Get started with everything you need for a multi-team community sports club from £38/month
Admin
If you’re a volunteer who helps to run a cricket club then you’ll know the hours that go into tackling the huge amount of admin.
It’s not just club management, but of the game itself across teams and different leagues but all the behind-the-scenes jobs.
While choosing to do those online doesn’t magically make them all disappear, it can definitely save time and cut down on processes that are a hassle.
With Pitchero, you can:
- Use a hosted control panel to manage all the information about your club from one place
- Import league fixtures, results and tables automatically
- Send reminders with a link to pay instantly
- View live financial figures and run reports
1. Website Builder
Your club could use a cricket website builder - like Pitchero - that is a complete package with everything you need.
It will typically include templates or themes to style your website, hosting, domain registration, SSL certificate, plus access to support for a low monthly fee.
Your club could use a cricket website builder - like Pitchero - that is a complete package with everything you need.
It will typically include templates or themes to style your website, hosting, domain registration, SSL certificate, plus access to support for a low monthly fee.
Our free website builder is designed to offer customisation but you can’t dive in and change the code or functionality of the website all the time.
It can be difficult weighing up your options, whether it’s a free football club website you’re after or a website builder with paid-for features. So, where do you start?
This will suit if you prefer having certain things locked down so you can’t accidentally break something or potentially take your cricket website offline.
- Easy to use
- Some limitations
2. Content Management System (CMS)
A content management system (CMS) like Wordpress.org, Drupal or Magento is very flexible. Anything can be changed or customised - for those that like ultimate control.
It means if your sports club suddenly decides to change the website colour scheme, fonts, or layout of the news items on your homepage, there will be a plugin or some code to achieve that.
The downside is that someone will have to work that out, as well as test and implement it correctly.
Technology never stands still and so bolt-on additions (as with a Wordpress plugin to include a newsletter sign-up form) will need monitoring and updating.
Keeping track of this ongoing website maintenance including hosting and domain renewals, will need to fall to a club official who understands websites and search engines or outsource to a professional.
- Ultimate control
- Responsibility for downtime and upgrades
Integration with Play-Cricket
Governing bodies might offer a free cricket website (such as the England & Wales Cricket Board on their Play-Cricket network).
It can be difficult weighing up your options, whether it’s a free football club website you’re after or a website builder with paid-for features. So, where do you start?
However, the focus is on the statistics of cricket matches and doesn’t cover all that clubs do, including selling online.
Besides, with Pitchero, there is an official Play-Cricket integration built-in so a cricket club website will show the data from Play-Cricket within 24 hours, including:
- League fixtures (fixture date, home and away team name and start times)
- League tables
- Match scorecards
You’ll always have the cricket scores for the entire season available, alongside all the other features to help with club management.
Designing your own club website
Alternatively, a sports club might choose to hire a website designer to build their perfect cricket club website to a set specification using a CMS as the framework.
This will be a project that means you get exactly what want, down to the fine detail, but it requires longer-term planning and much higher cost up-front (typically thousands of pounds). That’s full control over the specifications but costs can mount up.
While your website still needs someone to create the content, whether it’s cricket news, statistics, league tables or uploading match videos, a sports club can create an account and get started immediately.
Standard or Pro packages with Pitchero:
Club Website
Mobile Apps
Domain & Emails
Team Management
Venue Management
Membership Database
Online Payments
No Third Party Ads
Prioirty Support
Most Popular
Standard
Everthing you need fora multi-team sports club.
£38/mo
Club Website
1.8%
Mobile Apps
1.8%
Domain & Emails
1.8%
Team Management
1.8%
Venue Management
1.8%
Membership Database
1.8%
Online Payments
1.9%
No Third Party Ads
1.8%
Prioirty Support
1.8%
Free for 30 Days!
Pro
No ads, reduced transactionfees and priority support.
£99/mo
Club Website
1.8%
Mobile Apps
1.8%
Domain & Emails
1.8%
Team Management
1.8%
Venue Management
1.8%
Membership Database
1.8%
Online Payments
0.9%
No Third Party Ads
1.8%
Prioirty Support
1.8%
Free for 30 Days!
