Q&A with Pete Fitzboydon

We meet the Chief Executive of Sussex Cricket.

Firstly, can you tell us a little about yourself and your connection to Sussex Cricket?

I was a regular at Hove from the late 2000s, when I was living locally in (ahem) Kent. Little did I realise the significance of both that era of the men’s team, nor that I would be writing about it a decade or so later as the CEO! My abiding memory was not necessarily about the cricket itself, but the unique and welcoming ‘feel’ that Hove has. This is something that has endured and we need to work hard to make sure we keep it as we work to evolve Sussex Cricket for future generations.

I actually grew up near Bath and, as a ten-year-old, my cricket-mad uncle took me to my first ever County match to watch Somerset vs Kent at the Bath Recreation Ground – a ground where they ran a festival every year. You may recall this was a team with the all-time legends of Richards, Garner and Botham (rested for this match), and it inspired a life-long love of the game. My own experience means I am keen to make professional cricket accessible to as many people in Sussex as possible, both through making it easier to come to The 1st Central County Ground as well as working to return some matches to outgrounds.

Can you tell us a little bit about your previous role with Cricket Scotland and how that compares to your new job at Sussex?

Despite being a lifelong cricket fan and working in the sports industry for over 20 years, Cricket Scotland was my first time actually working in the sport. While the CEO job title may have been the same at both Cricket Scotland and Sussex Cricket, the situation could not be more different.

I flew up to take over Cricket Scotland with just two days’ notice, and headlong into a major crisis. A report had been published a few months before outlining the organisation as institutionally racist, with over 50 cases of alleged racism still to be looked into. The media, government, cricket community and both racism accusers and accused were understandably pushing for answers. Despite being the biggest challenge of my career bar none, I hold it up as perhaps my proudest career achievement, having led Cricket Scotland through the crisis to a place of stability despite what felt like daily ‘bumps in the road’. I will also always be grateful for the warm welcome from Scottish Cricket – despite my Englishness – and for giving me exposure to the sport I love in a global setting.

Sussex Cricket, by comparison, is a lot simpler! There are challenges, of course, but we are starting from a place of relative stability. Doing nothing is not an option; we need to evolve to stay relevant and improve our financial footing to make sure we are still here for future generations of cricketers and Sussex supporters. But we are building on firm foundations, with positive results on the field helping to reinforce the sense of a new era for Sussex Cricket.

The team has done brilliantly on the pitch this season, how can the club maximise this commercially?

The fact that we sold out the quarter final weeks ago shows the effect the team’s success has had, with massive support from the community. The challenge from here is making this level of success the norm and building our fan base. We are investing a lot in the staff team to make sure we capitalise on the on-field success, getting into a positive cycle of growth rather than the slightly stagnated picture I saw when I took over. On field success does not guarantee off field commercial growth – nor vice versa – but, in the well-run organisation we are developing, I am confident that the two will live off each other and help the club reach new heights.

You’ve been in the role six months or so now, can you tell us what your main priorities are?

There is a shared passion for Sussex Cricket where we want to get to – back to the top of the sport for all of our teams, and to grow the popularity of the sport at all levels in Sussex. Paul Farbrace and the wider coaching team are doing a fantastic job on the field, and I see my role as leading the organisation and enhancing our off-field performance to give them the resources and environment to flourish. For me there are three closely-related priorities to help this happen:

A new Long Term Strategy – an ambitious and exciting vision for Sussex Cricket – agreed by everyone – that gives everyone something to work towards whether it staff, supporters, sponsors or volunteers. This will bring together all parts of Sussex Cricket: the inspiring work of the Foundation; the outstanding league structure; the player development pathway; as well as the more visible elements of the elite end of the game; into one cohesive and joined-up strategy.

A slick and effective organisation – I have been taken aback by the dedication, knowledge and knowhow of the staff team who make everything happen behind the scenes. But the lean and challenging financial times have had an effect, and it is remarkable how few people there are running things ‘behind the curtain’, and they now need my support in developing an organisation with enough resources to deliver the ambitious strategy I’ve already mentioned. This isn’t simply a case of ‘throwing people and money at it’, as we also need to embed a new culture throughout the organisation to allow Sussex Cricket to excel in all areas.

Making more money – always defaulting to talking money can sometimes come across as vulgar, but developing the Sussex Cricket that we want will need more income, and lots of it. To get where we want to be we will need to invest more in staff, facilities, our squads and future player pathway. And what is more, I do not think it is right to continually ask our dedicated fans and members to foot the bill. This is why we need to think more creatively to increase our income, growing commercial income and using our Hove home better outside of match days.