Last year the decision was made that the LCU would strike out on its own and develop its own website. Since then there has been a major effort to make this happen. The launch at the beginning of March, in time for the 2011 cricket season, is the culmination of all this effort. The intention is to establish the Cricket Leinster website as a ‘first stop’ for anyone interested in cricket.
So what is it all about. The aim is to help promote the development of cricket in Leinster by providing a place where anyone involved or interested in the sport can find information, commentary and the opportunity to participate and input. The website will also provide a range of services to clubs and individual cricketers. Finally, it is hoped that people will use the site as a portal through which they can view cricket in Ireland and around the world.
The site will include up to date information on all fixtures for adult and youth competitions. This will replace the printed LCU Handbook that was published in previous years. Results for all levels of cricket will be available including the scorecards for all competitive matches.
There will be opportunities for anyone interested to submit news articles and photos and to make comments on articles. As part of the website the LCU are launching a Fantasy League for Division I & II [Open Competitions].
The website will include information from suppliers and service providers and for the clubs themselves there will be the opportunity to attract new members. A map on the site shows the location of all the clubs in Leinster. There are contact names and numbers for just about anyone involved in the running of Leinster cricket, including social cricket.
All playing and competition regulations have been uploaded and can be viewed or printed out. Women and Schools & Youth cricket have their own sections. Information about the three cricket associations, Umpires & Scorers, Grounds and Coaches, can also be found on the website.
The website will help raise funding for the development of cricket in the province through sponsorship and the advertising of services.
The launch of the website is an important event for the LCU, but it is only a start. Over the next few months we hope to grow the archive section so that we have a repository for historical information and records. It is also hoped to grow the range of services provided to include information for anyone wanting to start up a new club, for touring sides wanting to visit the province, and for clubs to co-operate together to share costs. All of this is for the future but for now it is up to the cricketing public to get behind the site and engage.
Finally, I would like to thank all those who have contributed to setting up the site. The developers, Webtogether, the project team [Sharon Smyth, Paul Reynolds and Ken Brennan] and all the many contributors of photos, articles, contact details and background material.
Another team is now being put in place to run the site and I would like to thank them in advance for volunteering their time and expertise.
To everyone else please use the site to get your daily fix of cricket information and gossip.
Eddie Lewis