SPORT IN FOCUS CRICKET

The ECB has published its new Inspiring Generations strategy for the next four years. SportsNation looks at the plans to grow the sport across England and Wales

To become the nation’s most inclusive team sport remains our north star

he England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) published its updated Inspiring Generations strategy in October 2024. Covering the years 2025 to 2028, the strategy covers the national governing body’s plans for all levels of the game – from grassroots to the elite game. At the heart of the strategy are three key aims. By 2028, ECB wants to “become the most inclusive team sport in England and Wales”, “grow and unite cricket” and “lead it through global transformation”.

Building on the foundations

ECB launched its first Inspiring Generations strategy in late 2019. The aims in the document were designed to build on the foundations laid by the previous strategy document, Cricket Unleashed, published in 2015. The plans (covering the years from 2020 to 2024) were, however, hugely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nevertheless, ECB says that cricket in England and Wales has seen “transformative growth” since 2020. Therefore, as the game enters a new strategic cycle from 2025-2028, the new game- wide strategy has been designed to represent “an evolution, not a revolution”, of the plans.

“Many of the themes of the first Inspiring Generations remain just as relevant today, and will be familiar to those working in cricket,” says Richard Thompson, ECB Chair.

“To become the nation’s most inclusive team sport remains our north star. We want to be the sport of choice when it comes to feeling included, welcomed, and free from any form of discrimination.

“The strategy is designed to capture the positive work taking place across the game. It aims to take the best of the previous strategy, and turbocharge areas where necessary. This includes creating a pillar for driving forward a sustainable, thriving professional game – something that will be key in the years ahead.”

The document identifies a number of headline ambitions. These include expanding the numbers of people engaging with cricket – through playing, watching, attending or following online – to an average of 14m each year. Specifically, there is a target of growing the number of children playing cricket in an average week by 10%.

Improving cricket’s visibility, profile and access for women and girls is another key area, as is improving cricket’s diversity, inclusion, equity and fair access. At the elite end of the sport, there are plans for both men’s and women’s professional games, in particular to support the 18 professional county associations and further developing the Hundred.

To achieve the three main aims, the strategy outlines and defines six key objectives. Over the next few pages, we will look at each in detail.

Make cricket diverse, inclusive and accessible

The ECB wants to “measurably improve” cricket’s diversity, inclusion, equity and fair access. Therefore, there is a specific target – to increase Cricket’s EDI Dashboard grade from D+ to B. The ECB has created the internal dashboard to objectively monitor its progress. The dashboard rates cricket’s inclusion, diversity, fair access and equity using a standardised grading system of A to F for each metric. In addition, ECB will also capture qualitative feedback from people’s experiences through insights work.

Policy

To achieve the target, the NGB will deliver tailored EDI training to the game’s workforce and invest in creating accessible and inclusive spaces across the professional and recreational game. Targeted programmes will also look to address under- representation in key roles across the game.

At grassroots level, ECB will deliver its new Cricket Cities programme to engage more ethnically diverse communities. It will also boost access to cricket for state school students through its State School Action Plan and support talented young people to fulfil their potential through widening access to talent pathway programmes.

“Diversity is cricket’s superpower, bringing together people from all walks of life to bond over a shared love of the sport,” the ECB says. “Cultivating this superpower has sat at the heart of Inspiring Generations.”

Transform women’s and girls’ cricket

ECB wants to make sure cricket is seen just as much as a sport for girls as for boys. Currently, 59% of the general population things that cricket is gender equal. The NGB wants to increase the figure to 65%.

“The metric has been historically hard to shift,” the ECB admits. “But this boost would be in line with the increase that football saw following the UEFA Women’s Euros on home soil in 2022 and the Lionesses run to the final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023.”

Much of the work to achieve the target will focus on elite sport. ECB has set out to “optimise and grow” England Women’s home international schedule, while also aligning all men’s and women’s professional white ball domestic competitions to maximise their profile, visibility and scale. It will also look to fully utilise – and benefit from – the opportunity to deliver the biggest women’s cricket event in history when it hosts the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2026.

