Cricket Clubs in Leinster have the primary responsibility for introducing young players to the sport. They have had considerable success in the recent past with growing participation levels and a steady rise in the number of youth teams competing in Cricket Leinster competitions.
These competitions provide the platform that allows for the understanding and enjoyment of the sport to grow. But for the development of skills and the growth of a long-term interest in cricket a pathway to the adult game is crucial and clubs need to ensure that they have the structures in place to ensure a smooth transition from youth to senior cricket.
Picking young players to make up the numbers or asking them to play at the wrong standard will do little to sustain their interest in the game or help to hone their skills. No club does this intentionally. But it can happen. For those interested the ECB has provided some guidance in this regard you can check the link here.
The interim figures for 2014 set out in this article may also provide some assistance for clubs to help them get a better picture of where they stand regarding the participation of youth players in adult teams.
So far this year 426 youth [U19] players are recorded as taking part in Open Competitions. Four of these have turned out for Dublin University and are not included in the breakdown below.
The numbers of players making their debut stands at 115. In terms of age groups [based on the date of births provided] this breaks down as follows:
| Age Group | Played | Matches | M/P | Debut | Regular |
| Under 19 | 114 | 886 | 7.8 | 19 | 73 |
| Under 17 | 142 | 1262 | 8.9 | 26 | 90 |
| Under 15 | 120 | 872 | 7.3 | 38 | 66 |
| Under 13 / U11 | 45 | 191 | 4.2 | 32 | 14 |
| Totals | 421 | 3211 | 7.6 | 115 | 243 |
In addition to the above nine players returned to adult cricket after a year off.
Note: Debut = Has not featuring in any of the previous three years. Regular = Five or More Matches. M/P is the average number of matches per player up to end July.
As one might expect the U15 age group is the main entry point to adult cricket but what may be surprising to some is the number who take this step when they are over 15. There are also a substantial number of U13s involved. Whether this is too young to introduce young players to adult cricket is a matter that has been debated for many years and on which clubs have different policies.
The entry point and the age profile of youth players across the different clubs is set out in the following table.
| Club | Total | U13 | U15 | U17 | U19 | Debut |
| Adamstown | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| Ashbourne | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||
| Bagenalstown | 10 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | |
| Balbriggan | 13 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | |
| Castleknock | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Civil Service | 16 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 7 | |
| Clontarf | 31 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||
| Cork County | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Dundalk | 5 | 0 | ||||
| Greystones | 8 | 3 | 3 | |||
| Halverstown | 4 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Knockharley | 15 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Laois | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Leinster | 37 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 11 |
| Longford | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||
| Lucan | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Malahide | 20 | 3 | 3 | 6 | ||
| Merrion | 20 | 7 | 3 | 10 | ||
| Mullingar | 18 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | |
| North County | 22 | 1 | 1 | |||
| North Kildare | 12 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | |
| Pembroke | 27 | 3 | 1 | 4 | ||
| Phoenix | 29 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 12 |
| Railway | 12 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | |
| Ringcommons | 3 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Rush | 13 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| Slieve Bloom | 4 | 0 | ||||
| Sandyford | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Swords | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Terenure | 19 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||
| The Hills | 12 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Wexford | 1 | 0 | ||||
| YMCA | 37 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 | |
| 422 | 32 | 38 | 26 | 19 | 115 |
Of the youth players currently competing in Open Competitions 115 do so for the first time this year, 72 played also in 2013, 104 in 2012 and 131 in 2011 [or earlier].
The statistics provide an interesting picture of the state of youth cricket in Leinster. But they probably raise as many questions as they answer. It will take time, and returns from more than one year, to get any sense of the trends in terms of overall participation and flows in and out of the sport. It will always be a matter for judgement whether there is a sufficient flow of young players to sustain and grow the sport.
There are a lot of questions we cannot answer yet. We have, for instance, only a very general picture of the drop-out rates and the circumstances in which players return to the sport if they once give up. In terms of the considerable effort being made to develop cricket across the province we have only limited information on how successful we have been in converting initial engagement with cricket and joining a club. More information on the links between schools and clubs and between primary and secondary schools is also needed.
Over the next few weeks a survey will issue to clubs seeking additional information on the numbers taking part in youth competitions. This is very important to enable the LCU to assess the effectiveness of the very considerable effort and resources that are being committed to development of the sport across the province.
Finally, in terms of the individual performance of young players in Open Competitions, once the final figures have been compiled at the end of the season we will send to each club details of the playing statistics of all their current youth players from 2011 – 2014.
Note: Because this is the first year that figures have been collected in this manner it is not possible to provide a full breakdown of the numbers for previous years.