Cost vs Ease
The price of building or transferring a website is a factor and will obviously differ for every cricket club.
The chief decision is whether you want to pay a monthly fee with everything included or use a CMS that might be free (or a paid option) and then buy add-ons for certain functionality or situations.
By contrast, hiring a website designer or a web design company will be more expensive initially but is a fixed cost.
Of course, there may be an additional ongoing charge to look after hosting, domain and any support queries that arise.
Given the amount of time we spend online, your club website needs to be your second headquarters.
It has to do everything modern cricket clubs require, with a professional approach but don’t underestimate the ‘ease factor’ whichever route you take.
In recreational cricket, volunteers will be the ones juggling a day job, family commitments and managing their cricket club website in their spare time.
Paying for support and features that make it easier for those doing that role is not cheating or an unnecessary expense.
Looking for a free club website?
Pitchero offers excellent and free sites for single teams that include most standard features, including membership and online payments.
If you’re a bigger cricket club then the Standard or Pro (paid-for) packages will give you a premium template, unlimited teams, plus lower transaction fees and fewer or no third-party ads.
A new website needs to be a cost that cricket clubs can easily afford - but equally, it’s sensible to future-proof.
Free sites might sound appealing but if it stops you doing everything you want to achieve online then securing a website sponsor to cover any monthly fee could be a better longer-term strategy.
Don’t forget about things like space for storing images and video, as well the size of your website and any restrictions.
Security & GDPR
Alongside the routine tasks for any cricket club are those technical considerations that relate to the risks of working online.
In an ideal world, you focus on your sport and don’t worry about backing up the club website all the time or reacting to hackers.
Managing club members data securely and sensitively and complying with GDPR are ongoing responsibilities, regardless of the size of club.
Using Pitchero makes this easier and stress-free:
- Pitchero is always online (no downtime)
- Data security uses Amazon Web Services data centres
- GDPR toolkit for gaining consent from users of your website
Read how Pitchero can help you manage club matters effectively
What software do cricket clubs use?
Cricket clubs all do a mountain of different admin tasks. Their club website can be a central hub for this but each may use a variety of computer software or apps.
A few examples could include Google for email/events calendar, Excel for spreadsheets, Xero for accounting, Facebook and Twitter for social media and Justgiving for creating a fundraising page.
The chief problem with this is having to learn each system or software, make them connect with each other (if possible), not to mention countless logins to remember and keep safe.
Whatever the solution you opt for, combining processes has its advantages.
Specialists in Grassroots Sport
There are lots of options for building a cricket club website out there - but few who really understand grassroots cricket.
Pitchero has been building award-winning technology to help sports clubs for more than a decade.
10,000+ clubs choose Pitchero for their website, mobile apps and members
1.5m+ members (players, parents, clubs, leagues and supporters) use Pitchero
Not just a website - incredible mobile apps
Every club on the Pitchero platform also getsits own free iOS and Android mobile apps.
Club news, manage availability/selection, messaging
Prompt availability,
select and notify teams
These apps are packed with great features including match fees and payments, team selection and player availability.
Between them and a club website, volunteers have full control over the entire season and beyond to showcase their thriving club.
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Leeds & Broomfield Cricket Club:
"Our old website did the job but it looked like it was made in 1990! This looks so much more modern. I’m not amazing at technology and I find it very easy. My advice to other clubs who haven’t used Pitchero would be that it almost does the work for you!"
Reading Cricket Club:
"Not only is Pitchero a simple way for players and captains to pay and collect match fees, but it also saves a huge amount of time."
Didsbury Cricket Club:
"We practically use every possible element of Pitchero functionality: Membership, selection and a huge amount through Shop and Payments."
Willoughby Cricket Club:
“The team selection and availability functionality has proved very beneficial, not only for the players and parents of our junior teams but also for the team captains….so, team selections but also notifying players where they have to be.”