This is about new housing, planning permission, red tape, proximity to a cricket club, Sport England, flawed references to Freddie Flintoff, risk assessments and common sense. Add in an intervention by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir Keir Starmer and things get interesting. While my article on Scarborough Cricket Club’s first-team was blowing […]
Opinion
How does ECB strategy for 2025 to 2028 affect recreational cricket?
The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced its updated Inspiring Generations strategy for the next four years. By 2028, the governing body wants to “become the most inclusive team sport in England and Wales, while at the same time growing and uniting the game and leading it through global transformation”. While the launch […]
2025 at grassroots: From girls’ cricket to grounds
What are going to be the trends in grassroots cricket in 2025? Well, this is when I peer into the future and make some educated / outlandish predictions. [Delete as applicable 😁] Girls’ cricket at clubs In my analysis of the ECB’s new 2025-2028 strategy, what stood out in the drive to have 6,000 girls’ […]
White Rose Forum keeps Yorkshire CCC fans connected
The White Rose Forum is proof that amid the breakneck speed of technology and snowballing innovation online, a chance for a natter about cricket without emojis or character limits has its unquestionable place. (This article has been updated but was originally published in 2020) A Yorkshire cricket forum can be a thriving community, a hotbed […]
Rules vs common sense: Leafblowers and seeing the light
If there’s one thing that club cricket excels at, it’s rules, regulations and calculations, occasionally to its detriment. This is about light, leaf blowers and common sense. Seeing the light It’s not just the recreational game that can sometimes stray into a soap opera. Anyone who watched the third Test match at The Oval where […]
Kindness, outrage and talking to each other in cricket
If you’ve been affected by any of the topics in this article, you can get support from the organisations listed here. It’s been a deeply troubling few weeks across the country with the UK riots pulling back the curtain on ugly societal divisions. That was followed by the news that ex-England and Surrey batter Graham […]
Hamzah Hussain: The architect behind Cricket Arena
Hamzah Hussain blinks at me studiously from behind a pair of dark-rimmed glasses before beginning to share how the game of cricket inspired him. It is an interview I’ve been excited about for ages. Hamzah is the architect (literally as it turns out) behind Cricket Arena, a community interest company that organises cricket tournaments in […]
Cullingworth: Meet the club offering completely free cricket for 2024
Cricket clubs do all sorts of ingenious things to attract new members and keep the ones they have. Cullingworth have done something pretty radical: Free cricket. No membership fees. No match fees. Plus, you get a playing and training kit. Oh, and free home cricket teas too! It’s an extraordinary thing to do and I […]
Friendlies: The glue that binds the grassroots game together?
Chris Stride, who plays for Sheffield University Staff CC and the Forty Club (YNE), examines the enduring appeal of cricket friendlies and their many benefits, including for league clubs. “Friendlies? That’s not proper cricket!” “I only play league games” “Friendly cricket? What’s that? Cricket is war!” These are just a few of the comments I’ve […]
Clifton Alliance vs Pudsey St Lawrence: Saliva on the ball and five penalty runs
Uumpires Carl Williams and Michael Steele conferred on the square during Pudsey St Lawrence’s innings against Clifton Alliance in their first-round ECB National Club Championship clash. Were they checking the number of overs each bowler had delivered? Had somebody said something out of turn? Were they just passing the time of day? Then Williams turned […]