ECB Release New Study with 1.7 Million People Playing Recreational Cricket

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have released new findings of a comprehensive new study into recreational cricket which shows that 1.7 million people played the sport in the last twelve months.

The game-wide study of grassroots participation revealed that a total of 908, discount 000 people aged over 14 played cricket in teams – with a further 792,000 people playing cricket informally in the garden or on the beach.

The survey also showed that 93 per cent of recreational cricketers were male, with seven per cent female and that the average age for a recreational cricketer was 31-years old.

Ethnic minorities comprised 30 per cent of the overall participation base and members of the south Asian community were six times more likely to play cricket than the average recreational player.

Commissioned by ECB’s Cricket Partnerships team, the research was based on ECB’s first ever National Playing Survey which attracted more than 21,500 responses from recreational cricketers nationwide together with analysis of more than 1.2 million scorecards from Play-Cricket.com and feedback from twelve Focus Groups.

Commenting on the survey, ECB Chief Executive David Collier said: “This comprehensive and detailed survey has given us a unique insight into who recreational cricketers are, what they want from the sport and how we can best meet their needs.

“All of this information will be vital as we roll-out plans over the next four years to boost participation still further by investing more than £96 million in the recreational game – with improvements in coaching, facilities and the wider club environment a priority.

“Cricket in this country has a long and proud history of embracing different ethnic groups and we are delighted that the survey has revealed such a high level of participation from the south Asian community. Attracting even higher levels of participation from ethnic minorities is a key element in our national strategy as is providing even more opportunities for women, girls and disabled cricketers to play the game.”