This is part of the How to Run a Cricket Club series on PitchVision Academy

Cricket is "English as tuppence, changing yet changeless as canal water". So as a club - in England, India or anywhere else - you know that change is going to happen.

The way you handle those changes are crucial to the success of your club.

Of course, change can come about because you make it happen (such as building new facilities) or because it is forced on you (such as the treasurer moving away).

Here is a simple process for predicting, managing and dealing with both kinds of change:

Step 1: Get Organised

Like taking a journey, it's a lot easier to get to where you are going if you know where you are beginning.

In the UK, the Clubmark process is great for clubs to find out exactly how well organised they are. Even if you can't go through Clubmark, you can gather together the paperwork, make sure it is relevant and find any gaps in your current structure. This includes:

• Finances
• Policies
• Records
• Constitution

We have covered the basics of what you need in place to run an efficient club in this series, so feel free to go back over it and line your club up with the best practices.

Step 2: Think Ahead

The next stage in the "change journey" is to decide where you want to end up. Some people call it a vision or mission statement. I just like to think of it as a guide.

Your aim might be large or very small, active or reactive, but the key element is to write down exactly what things will look like when you have completed everything.

This provides clarity for everyone involved, and reduces the chances of conflicts later on when people realise they were working at cross-purposes.

It's at this point you also need to think about the resources you have available to complete the changes. This will be highly specific to the size of the change, but it's always useful to know exactly what your limitations are going to be. No one has unlimited time and budget so decide as quickly as possible how much you have for your changes.

Step 4: Plan Ahead

Now it's time to get realistic. Given the resources you have, can you achieve your goal?

The way to work this out is through planning, but it doesn't need to be complex. In 90% of changes you can plan your action simply.

Start by brainstorming all the possible things you need to consider. Then organise these elements into tasks that you can complete as soon as possible.

You will end up with a very simple list that will probably be a phone call, email or a face to face conversation. Those simple, easy jobs make even the biggest change suddenly manageable.

Step 5: React and Respond

Of course, up until now this entire process has made everything seem smooth and simple. The truth is rarely that easy.

If you are reacting to sudden change even your best plans can fall apart quickly. That means you need to be ready to review, and adjust quickly to new information.

Often this tacking takes just 5 minutes of thought, but also its often missed out, meaning you are still driving towards a goal that is out of date.

So, take the time to review often and you can nip disasters in the bud before they get out of control.

Change is one of the hardest parts of running a club as there is no simple way to deal with all changes all the time, but if you keep this process in mind at all times you