Manifesto
Whilst we see professional cricket prospering from more leagues and shorter formats, it’s the privately owned franchises controlling cricket's expansion. Governed by financial self-interest, the corporatisation of cricket is widening the gulf between the elite game and the sport at grassroots levels.
Meanwhile, climate change threatens the natural environments that all levels of cricket depend upon. Rising temperatures will drastically impact the playing conditions of the sport. Storms, floods, droughts, and wildfires will also wreck havoc on our green and pleasant lands. And in some places on earth the climate will become so hostile that playing cricket will no longer be feasible.
Cricket needs to have plans to counter these impacts and to explore new frontiers.
Whilst others stare into the abyss, Flamingo Cricket Club has made a conscious choice to find and develop new homes for cricket beyond the heartlands of the sport – encouraging green shoots in pastures new.
Our work starts with acquiring neglected agricultural land for our cricket campus schemes.
These schemes will provide world class training environments within idyllic natural landscapes. Open and accessible to the entire cricketing world, Flamingo Cricket Club’s will be both a training camp venue for elite teams, and an adventurous destination for cricketers of all ages, genders and abilities to train, to prepare, and to stay. And for domestic audiences, Flamingo Cricket Club’s will become a hub of activity for their local community as well as a training centre for emerging talent in their region.
Along every step of our journey we will take responsibility for the natural beauty that we inhabit – nurturing the biodiversity, and strengthening the resilience of the ecosystem in and around the land that FCC cricket is played on. Located off the beaten path, our cricket campus schemes will be havens for more than just cricket, embracing their natural environments with eco-friendly treehouses and cabins. We will develop our status as a responsible ecotourism destination with low-impact, off-grid facilities that harness the latest green technologies and renewable energy sources.
On the organisational side we’ll incorporate many of the structures of a traditional cricket club with a membership system that is open to the world. Our activities will provide members with an inclusive place to play cricket, learn cricket, watch cricket, and talk cricket. We have adopted a cooperative business model so that members can own a stake in the club and share in the success. Simply, the larger our membership gets the more places we can have a cricket campus.
In summary, Flamingo Cricket Club will thrive by bringing together cricket lovers worldwide and providing them with a shared platform to invest in a brighter future. This will give rise to a forward-looking global network of cricket campuses that grow the game and showcase how cricket can confront climate change.