Open for Business

• Retention of participants - participants and their parents are more likely to consider re-registering for cricket if they can do so immediately after a positive experience (e.g. Grand Final, Presentation Day).  
• Increasing the potential for word-of-mouth referrals – words of mouth is the biggest participant referrer. By having registration open for longer, word-of-mouth is given more time to take effect.  
• Leverage Cricket NSW activity - Cricket NSW conducts a significant amount of activity over the winter months. Having registrations open means Cricket NSW can immediately refer participants to local clubs.
• Distributed volunteer workload - having the majority of players registered earlier, will reduce volunteer burden in the weeks leading into the season start date, as Clubs can solely focus on team formation, rather than player recruitment and team formation.
• Enhanced committee management - earlier AGMs allow clubs and associations to confirm their committee prior to the key off-season planning period. Outgoing members avoid months of additional work and incoming volunteers have more time to be onboarded and plan for the upcoming season.  
• Greater volunteer recruitment and training - simplifies the process of identifying coaches, coordinators and volunteers for the upcoming season as potential volunteers can be identified as registrations come in. Identifying coaches and coordinators early also allows more targeted training and upskilling opportunities to occur in the lead up to the season.  
• Phased recruitment approach – by opening earlier, clubs can break the promotion period into retention and acquisition phases. This way clubs and associations can focus solely on one objective at a time and adjust messaging and initiatives accordingly. For example, a club can first focus on retention offers and then shift focus to acquisition initiatives such as Come and Try Days or Open Days.   
• Distributing cashflow - allows for a more even distribution of cash flow for the club/association.  

If you have any questions around the logistics of taking a transformational approach to your registrations, just reach out to your local Cricket NSW contact or email clubsupport@cricketnsw.com.au, as we are committed to actively assisting you through the process.    

1. We can’t set up registrations for Cricket Blast until we know who the Coordinator will be. 

By opening registrations early, you can identify potential Coordinators (and other volunteers) by running a report on PlayHQ. If you need help, please don’t hesitate to contact your local Cricket NSW contact or email clubsupport@cricketnsw.com.au. 

2. Won’t this create more work for volunteers if volunteers need to answer customer questions throughout Winter?  

We recommend providing up-front communication to your customers to manage expectations related to your availability and the frequency of your responses. For example, you may wish to inform customers via the additional information section on your registration forms or setup an autoresponder on your email, or including a note on your committee contact webpage, advising customers that committee members are enjoying some time off during the off-season.  

“Thank you for your enquiry! As this is the off-season, the committee are currently enjoying some time off from volunteering, before preparing for a big summer of cricket! Please be aware, there will be a delay in response. The committee intends on being more available from <INSERT DATE>”  

3. How much will balls cost for FY27?  

There will likely be an increase in line with CPI for FY27.  

4. How do we change our financial year and AGM dates?   

This will require a special resolution at a duly convened meeting. Please refer to your organisation’s constitution for guidance. Contact your local Cricket NSW contact or email clubsupport@cricketnsw.com.au if you require more information.   

5. We must set our fees at ourAGM,how can we open before then?    

Consider retaining your current fees until you set your new membership fees at your AGM. As your fees were ratified last AGM, they are still valid until new fees are established.   

6. My Club isn’t appearing on PlayCricket, why is this? 

There are a few factors which may be impacting your club not appearing on PlayCricket: 

• Organisation Details - Ensure your organisation is visible and all details are correctly entered in PlayHQ Admin. You can find a helpful support article here. 
• Program Group Information - Make sure program groups (e.g., Cricket Blast) are created and made visible. Information on completing this can be found here. 
• Registration Dates - Check that your registration period dates are current and the registration form is visible. More details can be found in this support article. 

Case Study 1 – Clydesdale Farm Cricket Club 

Clydesdale Farm, a cricket club based in Western Sydney experienced strong growth in comparison to previous seasons. By June 2025, the club captured 13% of their participants, demonstrating the market’s desire to lock in their summer sport early. Early promotion and communication, supported by the club’s location in the rapidly developing area of Marsden Park, played a major role in driving early registrations. 

