Last month, the BBC aired a television program called "Freddie Flintoff's Dream Fields." In this show, England's legendary all-rounder Andrew 'Freddy' Flintoff tries to convince his teens. Preston joins his new cricket team
. On the show, young people are hesitant to play cricket. He believes cricket is a game only for "upper class" people, and cricket has been described as "the most elitist". national sport." While that concept has been challenged by some, the fact remains that cricket is not accessible to everyone.
James Watson, physical education director at Heathfield Primary School in Twickenham, recognizes this. Twickenham is known as a wealthy town, but Heathfield is a state school and many children eat for free.
Many Heathfield children have never played cricket outside of school. Parents cannot afford to spend hundreds of pounds each year on equipment, dues and competition fees.
The cost of participating in county courses is shocking. Former England wicketkeeper Matt Prior told The Times that his two children in Sussex are paying almost £1,000 a season to make it through his pathway. Told. Rob Key, who is also managing his team in men's England, said that each season he spends £710 so that his daughter can play for her U15 in Kent.
"We talk about cricket for everyone, we talk about diversity - all these kinds of things, bringing the game to everyone, well, you're going from the market to a lot of people. Just price it the way you do it. Price it," Key told Sky Sports Sky Sports seven months before being appointed to his current role. This is an influential person in the game.
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BBC/ South Shore/Ross Cooke)The result of this inequality is obvious. The Telegraph reported in his May report that of his 19 England players who entered the men's U19 program last winter, 16 of them attended paying institutions. was Only 7% of the population has private education.
But even more worrying is that 14 of these players attended public primary school when he was six years old. Private schools handpick the best young cricketers in the country with '110% off tuition' offers.
An 'arms race' is said to be taking place between the richest private schools with close ties to the county. After all, it is a paying institution that offers state-of-the-art facilities and former international cricketers as coaches.
Private schools dominate the sport, but Watson, like Flintoff, is bucking the trend. He persuaded former England internationals Monty Panezer and Monte Lynch to give up their time and coaching at Heathfield, and the local club gave ten students free membership.
All children from her age 7 to her age 11 in Heathfield receive one semester's worth of curriculum time cricket (approximately 12 lessons). Watson also conducts additional physical education sessions with some students each week. Heathfield operates four cricket clubs for boys and girls year-round. However, most of England's public schools are not as athletic as Heathfield's.
Chance to Shine, a national cricket charity that aims to give every child a chance to play cricket, also provides resources to schools across the country. Since its inception in 2005, over 6 million children have attended one of his programs.
The charity works in over 16,000 public schools and also runs 200 community 'street cricket' projects in disadvantaged areas. area. Despite the good efforts of organizations like Chance to Shine, Watson insisted that his ECB, the governing body of the British game, should do more to give students a proper chance to play cricket. I think we need to do
"Cricket is my passion," he told Mirror Sport.
"Outside of school, we also have an All Stars Cricket and Dynamos Cricket program [led by the ECB]. We were the first school in Middlesex and the first in the country to run it. One of the schools, which hosted more than 60 children during the summer holidays.
"Through the Marcus Rashford FUEL Program [government-funded holiday activities and meals program], We just held an Easter cricket camp for kids on free school meals - Raise the level of cricket.
"But there is still a big gap between national and private schools. The school plays hardball cricket with proper coaching from an early age.They play one game time [PE] per week.They play proper cricket on weekends.
“We are trying to close the gap in our schools and give opportunities to our children. This is what we are facing.
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Gareth Copley/Getty Images)Heathfield students Even if they get the chance to play club cricket, it can be difficult for them to do so. Feel welcome, as Watson's story makes clear.
"When he [the student] showed up, there were all these 4x4s in the parking lot. Obviously he went there from a public school. He felt like an outcast until he saw our boy playing.''
Watson told the ECB that grassroots He called for more investment in physical activity. "There is stigma," he adds. "Our kids can't afford to go buy all the hardball stuff. The ECB makes it easier for kids to participate, pay for equipment, and provide scholarships." No. The ECB came to a place like us and gave us artificial turnstiles.”
Mirror Sport contacted the ECB in July. to raise these concerns and ask what the ECB is doing to provide more opportunities for children attending public schools and for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. He also asked if I could provide the stats to back this up.
The ECB has yet to provide this information to Mirror Sport, but highlights the work Chance to Shine is doing. The governing body of English Cricket supports Chance to Shine and the charity is grateful for their continued funding.
"We are fully scalable as an organisation. Currently we work in a quarter of the public primary schools in England and Wales, but with more funding we could do more." You can do things like that,” said Ross Jeavons, director of communications at Chance to Shine. , when asked about his vision for the future.
"In the near future, we will support 300 more schools in the most disadvantaged areas of the country, and 100 new street projects to support this growth and inspire young people." It's a chance to play in the community all year round.”
The work of organizations like Chance to Shine is an understatement, but many people are taught cricket in private schools. The reality is that we see it as a middle-class sport. Much more needs to be done to turn the tide on in-game exclusivity.
Making cricket truly accessible to every child in this country would greatly improve its reputation. If that doesn't happen, the long innings of English cricket may be over.