2024 ANNUAL REPORT

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE COUNTY CRICKET CLUB 2024 ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 22 That five of those have graduated to the first-team squad in the last year alone shows the strength of our current pathway, and credit should go to MattWood for producing such a wealth of high-potential cricketers. They include Sam Seecharan, Travis Holland andTom Giles, who have all been offered rookie contracts for the coming year. All three have built strong records in club, school and Academy cricket over the last couple of years – with Sam winning the club’s Charles Vernon Price Memorial Plate for most improved Academy cricketer last season. They have the club’s full backing as they embark upon the first chapters of their professional careers. We also once again saw representa- tion at the ECB Super 4s competi- tion in the summer, with Byron Hatton-Lowe captain of a Midlands side which included Akand Gangotra, while Josh Beer, Oscar Butcher and Henry Hardy all played at Bunbury Festival. From the Notts girls’ pathway, ten players were selected into regional EPP and academy programmes, while Olivia Baker was recently awar- ded a senior contract byThe Blaze. She will add to a group who have seen great success across the last year, as James Cutt explains within this Annual Report. We can all look forward to seeing The Blaze continue to progress in the new tiered system, as the women’s game continues to go from strength to strength locally and nationally. Their presence at Trent Bridge reaffirms our commitment to growing the women’s game, with significant resources focused on elevating the matchday experience – as displayed by the fixture against Thunder, which saw 4,710 people in attendance. This interest is true, too, of The Hundred, which continues to attract a new audience to cricket, and international cricket, for which we hosted four sold-out matchdays this year. Three of those were in our Test againstWest Indies – and it was particularly enjoyable to observe Ben Duckett enjoying his first ‘home’ Test in that fixture. He has continued to embrace his time in an England shirt and has nailed down the opening position in the format. Across the year, there were also England call-ups for Stone and Pennington, while Ahmed, McCann, James, Pennington and Hatton-Lowe all received England Lions or England U19s selection. One of our key performance indicators is to produce players for international cricket, so for that volume to have received such rec- ognition reflects brilliantly on the players themselves, the work they have put in, and the support they’ve received from our coaches. The season’s end requires us to bid farewell to some of our players who have represented the club with distinction. One of those, Luke Fletcher, has been one of the most popular and recognisable cricketers the club has ever had, both inside and outside the dressing room. “WE CAN ALL LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING THE BLAZE CONTINUE TO PROGRESS IN THE NEW TIERED SYSTEM, AS THE WOMEN’S GAME CONTINUES TO GO FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH LOCALLY AND NATIONALLY.” Mick Newell