As Charlie Brooker recently and memorably put it in the opening line of Cunk on Britain, our country stands at a fork in its crossroads, and its people are asking questions. One could say the same of cricket, which never quite seems to know which way to turn.

A mere pastime it may be, but in historical terms, cricket is important, tied up as it is with the story of our nation. Therein lies its attraction and its problem. A large proportion of us struggle when we see cricket losing its relevance, trying self-consciously to adapt to the modern world. We want things to remain as they were when cricket ruled supreme, played day after day in unbroken sunshine on village greens by squire and master alike.

But move on we must. As the ECB recognised, belatedly, in 2015 when they appointed Matt Dwyer [below] from his position as senior manager of market development at Cricket Australia. That very title would be anathema to many within cricket. It lacks romance, smacks of business, and it was exactly what was needed.

Dwyer says: “We’re seeing league reform for core cricketers, with games starting at times the players want – and last year we had a nine per cent growth in core cricket numbers.”

It might seem counter-intuitive but this increase comes alongside an overall downturn in playing numbers. Dwyer explains: “With core cricketers playing more, there’s less reliance on people just filling in, so occasional players are needed less. Now we need to find something for those guys who enjoyed the few games that they played, and that work is being carried out. We’ve done the biggest review of players we’ve ever done and now we’ve got real clarity.”

Thirteen different strands of player have been identified, from the traditional club player, through lapsed players, to ‘real-worlders’ for whom work and family commitments have taken over, through to the once-a-summer soft-ball street cricketer.

Alongside the increased investment in Chance to Shine, the All Stars programme looks set to have even greater numbers than last year, with plans to develop in harder-to-reach, urban areas. Dwyer says: “We want every kid to have that optimum first experience, wherever that may be. Our south Asian engagement strategy will be key here – we have identified 10 core areas where two thirds of the south Asian population live and we will be targeting those areas – staff have been put in place and a hundred-odd non-turf pitches will be installed.”

The ECB has also released plans for 9-12-year-olds, as Dwyer explains: “We’ve spent three years creating these junior formats and we’re taking a lead on pitch length, boundary size, the number of players and overs, the equipment, and underpinning it is a coaching principle relating to age, stage, and progression. That’s alongside a big investment in non-turf pitches and just being more prescriptive, based on science and stats.”

As it did with the Big Bash, the noise will die down. By the time the new tournament arrives, the IPL will be a brattish teenager, and the Big Bash will have had almost a decade under its belt. But with any luck, a generation of cricketing converts will be created here too.

Dwyer concludes: “Four out of five people in this country just see cricket as boring. So what are we doing to attract them? Something different. Otherwise the broadcasters wouldn’t compromise their traditional model. And it had to differentiate itself from the Blast, so we don’t just have traditionalist cricket fans turning up again. And then, ultimately, we need it to link back to participation. So, rather than ask if we’ve gone too far, my question would be – have we been radical enough?”