Government to invest £3m in five new cricket domes
The Government is investing £3m into the construction of five new cricket domes as plans to increase participation in the sport ramp up.
The state contribution will help communities in Birmingham, Derby, Newcastle, Bolton and Nottingham after an initial three domes were opened in the West Midlands, Bradford and Lancashire.
A further £1.5m was committed last year to build two all-weather domes in Luton and Farington.
Sports Minister Stephanie Peacock said: “Cricket has such a brilliant ability to bring people from different backgrounds together. We want people all over the country to be able to enjoy our great summer sport – and not just when the sun is shining.
“We’re putting facilities people can be proud of at the heart of their communities and helping to ensure this summer’s Women’s T20 World Cup leaves a lasting impact across the country.”
Before the last election former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced an investment of £35m into grassroots cricket, £21m of which was committed to 16 domes, with an aim of getting nearly one million young people having a bat or bowl.
This was watered down under the current regime, but the fresh investment is hoped to aid in opening up the sport to a wider catchment of the community who may not otherwise have access to the equipment or facilities needed to play the sport.
And it comes in time for the Women’s T20 cricket World Cup, being hosted across England and Wales this spring.
ECB Chair Richard Thompson said: “Hosting this year’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup is a huge opportunity to turbocharge the growth of women’s and girls’ cricket, and access to top quality facilities is an important part of that.
“We’ve seen from the three all-weather cricket domes which are already open how they can be a gamer-changer as we strive to make cricket the most inclusive team sport. I’m pleased that with this Government support another five communities will now benefit, and hope that by working together in the years ahead we will be able to open many more.