very versatile and it allows you
to use it in traditional or modern
forms of communications to
drive engagement.”
Surtees agrees: “It will show
depth in Surrey as a club bringing
everyone closer, making it very
obvious to them that they are on
a pathway with players they are
trying to reach.”
With a decline in media coverage
and lack of free-to-air broadcasts,
are the clubs fi lling a gap?
Gould says: “That’s a really
good point. There may be less on
terrestrial, but it’s found its own
output in other areas. I would argue
that more is being written and
talked about cricket now than ever.
It’s just that without that free-to-air
backing, you get to work a bit harder
to fi nd it. Once you fi nd it there’s a
whole online community out there
and this is where streaming comes
in. It’s just another extension.”
Currently, only Sussex charge
non-members to stream matches,
but could this offer a valuable
additional revenue source?
Gould has no plans to charge, and
believes the existing approach has
benefi ts: “We’ve got enough cricket
behind the paywall. We need to get
cricket in front of it. There’s a lot of
synergy because the more interest
there is in county cricket, then
those behind the paywall deals will
benefi t because cricket will be more
and more popular.”A third of Test match tickets at The
Oval are sold to members, but Gould
says that the more clubs can do to
enthuse others, the more likely they
are to buy tickets for internationals.
“One of the reasons why England
has such good levels of Test match
support is because we have such
good levels of county support. It’s
just that it’s not always evident at
the matches themselves. Digital
engagement just makes it a bit
more obvious.
“Money is important, but you’ve
got to think more about the game.
Money will automatically follow if
you’ve got a game that lots of people
care about but the fi rst thing is
people caring about the game. That’s
the No.1 priority.”
Notts commercial director Michael
Temple thinks streaming can only
help the club maintain support:
“It’s become the norm for us to
have more viewers watching our
live stream than in attendance
during Championship matches, yet
our games remain extremely well
supported and we’ve seen nothing
to suggest that free streaming
cannibalises attendances in any way.
“Every county makes their own
calls but we felt very strongly that
investing in streaming technology
enabled members and supporters
to remain in touch with the club at
times when they couldn’t attend and
compelled them to get to the ground
when they could.”from a beach bar in Florida.
Warren adds: “It’s not just the
numbers, it’s the feedback. People
are watching on their offi ce
computers, TVs and phones.
“There’s a 92 per cent UK audience,
which is what we wanted, but
equally there are people watching
from all over the world, which is
phenomenal – just to see people
write in and say how great it is. They
put it in their offi ce, no one even
liked cricket, but now they’re all
hooked.”
Though Yorkshire do not yet live
stream, Surrey’s signing of Virat
Kohli did raise press speculation
that the two sides’ Championship
match at Scarborough – when
Cheteshwar Pujara and Kohli were
set to be on opposite teams – could
be fi lmed, to tap into a potentially
vast subcontinental audience.
Surtees’ team create bespoke, often
humorous, short fi lms for social
media, helping fans get to know the
players as people. It all makes for
engaging and shareable content
with an emphasis on quality over
sheer numbers of responses.
Surrey are keen to use social media
to engender a sense of one club and
county, promoting 2nd XI, women’s
and youth sides alongside the
men’s team on the same accounts.
A network of coaches and scorers
share footage with Surtees’ team via
WhatsApp so they can be instantly
uploaded.
Now the playing records of all
Surrey players are being brought
together in a unique partnership
with Cricket Archive – the database
owned by The Cricketer Publishing
Ltd. It incorporates all those
playing 1st and 2nd XI cricket,
Surrey Women, age groups, Surrey
Championship and Over-50s and
Over-60s.
Jim Hindson, managing director
of Cricket Archive, explains: “We’ve
created a platform which will
allow a Surrey Under-15 player to
rub shoulders with Rory Burns,
Jason Roy and Kumar Sangakkara.
Although they play in different
classifi cations, you can look at
everyone together in one place and
see where you sit in the pantheon of
Surrey greats.
“It’s an opportunity to showcase
performances, create context and
narratives and allow Surrey fans
to track young players. Data is
County
streamers
Counties
currently
streaming:
Derbyshire
Durham
Essex
Glamorgan
Lancashire
Leicestershire
Middlesex
Northants
Notts
Somerset
Surrey
Sussex
WarwickshireCounties
that do not
stream:
Gloucs
Hampshire
Kent
Worcs
YorkshireSocial media
Facebook
Total county
following:1,706,305
Total
combined
following
(counties +
MCC +
competitions
+ England):7,277,906
Twitter
Total county
following1,147,708
Total
combined
following
(counties +
MCC +
competitions
+ England2,749,408
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