The Australian Cricket Board (ACB) today released a new strategic plan for Australian cricket, following 12 months of extensive research, consultation and analysis with the game's many stakeholders.

Entitled From Backyard to Baggy Green, the three-year plan also details a new ACB mission statement:

"To advance cricket as Australia's national sport by:

• growing participation in the game;
• fostering the success of Australian teams; and
• striving for commercial excellence,
  in a manner that upholds the tradition, integrity and spirit of cricket."

ACB Chief Executive Officer James Sutherland said the document builds on the solid foundations set by the ACB's first strategic plan.

"In 1999, Australian cricket embarked on the most comprehensive and detailed review of the game ever undertaken and the results of this were produced in the ACB's first strategic plan, Putting Runs on the Board," Mr Sutherland said.

"Three years later, Australian cricket arguably lives in a more complex and challenging global environment.

"At a local level, millions of Australians are passionately involved in cricket in some way, and there is an on-going need to ensure that the game's stakeholders have confidence in the way the sport is run.

"Strategic planning is crucial in rising to meet this challenge."

The ACB's new blueprint is designed to help take the game forward for the next three years.

The plan details four strategic priorities for Australian cricket:

1. strengthen and protect the "spirit of cricket";
2. thrive at the elite level;
3. attract, develop and keep people in the game; and
4. ensure cricket has a strong and sustainable financial base.

Twenty-seven strategic initiatives sit underneath these priorities and will be implemented over the plan's three-year life span.

"The document is a strategic plan for Australian cricket," Mr Sutherland said.

"It encompasses all aspects of the game from the grassroots through to the elite level and will provide the direction Australian cricket needs to continue as a leader both at home and on the international stage."

Mr Sutherland said the plan has a balanced approach to respecting the game's tradition and fostering a culture of innovation.

"As custodian of the game in Australia, the ACB needs to protect the important traditional values of cricket, while also tackling the game's numerous challenges and enhancing the game's commercial opportunities," he said.

"If we achieve this, cricket will continue to be a successful competitor in the sport and entertainment industries."

© 2002 Australian Cricket Board

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