CRICKET
CRICKETINDOOR
It may be a minority sport in this country, but the ECB’s indoor cricket arm is supporting and co-ordinating the game’s development as well as the indoor facility provision to increase participation. Tom Walker reports
I
ndoor cricket is a fast and furious sport that can be played by people of any age. It’s hugely popular in countries such as Australia, New
Zealand and South Africa but in England it’s still a minority sport. However, this is set to change. In 2009, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) launched a dedicated indoor cricket arm and announced its plans to increase participa- tion. The goal is to achieve similar success to the one the sport enjoys overseas.
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
Despite benefiting from climates that allow all-year round cricket outdoors, it was the southern hemisphere’s cricket- playing nations that were first to truly embrace the indoor game. By 1984, a nationwide championship
had been established in Australia and the sport also became popular in New Zealand. In England the game enjoyed popularity throughout the 1980s and much of the 1990s, but then fell into decline. By the new millennium, the centres where indoor cricket was played, according to the rules set out by the World Indoor Cricket Federation
Issue 2 2011 © cybertrek 2011
(WICF), had dwindled from a high of around 60 to less than 10. Although the sport and its develop-
ment stalled in England, due to the lack of facilities, it kept expanding oversees. South Africa now has a striving league system, as do India and Pakistan. Sri Lan- ka and a number of emerging cricketing nations such as Namibia, Zimbabwe and the United Arab Emirates are all member countries of the WICF. According to former England captain
Mike Gatting, now the ECB’s managing director of cricket partnerships, indoor cricket’s popularity in other countries is down to its inclusiveness – something that the ECB is looking to extend in the UK. “Indoor cricket is a fantastic game that is open to all,” he says. “The game is played by young and
old and offers mixed gender leagues, so it’s perfect for people looking to ‘have a go’ at the sport. It’s popular with the recreational cricketer who plays in the evenings, there are no weather or light restrictions and a game only takes about 90 minutes to play so it fits well into people’s busy lives. Plus it also offers the opportunity for current players to
A fully inclusive sport for keen cricketers or those who just want to ‘have a go’
keep their fitness and skill levels up through the winter months.“
FACILITY FOCUS
Although Australian cricket might be reel- ing from losing the Ashes at home for the first time in 26 years, the country is still head and shoulders above all other na- tions in the indoor game. The men’s and women’s teams are the reigning WICF champions and the league structure is supported by a great network of indoor facilities. In total, there are now 80 dedi- cated indoor cricket arenas in Australia – with New South Wales alone boasting 30. New Zealand has also established itself
as another powerhouse in world indoor cricket. The country currently boasts 29 indoor cricket centres with plans to fur- ther increase the number of arenas.
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