Devon Cricket Board - Player Survey

Player Survey - Responses summary

In response to national statistics that show a reduction in people playing cricket, Devon Cricket (with the support of Active Devon) produced a player survey to identify barriers to playing cricket and ensure that the cricket offered in Devon is appropriate to the needs of past, current and future players.

The survey was opened in April 2013 at the start of the playing season, running for four months until August 2013. The survey was promoted through the Devon Cricket website, local leagues, the club network and social media outlets. Devon Cricket Board Members were also encouraged to promote through their networks. T20 Finals Day tickets were provided to incentivise the completion of the short 12 question survey, taking no more than 10 minutes to answer.

A further survey initiated by the ECB will also add a greater level of information and depth. We hope this will be available shortly and we will update this page as soon as it arrives.

Here is a link to the full report of responses CLICK HERE and below is a summary:

Response summary

721 people completed the questionnaire

94% Male ; 6% Female

32% East ; 15% West ; 14% South ; 11% North

There was a consistent response rate across all age ranges 14-56+. 592 people provided their email address

HEADLINE FINDINGS

Playing regularity & format

75% of respondents are playing once or more per week

83% of respondents play weekend cricket (70% of respondents play League 1st/2nd XI cricket)

Retention

47% of players have had, or considering, a break from cricket

Of those, Family (34%), Work commitments (26%) & Injuries (24%) are the key reasons. Cost (8%) and travel (10%) were the least highlighted reasons

Satisfaction

75% of players feel happy or very happy about playing cricket

5% are unhappy or very unhappy

Motivations

The motivating factors for playing cricket in order of priority are:

To play competitively (30%)

The social element (28%)

To keep fit (14%)

To play with friends & family (13%)

Meet new people (8%)

To play at representative level (5%)

PLAYING CONDITIONS

The survey made some assumptions about current playing conditions, here are our findings:

I am perfectly happy with existing arrangements

37% of respondents did not agree

There is too much travelling for away fixtures

33% of respondents agree or strongly agree

36% of players agree they would like to play in a zonal league within a certain radius of miles

The matches start too early

94% of respondents did not agree

The matches are too long

81% of respondents did not agree

It is too expensive

83% of respondents did not agree

80% of players would prefer to play 40 (53%) or 50 (27%) over cricket

DCB Ltd, University of Exeter Sports Hall, Stocker Road, Exeter, Devon EX4 4QN Company Registration Number: 7024773