In 2014 the Leinster Cricket Union decided to introduce new arrangements for registering players competing in Cricket Leinster Open and Womens Competitions. While there is nothing new in the requirement that players must be registered in order to play competitive cricket organised by the LCU, this is the first time that a player can register directly through the Cricket Leinster website. There is a fee of €15 for all registered players who are 18 or over on 1st September of the previous year. There are a number of reasons why the LCU has decided to go down this route. The first is to provide a new source of income to support the development of cricket in Leinster. Cricket Leinster, working with its partners and sponsors, is responsible for the promotion and development of cricket in the province. Great strides have been made in recent years helping new clubs to form, bringing the sport to new areas, introducing boys and girls to the game in primary schools and supporting cricket for young people with a disability. The cost of these development initiatives and programme is over €100,000 per annum and rising, nearly half of which the LCU has to raise itself. The bulk of this money goes on employing Cricket Development Officers and Coaches who go into schools and clubs across the province. There is a lot more work to be done and areas yet to be visited. The money collected from players is dedicated solely for these purposes. But apart from the revenue raised, the new registration process will also allow Cricket Leinster for the first time to create a list of contact addresses that will make it possible to improve the flow of information to players. As the cricket community grows it is ever more important to ensure that people are kept informed about what is going on. The development of the Cricket Leinster website has greatly improved matters but it is important to introduce additional channels of communication, through social media and through direct e/mail contact. The last it is hoped will also enable the union to obtain feedback from players and ex-players about changes they would like to see in the organisation of the sport. Finally, it is intended that the new registration process will provide a platform for the delivery of additional services to the cricket community in Leinster. One of the aims is to provide the means whereby players are able to view information about their performances on the field. This won’t happen overnight but the first important step has been taken in the registration process, which will give each player a unique cricketing ID. This will make it easier to produce statistics and averages. It is also hoped that as the network grows we will have the numbers to justify distributing an electronic newsletter of information and comment on club and provincial cricket. This is planned for later this year. The new arrangements for registration will take time to bed down and inevitably there will be teething problems. Please contact your club to find out if they are putting in place any special arrangements for dealing with the transition to the new system. For further information contact admin@cricketleinster.ie.