Stornoway to Skipton: Daniel Kennedy on club cricket & PR wins

Daniel Kennedy, Director of Source Marketing (below left), the Leeds-based PR, marketing and social media agency, is a born storyteller.

In this sponsored article, we discuss an Outer Hebrides family record, father and sons in the same XI at Skipton and how Source can win clients press coverage far and wide.

(Photo above: Recreation of the PR photo from from a quarter of a century ago. Along with Daniel is Source directors, Martha Phillips and Chris Hughes; with founding directors, Steve Clark (L) and Peter Donwey (R) in the framed photo.)

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It could be for anything from employee interviews to product launches or fundraisers that generate clicks, enquiries and income. The golden rule?

With Source, it will always be performance-led so you can track results that aren’t buried in obscure data or vague promises.

Along with PR, they offer a suite of services from SEO to paid digital marketing and social media support. But let’s kick off with cricket…

Growing up in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, Daniel recalls his first connection with the game was in the North-East of England at Jesmond in the mid-1980s.

He tells me: “We used to go to Newcastle every summer to stay with my grandparents and watched an England XI versus Rest of the World XI. It was amazing. I got loads of autographs. I remember Jack Russell and Mark Greatbatch.”

Having caught the cricket bug, Kennedy junior returned to primary school in Scotland where the excitement spread:

“My teacher Mr McLeod bought a cricket set and there was the only ever inter-school cricket match played! I got 7-4 for Sandwick School against Stornoway Primary.”

“Still the best bowling figures in the Kennedy household!” he adds with a smile, although that could be under threat soon.

Daniel’s older son Noah is having a barnstorming season for Skipton with over 700 runs and 50+ wickets. Noah’s brother Joseph bowls leg-spin in the 3rd XI and has rustled up a very handy 24 wickets, at an average of 22.

Meanwhile, Daniel has his ECB Level 2 coaching badge and has coached Skipton’s junior sides before being asked to vice-captain the club’s 3rd XI.

What’s it like playing alongside his sons? Whereas many dads have played league cricket, Daniel describes himself as a “52-year-old novice” but told me:

“Club cricket really is a lovely way to spend time with your kids
and you watch on with pride.”

He re-lives a tense game at Tong Park Esholt where Joseph and Noah were batting together to win the game, as dad paced anxiously on the sidelines. Something many will relate to, I’m sure.

While Skipton is the focus now, it’s not the first time the three Kennedys have played cricket together.

The photo of the three of them (above) is before a game on the Isle of Bute last summer when they turned out for Bute County & Cowal CC against Greenock-based Glenpark.

Daniel noted: “It may well be the only time we need to take a ferry to a match and back; and certainly the only time we’ll see our team depleted before the start of the second innings by the departure of a player who had a two ferry trip home and was worried he’d miss the final one back to his island!”

Helping you get results

The conversation turns back to Source and we discuss how businesses can get significant results.

My question: why turn to Source Marketing for help with getting media coverage when you can fire off an email yourself?

They have the skill of fashioning a skillfully-written press release that time-strapped journalists respond to. Plus, the team at Source have the right contacts across a range of industries from niche publications to radio and TV, both regionally and nationally.

“PR works – that’s the headline. For the same investment as a single advert in a single publication, one story could get you coverage in multiple publications.”

The diversity of their clients over the years, which goes from house builders to Dean Harrison (who rides Isle of Man TT motorcycles); highly technical manufacturers to posh hotels; degree apprenticeship providers to leading legal firms; illustrates Source’s success in different niches.

Same approach, loads of contacts and trust from long-term partners and journalists.

There are more subtle ripple effects too: “There was a client of mine who went to Hong Kong to pitch for a contract. A printed out article by me sat in the boardroom! They won the business so I guess that feature opened a door there.”

Daniel has helped me get many column inches this summer in print and online from The Cricket Paper to Wisden & Yorkshire Post to Yahoo!

It has led to increased book sales on Amazon, interviews and coverage about Cricket Yorkshire’s 15-year anniversary, curiosity of our teas competition and backlinks to my website from other online publications.

Contact Source Marketing

If your business (or cricket club) needs to spread the word about all the incredible things you do then Source Marketing can help. 

Celebrating 25 years in 2026, the agency has tailored cricket club PR and marketing packages from as little as £750 for a year. On a business front, it works with a broad range of B2B and B2C clients delivering everything from traditional PR to social media, SEO and PPC to digital marketing. 

Email Daniel for an informal chat to learn about what outcomes you’re keen to achieve.

For more information, visit www.sourcemc.co.uk.

This is Partner Content for Source Marketing – if the mood takes you, click to read Cricket Yorkshire’s policy on Partner Content.