Canada Cricket Online is offering its services for candidates in the upcoming elections to the national board to provide brief statements of their qualifications and vision for cricket in Canada. The recent arbitration decision encouraged greater transparency in the elections, and we hope to be part of this process. In terms of full disclosure this idea was initiated by the nomination of Dave Liverman, who has been part of Canada Cricket Online for many years. His statement is provided below. We encourage other nominees to disclose their interest and provide similar statements.
Name: Dave Liverman
Standing for: Director at large

I was recently asked if I would accept a nomination for the board of Cricket Canada, and after some consideration decided to accept. I am standing for the position of director at large. Cricket Canada board members are elected by the provincial directors, not the membership at large but in the interests of transparency, I am using the medium of Canada Cricket Online to outline my qualifications, experience and my objectives for Cricket Canada. I am happy to provide the same access to any other candidates in the election.
Qualifications and experience:
I retired last year from an executive position within the Newfoundland and Labrador provincial government, having previously worked as a scientist, then manager within government. I now am no longer working full time, so have the time to devote to this role. I have over 20 years experience sitting on not for profit boards, including treasurer of a major charitable foundation, president of a large skating club (1200 members), and a director of two provincial sporting organizations. I’ve played cricket at club level in the UK and Canada, but my main involvement with cricket is through media and communications. I was one of the early volunteers in CricInfo, and became a director of the board that oversaw the transition from a volunteer organization to a commercial company, attracting major investment. I also have been involved with covering Canadian cricket for CricInfo and Canada Cricket Online for 20 years.

Cricket Canada has gone through some difficult years; it needs a strong board with capable individuals whose prime interest is the overall development of the sport in Canada. Plans need to be tempered by realism- funding is severely restricted, and Canada’s geography provides additional challenges.

Given my background, I believe that I can contribute to the board in three main areas:-
– improving governance and administrative capacity;
– improving communication;
– building grass roots capacity.
Governance and administration represent a challenge for all not-for-profits. Cricket Canada can learn from other major Canadian sports organizations in developing sound governance principles, but also in providing guidance to provincial organizations, leagues and clubs in how to improve their organizational capability. A governance review of Cricket Canada may be appropriate, in order to ensure that all the organization’s members have their interests fully represented.
Cricket Canada’s efforts at communication have been sporadic over the years. Rather than spend time and money on complex web site design, it is critical to have a steady flow of accurate and timely information to members, the public and media. Processes need to be put in place to ensure this. If information is available, then developing the means to provide it is relatively simple.
The highest priority in my opinion is grass roots development. Cricket is not going to be a major sport in Canada in the short term, but it can be a successful minor sport, and attract those who do not come from a cricket culture. We need to follow the example of sports like rugby who have been very successful in making the transition to a true Canadian sport. This transition comes from exposing as many as possible to the sport, and making it easy for them to take it up if it sparks their interest.
We need to build on the Cricket Canada Kids programme to extend this across the country, by providing resources and training coaches. There needs to be a clear path from schools to club cricket, and resources need to be provided at club level to assist in developing junior programmes. It needs to be easier to develop cricket in new areas- clubs need help in infrastructure, governance and coaching. In terms of improving the level of cricket we need to priorise coaching. Developing a coach has far more impact than developing players- one coach can influence many players.