Thousands of County Cricket fans to have their say

ECB commissions extensive fan research into the future of county cricket

The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is giving cricket fans the opportunity to have their say on county cricket and its future- through the biggest survey of its kind in the history of cricket in England and Wales.

Hundreds of thousands of county cricket fans will be offered the opportunity to air their views on the structure, schedule and promotion of county cricket. The results will be reviewed by the ECB Board this winter and incorporated into planning for the 2014 county season and beyond.

The ECB has commissioned independent research company Populus to distribute the online survey to hundreds of thousands of cricket fans who sit on the databases of the 18 First Class counties and Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Additionally, members of TwelfthMan – the official fan community of England cricket – and users of the ECB website will also be invited to respond to the survey.

The survey will also be offered to people who are less attached to the game – for example, people who have never attended a county match before or have done, but not in the last few years.

The results will be considered by the ECB Board alongside findings from the Morgan Review, which consulted a wide range of the sport’s stakeholders, including commentators, officials, current and former players, counties, supporters and other sporting bodies in 2011.

David Collier, Chief Executive of ECB, said: "ECB has taken significant steps to improve our county game and is committed to improving the match-day experience for county cricket’s loyal and valued supporters.

“Approximately 1.5 million fans attend county cricket every season, and we are intent on getting more people through the gates into our county grounds. Along with the Morgan Review, this piece of research is essential to our planning for the future of county cricket, and we are committed to listening to the opinions of fans.

“This is the biggest piece of fan research in our history, and we look forward to seeing the results.”

The survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete and can be found at www.ecb.co.uk/countycricketsurvey until 28 August.