Consistent communication from club coaches—particularly via WhatsApp—also ensured registration information was communicated promptly, demonstrating the power of word of mouth as a promotion tool. 

Early registrations also assisted the club in planning the season – this included having adequate time to form teams, grade players, form teams and carry out all the other regular operational tasks well ahead of season. 

Overall, Clydesdale Farm saw a significant increase in registrations, compared to previous years with Open for Business playing a pivotal role in the organisation and success of the 2025/26 season for Clydesdale Farm CC. 

"Early registrations also assisted the club in planning the season – this included having adequate time to field request, grade players, form teams and carry out all the other regular operational tasks well ahead of season." (Ravi Hemadri, President) 

Case Study 2 - Peninsula Cricket Club 

Peninsula Cricket Club, located in Sydney’s Northen Beaches, maximized the ’Open for Business’ by opening in May. By aligning their opening with their end of season presentation, participants were able to register and access a $20 early bird discount. A subsequent 4-month Cricket Blast promotional offer, finishing on 1 September, continued to drive registrations over the winter. 
 
Opening early and setting up an early promotional campaign, which captured 41 participants by the end of June, meant volunteer focus could be redirected to other priorities, as registrations were well underway. 
 
These incentives contributed to the addition of two extra Junior Cricket teams and the Club’s largest Cricket Blast cohort to date. 
 
“(Open For Business) allowed us to be more structured with the way we set up our season”  (Gary Searles, Registrar) 

Case Study 3 – West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook Cricket Club 

North West Sydney’s West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook Cricket Club is another club that has been proactive with open for business – aiming to ensure participants can register as early as possible. 

Opening registrations in May for season 2025/26, the Club had 89 participants registered by the end of June, demonstrating a desire from the market to be able to register early. 

Through the “simple and seamless” season rollover process in PlayHQ, the Club’s focus was able to shift to communication and retention of members immediately.  

“Opening Registrations early is a ‘no—brainer’ with no downside” (Ross Anderson, Secretary). 

Competition Cricket - the National Registration Fee (NRF) is a single, consolidated fee that funds insurance cover and a digital services contribution for community and premier cricket. There has been no change to the NRF for Summer 2026/27, and the fee is as follows for all players registering to junior or senior competition cricket – Juniors, $17.45; Seniors, $36.50. For more information, see PlayCricket Support.  

Cricket Blast - for Cricket Blast, the fees charged to centres total $76 (CA $51, CNSW $25). This covers participant packs, freight, logistics, marketing, insurance, and digital services. The Cricket Australia portion has increased by $10 for Summer 2026/27 to address rising freight and logistics costs. 

PlayHQ now has a simple and seamless way to conduct ‘referral’ campaigns – e.g. ‘refer a friend’ competition. Upon registering, every participant is provided with a unique link, which they can then send onto others to complete their registration. Completed registrations using this unique link are then tracked and displayed within the Analytics Dashboards within PlayHQ Admin.  

Having this data available, means Clubs can consider incentivising referrals, by running a competition and offering a prize to those who refer the most participants by a certain date. A great way to drive word of mouth and get registrations moving early.  

Flexible Payment Methods - PlayHQ 

Flexible payment methods, particularly methods which spread out payments, are great options to promote to participants when opening registration early. Clubs can capture registrations early, while participants can settle their fees later.   

Options include: 

• Deferred Payments – clubs can allow participants to defer part of, or their entire club registration fee with this functionality, with payment due at a date set by the club. Useful so clubs can capture a registration, while delaying full payment until later. As this is in pilot stage, this is only available to select NSW Clubs. More information on the functionality can be found here.  

• PayPal Pay in 4 - This enables participants to divide eligible purchases into 4 interest-free instalments. This option eases the financial burden of paying fees upfront while ensuring that clubs and leagues receive their full fees upfront. More information on this payment method here.  

• Instalment Plans – COMING SOON 

Access draft email communications here

Please note that these are draft concepts only. These concepts are being shared for information purposes only, to support Clubs and Associations. Participant campaigns are scheduled to commence W/C 4 May