PUBLIC SECTOR


Batting for the future


Cage Cricket is a new, fast-paced urban game aimed at halting declining participation in the sport and engaging more young people. Tom Pinnington explains


Sport England’s Active People survey participation in cricket is decreasing quickly, with weekly levels falling by more than 15 per cent in just over two years. Of most concern for the sport is the fact that 16-19 year-olds account for most of this decline. The sport is in danger of withering at the roots with a decreasing pool of young players avail- able to feed into the adult game. Recently, Capita Symonds has been supporting an enterpris- ing group of sports enthusiasts, backed by Sir Ian Botham, who have devised a solution. Cage Cricket is a new, exciting, fast paced, urban form of cricket, which embraces the core val- ues of street sport. On top of that, it addresses the main bar- riers to cricket participation – namely space, time, money and perception. Cage Cricket has the potential to become the tool for outreach and development organisations working in the areas of sport, youth, education, health and social inclusion. It has been designed to develop core life and social skills as well as cricketing competence, and has been piloted successfully in schools, young offenders’ institutions and on inner city estates. Adapt – any sport must adapt to social trends to retain and attract the young age group and, thus, secure its future. Cage Cricket does this by removing the principal barriers to tak- ing part and changes the perception of the sport. It’s played in sports facil- ities (sports halls and multiple use games areas, or MUGAs), and can be delivered free of charge. Each game


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hat do you do when grassroots participa- tion in a sport starts to decline? According to


lasts under an hour. Six individuals pit themselves against each other in the cage. There’s no need to organise two teams, you just need six players. Innovate – If you don’t have ready access to a cricket pitch, kit and coaching, you use what you have. There are estimated to be more than 10,000 MUGAs in the UK and count- less more sports halls and tennis courts. It takes just fi ve minutes to convert any of these spaces into a cage, using a portable bag of kit. As participation increases, MUGAs can


Cage Cricket is a new, exciting, urban form of cricket which embraces the values of street sport. It also addresses the main barriers to cricket participation – namely space, time and money


be customised to provide a permanent hub for Cage Cricket at a fraction of the cost of building a new MUGA. Overcome – Cage Cricket is specifi - cally designed to overcome a range of social issues and challenges includ- ing: increasing participation in sport and physical activity, improving health & wellbeing, improving educational attainment, addressing social inclu- sion and community development, increasing opportunities for young peo- ple and addressing youth offending. While the game draws its inspiration


from and involves many of the skills of cricket, it is NOT cricket as we know it. It is played by six individuals. Each player takes one of six zones in the cage per over. Points are scored by


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the batter hitting the numbered target zones on the walls of the cage (with- out being caught), the bowler getting the batter out, and fi elders catching the ball either directly or off the wall. Crucially, every player gets equal time in each of the six positions (batting, bowling, fi elding and offi ciating). Cage Cricket has parallels with other


street variants of mainstream sports, such as BMX, skateboarding, free-run- ning and fi ve-a-side football. In addition to the game, there’s an interactive website which will be used as a virtual hub for players and organisers of Cage Cricket. Social networking will form a key part of the organisation of games and engagement with the playing community. Ownership of the game will be in the hands of the playing community. Cage Cricket has many high


profi le supporters and infl uen- tial trustees who are promoting the benefi ts it can bring to the sport and wider social agenda and Botham says: “I’ve come


across many cricket initiatives in my time as a player and a commenta- tor. Cage Cricket is simply one of the best I’ve ever seen”.


Since the launch of Cage Cricket in June 2011, delivery partnerships have been established with a range of organisations and pilots sessions have been delivered in urban MUGAs, special schools and young offender institutions. Cage Cricket is moving ahead to the next stage of its roll-out. You can fi nd out more about the oppor- tunities Cage Cricket can offer, by visiting www.cagecricket.com ●


Tom Pinnington is associate direc- tor at Capita Symonds. Contact tom.pinnington@capita.co.uk


ISSUE 1 2012 © cybertrek 2011


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