About
Cricket Southern Bayside
At Cricket Southern Bayside we are about providing access to cricket in any way you wish to be involved. Our affiliated Clubs provide opportunities to play, umpire, volunteer, coach, score or administer and we provide competitions for the Women, Men, Juniors and All Girls to play in. At CSB there's a place and a way for you to be involved the way you want to be involved.
It’s cricket your way.
Formed in 2016, Cricket Southern Bayside (CSB) was created with the agreement of 23 clubs wanting to adapt to sport’s changing landscape. Whilst deeply respecting the traditions of our great game, CSB goes further than being just a hub for competition administration. Its purpose is to increase participation and improved retention of players, umpires and volunteers in the game of cricket in the region by putting them at the centre of everything we do, whilst providing a unified voice with key stakeholders, including Cricket Australia, Cricket Victoria and local government, to maintain the position of the game in the community.
Created with a vision of delivering something fresh and innovative, clubs were surveyed and clearly stated they were tired of the status quo. They wanted to thrive and be engaged. As a vital part of the cricket community they requested:
Streamlined and improved communication
Stronger, more agile governance
Appropriate competitions and formats for All participants
Flexible and fair fixturing
Clubs to be financially viable
To this end, the first CSB Men’s Turf matches were played in season 2016/17. CSB received very positive feedback from its member clubs on the administration, clarity of communication and professionalism. The growth of the CSB Turf competition, including a Master’s division, has been steady with now 31 Clubs, 104 teams and 1865 players now playing.
In 2017/18 a Women’s competition was formed; a competition based on participation and inclusivity, giving women a chance to play cricket that may not otherwise play. The growth has been significant with the initial 6 Clubs with 6 teams and 85 players growing to 15 Clubs, 20 teams and 301 players by 2020/21.
Following the signing of a memorandum of understanding in 2017/18, between CSB and Inner South East Cricket (ISEC), incorporating the All-Girls Cricket Competition (AGCC), ISEC integrated with CSB under one governance in 2019.
ISEC was founded in 1901, and has served local cricket through Inner South East Melbourne with distinction. Now a Junior competition, it offers graded cricket from U11 to U17 Levels as well as an U18, U15 and U13 T20 competition.
The All Girls Competition (AGCC) was formed, under ISEC, in 2013 and now has 24 Clubs, 58 Teams and 505 players and continues to grow. It is recognised by Cricket Australia as the largest All Girls cricket competition in Australia.
So CSB has grown from 23 Clubs in 2016-2017 season, to 68 individual Clubs in 2020-2021 who have entered some 400 teams in our competition comprising some 5,000 players. In addition many of our Member Clubs run Woolworths Blast centres, so out participation numbers are closer to 6000.
As well as our Cricket Competitions, CSB has continued to provide CSB Umpires to our competitions. With the integration of ISEC we are continuing to grow our Umpire Panel with our aim to provide qualified umpires at as many of our games as possible.
Our Governance model currently in place comprises:
A Volunteer Board of Directors providing oversight and participation within the CMG’s or particular Portfolios including Finance, Governance Risk & Compliance and Key Stakeholders.
Volunteer Management Groups for each of the Men, Women, ISEC Juniors and All Girls Cricket competitions (CMG’s)
Volunteer Management Group for the CSB Umpires (UMG)
A paid CSB Operations Manager
CV-employed support staff for all facets of community cricket, including:
Regional Cricket Managers
Talent specialists and officers to work within schools and community clubs.
As our way of life changes, people and families are limited in the time that they can commit to organised sport. To assist with these challenges and the requests from the cricket community, CSB is focused on delivering for men, women, juniors and All Girls, localised competitions and programs that will reduce travel times, access varying formats and promote improved social revenue through greater participation.
CSB now covers the following competitions: