Six months after unveiling its ambitious South Asian Engagement Plan, the England and Wales Cricket Board has secured £1.2m of lottery funding to develop a network of 2,000 volunteer female coaches and mentors over the next four years.
During the ECB’s research into years of poor communication with the British Asian population, some 30% of survey respondents cited a lack of female role models at grassroots level as a barrier to entry for young girls who might otherwise play cricket. This grant – awarded by Sport England and set to be matched by the ECB – will now look to tackle the shortfall.
Ostensibly the funding will be used to expand and maintain a female volunteer network in seven of its 10 targeted cities that have a high South Asian population – Birmingham, Bradford, London, Leeds, Leicester, Manchester and Nottingham – and will be rolled out as part of the ECB’s All Stars Cricket programme for five to eight year olds.
Jenny Betteridge, Sport England’s strategic lead for volunteering, said: “We know that if you consistently don’t see people like you volunteering in sport and physical activity it is very difficult to think of that sport as something for you. That’s why attracting those who don’t normally volunteer has the potential to change the face of community sport across the country.”
Encouraging more girls and women to play cricket is just one of 11 goals in the South Asian Engagement Plan, which was published in May. Progress elsewhere includes the installation of 64 non-turf pitches and 14 turf pitches in the targeted cities – the first of 1,000 planned by 2024 – as well an expansion of the ECB’s City T20 Cup to 16 regions.
Leyton Cricket Club in east London has also been chosen as the pilot venue for the ECB’s new Urban Cricket Centres – indoor community facilities – 20 of which will be created in the most diverse urban areas of the country.
