Raising The Game: Dave Simpson

Cricket Collective Awards 2026

Dave Simpson, the chair of Bournville Village CC, won the Raising The Game award at the recent Cricket Collective Awards

Joe Chapman

2026-10-08T12:00+01:00

To the local area, the Cadbury Recreation Ground at Bournville is iconic.

The gorgeous Tudor-esque pavilion, which sinks into the embankment, stands adjacent to the pitch and alongside the back-drop of the historic Cadbury factory.

While, to the naked eye, Bournville is among the most attractive sporting venues in the region, there remained underlying issues within the grounds which had to be resolved in order to make the ground occupiable and fit for purpose.

When Bournville CC folded in the winter of 2024, ending a 142-year association with the site and citing the need for substantial investment, various local organisations joined forces to bring life back to the location.

One of those was Warwickshire Cricket Foundation, who worked alongside Bournville Village Trust and Mondelez International, the company who own Cadbury and who were keen to bring cricket back to the ground on their doorstep.

An audition process was put in place and nearby Shenley Fields - who changed their name upon selection to Bournville Village CC - were selected as the candidate club to move into the venue last autumn - but it was only then that the hard work began for chair Dave Simpson and co.

For the impact made in their local community and breathing life back into the ground, Dave won the Raising The Game award at the recent Cricket Collective Awards, hosted by Warwickshire Cricket Foundation at Edgbaston Stadium.

“We won the ground in September,” Dave explained. “The timing wasn’t perfect, because the pitch at Bournville had a reputation for not being great to bat on and not as much money had been spent on it or as looked after as was ideal. A big part of our strategy was renovating the square.

“One thing that we wanted to do was to make sure that we came good on all of the promises that we made in terms of what we wanted to do.

“We were always a community club and were passionate about ensuring that cricket was a game for everyone, were really inclusive so we knew that when we took it over there would be more cost to the square and more responsibility.

“We had to keep to our ethos but also understand the enormity of what we needed to do.”

As a part of the selection process, interested clubs had to lay down their long-term vision for the place - it wouldn’t just be used as an outground, or a place where a club’s second XI could go and play.

There was more to it than just league cricket on a Saturday; this had to be a place where cricket thrived in all forms, involving players of all ages, genders and backgrounds.

“We wanted to start a women’s and girls’ team, to grow our youth section and, because everybody drives past and knows where the ground is, we knew All Stars and Dynamos sessions would be really popular,” Dave explained.

“We therefore made sure that we had enough volunteers and coaches available to take on as many people as we could.”

Bournville Village hosted women’s sessions last year. Dave, who pointed out that some ladies in attendance had referenced Andrew Flintoff’s popular Field of Dreams programme, has witnessed a transformation already in that regard.

Women who had previously never played cricket at any level are now contacting him wanting to know when the winter nets will be held, as they will be in a league for the first time next season.

Then there are the youth teams; the numbers in participation have risen from 50 to 70, becoming so popular that the club have actually had to limit numbers because of coaching restrictions.

On a Friday night, there are over 100 children in attendance taking part in the Dynamos and All Stars programmes - what Dave describes as ‘organised chaos’ - and the club had regional exposure when BBC Midlands Today paid them a visit in the summer.

“It comes down to the group of individuals giving up their own time for no personal gain in almost all instances,” Dave points out. “Just to be a success, current players come in and help out with All Stars and Dynamos, people coaching.

“Even supporting people like Pritam [Grewal], who's one of the coaches at the Foundation and who turned up at our ground and we sent him on his coaching badges and now he's got a career out of it, which is also good.”

What does 2027 have in store for Bournville Village? With the club now settled into their new home, further developments are planned in the intervening period.

The ECB are supporting Bournville Village with a climate change grant to restore an old overflow pool based at the river nearby so that the square can be irrigated accordingly, something they are working with Cadbury Athletic FC on.

They have also grown into their new community; the club have worked with Friends of Bournville Park who tend to the local parks, as well as local churches and youth groups to put on sessions.

The feedback the club have received from locals, who are pleased to see the ground being tenanted again, has been positive too.

“What does success look like?  It'd be lovely to win leagues as adults, but I wouldn't say that that's top of the agenda,” Dave added. “It's keeping the growth of the youth team, getting those youngsters closer.

“I want my 2nd team to be people that came from the youth team.  That’s what I think is a success - local people that can walk to the ground and play as friends and as groups and probably go to the same schools locally.

“I think that's where we want to get to and be self-sustaining.  That will grow and people will win games as well, but I don't think that's what success is - success will be being self-sustaining, at a ground with no bar and no other facilities.

“It will be if you've got that membership and that growth and that drive from the people within it.”