How do you save a game that demands hours when many people only want to give minutes, that only reveals its secrets slowly when everybody wants instant gratification? David Hopps
For the traditionalist the idea of playing more T20 cricket may seem if not an abomination at least unwise. Surely if we want to prepare our young cricketers for the promise of Test Cricket then it is the longer form of the game we should be turning to. I admit to being a traditionalist and while I wouldn’t want to go back to one-day draw cricket I find myself somewhat reluctantly making the case for more T20 cricket.
The starting point is an article about club / recreational cricket by David Hopps that was published on ESPN last year. In the article Hopps described the crisis facing club cricket in England as the numbers turning out each weekend has gone into sharp decline. This is happening despite the investment of vast sums of money by the ECB in spreading the word and encouraging early take up of the sport. Hopps argues that in the modern world a game is losing out to other recreational activities that require much less time. Social and economic changes mean that the pressure of work or family limits the commitment of the club cricketer.*
What relevance has this to Leinster? We have more clubs and teams turning out every weekend than ever before and the sport is finally spreading from its heartlands in Dublin and Fingal with clubs springing up across the province. But amidst this undoubted success there are a few disturbing facts. We can see from the player registration data that the number of cricketers still playing in their 20s and early 30s is far from healthy** and anecdotally at least there is reason to believe that numbers are falling. More generally we know that without the influx of players from the Indian sub-continent the sport would not be growing but would be in a serious decline.
Two questions. Does it matter? and Can we do anything about it? The first is perhaps easier to answer. Club cricket remains at the heart of the sport in Ireland. Unlike in rugby there is no realistic prospect for developing an alternative route to professional sport without the through flow from club cricket. The future of cricket in Ireland is bound up with the success of its clubs. The achievements by our international teams on the field in recent years has been fantastic, and has provided encouragement to a new generation of players, but elite cricket [and one could include in this the top Divisions of club cricket] cannot exist in isolation. Cricket in Ireland needs the clubs to continue to provide players, volunteers and facilities. Club cricket itself needs numbers and not just as players but also as future administrators, coaches and links to potential sponsors.
The more difficult question is whether there is anything that can be done about participation numbers among young adults. Emigration, two income families, longer hours at work, opportunities to travel and the lure of individualist pastimes that require less organisation and do not demand a season long commitment to a team, all seem to conspire against cricket. None of these factors are likely to change much in the near future. So how can cricket adapt to tap into the current market?
But first, is the diagnosis correct, is it the time factor that is deterring players or something else.
Studies on the recreational activities of young adults in Ireland carried out by the ESRI shows a continuing interest in taking exercise and playing sports. Indeed many are taking up new sports as adults as a social outlet and way to exercise. Half of the adults in the country who are still actively involved in a recreational pursuit at age 40, took up that pursuit as an adult. We have not become a nation of couch potatoes. It is just that we like our sports to be ones that don’t take so long.
So finally we come to the point. Can and should Cricket Leinster look to change its competitive structures with a view to trying to get more people to stay in sport after university or school and to engage with young adults looking for a new recreational outlet. Let us be clear we are not looking here to find hidden cricketing talent. At least not directly. For that we have to get more kids down to the cricket clubs from as early an age as possible. But in this regard the pastimes of parents are a major factor in the sport their children take up.
So if we can agree that it is worth trying to increasing participation among adults how should we go about this. For many of the established clubs ground capacity is a constraint. With eight team leagues the optimal size of a club offering the full range of services is five OC teams, two womens teams, a social team and a youth section. Anything more than this is problematic and requires use of a second ground and all the organisational demands that puts on a club. So although some clubs still have room to expand, any real growth in numbers will require a more radical solution.
So here’s the question, should we play more T20 cricket and convert some of our existing OC Divisions to T20? This would serve two purposes, it would be more attractive for time-challenged individuals who still like the idea of playing a competitive sport but don’t want to give a whole day to it and it would reduce pressure on facilities as it would allow two matches to be played on a weekend afternoon. Other benefits are that there could be larger T20 leagues so that there would be more regular matches and there would be a cost saving in terms of not having to provide teas. On the other hand some clubs might be willing to provide some food after the first match to encourage the teams to stay around and watch the second match.
How might it work? If clubs were interested they could decide to enter one or more teams in a T20 competition that would be played at weekends [though some midweek evening matches would also be possible]. These could be in addition to or instead of existing teams. Matches could also be played in conjunction with social, womens or youth games.
Of course there would be issues. Should there be separate registration for T40+ and T20 league competitions or should T20s simply be included as additional Divisions of the OC. Should we look at the T20s as primarily a recreational outlet, and amend general regulations accordingly. Perhaps there could also be a T20 Senior /50 plus league. Parents playing with offspring might be an interesting way to make the transition to adult cricket, but there still needs to be channels for young players to engage in the longer form of the game. And clubs of course would have to decide if this constituted a different form of membership. There are plenty of issues to be discussed but the logistics and regulations can be sorted if there is an interest from the clubs.
So the kite is flying. If anyone thinks the idea has merit start the debate within your club and then contact the OCC.
** There are less than 200 registered cricketers who have played in OC matches in 2015 in their 20s who come through from youth cricket. Of these around a third have played three of fewer matches this year and thus could not be counted regulars.