The London Cricket Trust (LCT), which launched last month, has outlined a plan to install more than 50 new cricket facilities across the capital between 2018 and 2020. Formed by Essex, Kent, Middlesex and Surrey county cricket clubs, and working in partnership with the ECB, the initiative supports the governing body’s South Asian and urban cricket strategies and aims to ‘put cricket back into London parks’. Estimable in theory, but how will it work in practise? And how will it affect London’s existing clubs?

WCM spoke to two vital cogs involved in the programme to find out more.

Capital gains

If more people are engaging in cricket in London, at whatever level, it can only benefit the game at large. Park cricket is unlikely to rival the experience a traditional club is equipped to deliver, but it can represent a more accessible first step, while clubs can use these local sites to identify potential new members.

The ECB are venturing into non-mainstream domains and formats, with choice and participation centre stage. “Cricket – like all team sports really – has to cater to lifestyle changes,” says Hawkins. “London is no different to other areas. At best, traditional team sport is plateauing. In our case, 11 versus 11 men’s – or open age-group – Saturday cricket is at best plateauing, but that’s the point of these investments. We can’t change the lifestyle challenges and the pressure of work and family life, but we can change how accessible we make our sport. Hopefully we can help people consume cricket in a way that’s relevant to modern life.”

The recreational game must broaden its boundaries by redefining what is mainstream and the new LCT initiative is a big step in the right direction for cricket in the capital.