UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the funding package at The Oval on Friday morning, which ECB president Richard Thompson described as a “fundamental” step towards his ambition to make cricket “the most inclusive team sport in the country”. The ECB plans to build 16 “all-weather cricket domes” across England by 2030.
“Cricket (in England) has never had this size of investment from the government before,” Thompson said. “Millions of kids who would never have had the opportunity to play cricket will now get that opportunity…that’s frankly outstanding. (We) hope it will grow really big and make schools more committed to cricket. Providing training, facilities and equipment.”
The ECB has already funded a prototype dome in Bradford, which opened last year, and plans to launch two more in Walsall and Luton before the end of this summer. “When the government invests this amount of money, they need to invest in something they know works – and it works,” Thompson said.
The funding package also includes investment in the ECB’s partnership with charities Chance to Shine, Lord’s Taverners and the ACE programme, which emphasizes engaging children from lower socio-economic groups, special educational needs and disabilities and the black community. respectively.
“If we get the bat and the ball in people’s hands early enough and you’ve got the facilities there, you think they’re going to get in a way,” Thompson said. “We work in a hub-spoke model so you’ve got the school, the dome, the local clubs — all linked back to the local clubs — so it’s a little more joined up, more coordinated.
“Things are not happening in isolation… My ambition for cricket is to become the most inclusive team sport in the country: you can’t do that if you don’t play in state schools. Take Jimmy as a prime example: if his father hadn’t played cricket, maybe he wouldn’t have played the way he did.
Anderson, who is part of the ECB’s state-school task force, said: “Being in the dressing room of some of the state-school players, it just makes a huge difference. I would have loved the opportunity to play more at school. I know my mates who showed an interest in it wanted access to equipment and played more – but we Didn’t do that.”
Only around 6% of schoolchildren in the UK attend fee-paying schools, but more than half of the England men’s players contracted in 2023-24 did so at some stage in their education – some after winning cricket scholarships. Anderson attended his local state school in Burnley and started playing the sport thanks to his father Mick’s enthusiasm.
“My experience of getting into cricket was basically through my father,” he said. “Getting into the county set-up my mate’s mum was telling the coach to watch me and stuff like that. So to get to where I’ve been there’s been a lot of luck involved. I think anything we can do to make those steps easier is important.”
Anderson said cricket facilities at his school were “non-existent” and there was “no access” to the sport. “I had to ask my father to cut a pitch in the outfield for our cricket club to help us play one or two matches a year, because we didn’t have all the facilities. We had a shale-type athletics track, then a couple of grass football pitches – but that was literally.
“There are always a lot of privately-educated players in the (England) changing room. We talk a lot about trying to make the game inclusive and diverse, and if you’re not letting kids play at school, that includes what makes a big difference.
“But, I love playing the game – and it’s not just about getting the next generation of England cricketers. It’s also about getting people to experience this sport, which teaches you so much as a person: teamwork, communication and many other skills that will benefit you in life.”
With funding linked to England’s hosting of the women’s and men’s T20 World Cups in 2026 and 2030 respectively, Thompson hopes it will help cricket grow its profile even further. “Football suffocates everything,” he said. “We need to double down on the fact that cricket is England’s summer sport and we will do everything to make that a reality.
Matt Roller is an Associate Editor at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98