on Saturday morning risks clippings on the surface and doesn't give the grass time to recover\. ### Thursday - **Wicket preparation continues\.** Final rolling, crease marking, and mowing of the strip\. Your groundsperson knows the routine \- but make sure they've confirmed the pitch number and that the covers are going on overnight if rain is forecast\. - **Equipment check\.** Match balls \(new ball for each innings in most leagues\), stumps, bails, boundary markers or rope, sight screens in position or accessible, scoreboard working, score sheets or electronic scoring device charged\. - **Communications\.** Send the opposition skipper or secretary the details: ground address, parking, changing room arrangements, bar times, and when tea will be served\. Cricket etiquette means this is usually a phone call or a text, not a formal email\. ### Friday - **Weather review\.** Saturday forecast checked in detail\. If rain is likely, confirm the covers are on the square and that someone is available to pull them on and off during the match\. Some leagues require covers; all clubs benefit from them\. - **Tea shopping\.** Buy the food today\. Don't leave it to Saturday morning \- the baker's might be sold out of bread rolls by 10am\. - **Final kit check\.** Scorebook, pens, team sheet, coin for the toss, first aid kit, umpire's kit if your umpires need club\-supplied equipment\. - **Bar stock\.** Particularly for real ale clubs \- check your cellar is settled and barrels are tapped\. ## Match day timeline ### 9am \- morning setup - Unlock the pavilion\. Turn on water heaters, check toilets, stock toilet paper\. - Set up the scoreboard \- manual or electronic\. - Move sight screens into position\. These are heavy and need two people\. - Lay out the boundary rope or markers\. Walk the boundary and check for hazards\. - Check the wicket\. Remove covers if used\. Confirm the strip with the groundsperson\. - Set up seating \- benches, chairs around the boundary if your ground has them\. ### 10:30am - Tea urn on in the pavilion\. Tea and coffee available for early arrivals\. - Bar area set up \- float, stock, glasses\. - Score sheets prepared\. If you're using electronic scoring, ensure the device is charged and the league's system is loaded\. ### 11:30am \- one hour before start - Greet the opposition on arrival\. Changing room allocation, parking, bar, tea arrangements\. - Greet umpires\. Changing room, refreshments, match ball\(s\)\. - Captains and umpires inspect the pitch together\. Toss takes place\. - Team sheets exchanged\. ### 12pm \- start of play - Scorers in position with a clear view and communication with each other\. - First aid kit accessible and a first aider identified\. - Defibrillator in a visible, accessible spot\. ### Tea interval \(typically 3:30–4pm, between innings\) This is the centrepiece of your match day hospitality and the thing visiting teams will remember\. - **Timing\.** Tea is usually taken between innings or at a set time\. Know your league's regulations \- some specify a maximum duration \(twenty minutes is standard\)\. - **Layout\.** Food set out on tables in the pavilion or tea room before the interval begins\. Players shouldn't arrive to find someone still unwrapping sandwiches\. - **The spread\.** The classic cricket tea includes sandwiches \(egg mayo, ham, cheese and pickle\), sausage rolls, crisps, cake \(homemade Victoria sponge is the gold standard\), biscuits, fruit, and \- always \- the urn\. Some clubs add a hot option early or late season: soup, chilli, or jacket potatoes\. - **Dietary needs\.** Check with the opposition in advance\. Vegetarian options should be standard\. Flag anything containing nuts\. - **Presentation matters\.** Tablecloths, serving plates rather than plastic trays, proper cups\. It doesn't need to be elaborate, but effort is visible and appreciated\. ### After close of play - **Post\-match bar\.** Stay open for at least an hour, ideally longer\. This is where the day's cricket gets discussed, friendships form across clubs, and your bar takes the revenue that keeps the lights on\. - **Scorecards submitted\.** Upload to Play\-Cricket or your league's platform before you leave the ground\. It's easy to forget and tedious to reconstruct on Monday\. - **Presentations\.** Man of the match if your club does them\. Thank the umpires and the tea volunteers publicly\. ### Pack\-down - Collect stumps, bails, boundary rope or markers\. - Move sight screens back to storage\. - Covers back on the square if rain is forecast overnight\. - Kitchen cleaned \- washing up, surfaces wiped, food disposed of, bins emptied\. - Bar cashed up and stock reconciled\. - Pavilion locked, changing rooms checked for lost property\. - Scoreboard reset or covered\. - Report any ground issues \- bare patches, damaged square, mower problems, boundary fence repairs needed\. ## Ground preparation in detail Cricket ground preparation is a week\-long process, not a morning job\. Your groundsperson \(volunteer or contracted\) needs to work to a schedule: - **Monday/Tuesday:** Select the wicket for Saturday\. Begin mowing the strip\. - **Wednesday:** Roll the wicket\. Continue mowing if needed\. - **Thursday:** Final cut and roll\. Mark the creases\. Apply covers if rain is forecast\. - **Friday:** Outfield cut if not done earlier in the week\. Final inspection\. - **Saturday morning:** Remove covers, final check, let the groundsperson advise whether the surface is fit for play\. If your club doesn't have a dedicated groundsperson, the ECB's GroundsCare programme provides training and resources for volunteer ground staff\. A well\-prepared wicket is the single biggest investment you can make in the quality of cricket at your club\. ## The tea roster The tea is important enough to warrant its own planning system\. Many clubs run a tea rota where each player's family contributes once per season\. Others have a dedicated tea convenor who manages a team of volunteers\. Either way, the system needs: - A named person responsible for each fixture, confirmed at least a week in advance - A standard menu that everyone follows \(with room for personal touches\) - A budget \- typically £30–£50 per match depending on headcount - Supplies kept in stock at the pavilion \(tea, coffee, sugar, milk, squash, kitchen roll, cling film\) The worst cricket teas happen when nobody is confirmed until the last minute\. The best ones happen when someone who cares has had a week to plan\. ## Weather and rain delays Rain is cricket's constant companion\. Your planning needs to account for it: - **Covers\.** If your club has flat covers or mobile covers, someone needs to be available to deploy them when rain starts \- and to take them off when it stops\. This can happen multiple times during a day\. It's a job in itself\. - **Rain delay procedures\.** Know your league's regulations on reduced\-overs matches, DLS calculations \(if applicable\), and the cut\-off time for a result\. The umpires make the decisions, but your club needs to facilitate them\. - **Ground drainage\.** If your outfield holds water, know the worst spots and have a plan \- rollers, sponges, sawdust for foot holes on the crease\. - **Communication during delays\.** Keep both teams and the umpires informed about conditions\. Players sitting in the pavilion for ninety minutes with no information is how tempers fray\. ## How TidyHQ helps with cricket match day Cricket's long match days create an administrative burden that compounds across a season of twenty or more home fixtures\. Tea rosters, volunteer coordination, ground maintenance schedules, and attendance tracking \- managed through spreadsheets and WhatsApp groups, these eat hours of committee time every week\. [TidyHQ's event management](/products/events) lets you set up each home fixture with volunteer roles and shifts\. The tea rota, the bar shifts, the morning setup crew \- everyone signs up, gets a reminder, and confirms\. By Wednesday, you know who's covered and where the gaps are\. For clubs managing ECB affiliation, DBS records, junior membership, and subscriptions alongside match day operations, having one system means your secretary isn't juggling five platforms and a notebook\. ## FAQs **How much should we budget for cricket teas across a season?** For a standard twenty\-fixture home season, budget £30–£50 per match day\. That's £600–£1,000 for the season\. Some clubs offset this by asking players to contribute to one tea each\. Others include it in membership fees\. Whatever the model, plan the budget in April, not July\. **Who is responsible for the pitch if we don't have a groundsperson?** Ultimately, the club committee\. The ECB's GroundsCare programme provides free training for volunteer ground staff\. Many County Cricket Boards offer pitch advisor visits\. If nobody at your club is qualified or willing to maintain the square, you need to either recruit or contract a groundsperson \- the quality of your wickets determines the quality of your cricket\. **What if rain washes out the whole day?** Check your league's rules on abandoned matches and rearrangement procedures\. From an operational perspective, the tea volunteers still need standing down, the ground still needs checking, and the opposition needs notifying\. A morning call before anyone travels is basic courtesy\. The cut\-off for a decision should be agreed at the start of the season \- typically two hours before the scheduled start\. ## References - [England and Wales Cricket Board \(ECB\)](https://www.ecb.co.uk/) \- National governing body for cricket, including club support and competition management - [ECB Club Cricket Resources](https://www.ecb.co.uk/play/club-cricket) \- Support for community cricket clubs covering governance, safeguarding, and operations - [ECB GroundsCare](https://www.ecb.co.uk/play/facilities-and-pitches) \- Training and resources for cricket ground maintenance - [Play\-Cricket](https://www.play-cricket.com/) \- The ECB's online platform for club administration, scorecards, and statistics - [Club Matters](https://www.sportengland.org/funds-and-campaigns/club-matters) \- Sport England's free support programme for community sports clubs - [Community Amateur Sports Club \(CASC\)](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/community-amateur-sports-clubs-casc-detailed-guidance-notes) \- HMRC guidance on CASC registration and tax reliefs --- Header image: by vijay victor, via [Pexels](https://www.pexels.com/photo/cricket-player-prepares-to-bat-on-field-30497263/) --- Canonical: https://tidyhq.com/blog/cricket-game-day-planning-guide-uk | Retrieved from: https://tidyhq.com/blog/cricket-game-day-planning-guide-uk.md | Published by TidyHQ (https://tidyhq.com)