Other plans include increasing the depth of the women’s professional game by launching an accessible and connected three-tiered domestic pyramid. This will see Tier 1 and Tier 2 teams being embedded within First Class County (FCC) structures and an increase in the number of women’s professional domestic cricketers to more than 180. All Tier 1 and Tier 2 counties will also be supported with commercial strategies and there will be a five-year broadcast and streaming plan for women’s professional domestic competitions.

Connect communities through play

The ECB says it recognises that recreational cricket is the lifeblood of the game – and has the power to improve lives and connect communities. Therefore, it will look to support a network of diversified delivery partners to get more people playing than ever before. The target it has set itself for 2028 is to get 600,000 children to be playing cricket in an average week.

“We currently have around 2.5m active cricketers, with 1.4m under 16s, of whom 550,000 are playing in the average week,” the ECB says. “This is underpinned by 5,650 active clubs, 2,600 junior teams and 120 disability champion clubs.

We currently have around 2.5m active cricketers, with 1.4m under 16s, of whom 550,000 are playing in the average week

“By turbo-charging this and finding innovative ways to create new partnerships, access new funding and reach new audiences, we can create an even larger network of communities saying cricket is a game for me.”

One of the plans to achieve its target is to deliver cricket to 850,000 young people and build cricket hubs in schools and urban areas. These will include flagship Cricket Domes, delivered in partnership with the government and Sport England. The ECB also wants to diversify revenue into the recreational game by supporting a network of Trusts and Foundations and national partners.

Inspire through winning england teams

The strategy maps out a plan to use both the men’s and women’s national teams to inspire the next generation of players by “winning the big series and events, playing entertaining cricket”. The mention of “entertaining cricket” is an interesting one and no doubt has been included with “Bazball” – the type of positive cricket instigated by Brendon McCullum (the current England men’s coach) and Ben Stokes (captain of England men) – in mind.

Policy

The targets are simple but ambitious, considering the recent performances of both the men’s and women’s teams: to win both the Men’s and Women’s Ashes, and a Men’s and Women’s World Cup at least once over the time period. On current form, any of those will take some doing.

Cricket is in its best ever commercial health, with record viewing figures, record attendances and a more diverse audience

Support a thriving and sustainable men’s and women’s professional game

Another of the objects primarily aimed at the elite end of the game, the ECB wants to ensure the long-term health of the professional game by developing players for club and country.

Inspiring Generations was published after the conclusion of the 2024 (the fourth) edition of The Hundred – the 100-ball, quick-fire version of the professional game aimed at making cricket more accessible to new audiences. The strategy confirms that the ECB remains wholly committed to the format, promising to “deliver private investment into The Hundred and launch a new operating model for the competition”.

The other notable commitment is to launch an aligned Vitality Blast (a T20 tournament) women’s competition alongside the existing men’s competition and optimise the structure and schedule from a player and fan perspective – similar to those currently in place with The Hundred.

Win the battle for attention

In an increasingly competitive sport and leisure market, the ECB has recognised that it must grab the attention of new and existing fans, if it wants to get more people attending, watching and following cricket. This in mind, the strategy outlines plans to provide broader and deeper engagement with audiences through leveraging high profile events, including the Ashes and ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.

Interestingly, there is also a defined target of improving customer journeys with the introduction of an aggregated ticketing platform for the whole game. This will be undertaken in tandem with increasing the amount of cricket on free to air television to more than at any time since 2005.

“Cricket is in its best ever commercial health, with record viewing figures, record attendances and a more diverse audience,” the ECB says. “But we can’t afford to rest on our laurels, and working with world-class broadcast partners in Sky Sports we must continue to serve existing and new fans.

“We must provide a varied portfolio of cricket competitions and participation programmes, so that we provide the right product, at the right time and place, at the right price point and supported with seamless customer journeys.”

Facilities

The new strategy recognises the importance of having quality facilities that attract and welcome players of all backgrounds. The nature of traditional grassroots cricket facilities – nearly all being owned by local clubs and only operated during the summer months – mean there have, historically, been limited plans for investing in them directly.

However, in the document, the ECB commits itself to developing and investing in 400 projects to support recreational clubs becoming “more welcoming”. Furthermore, there are pledges to deliver 250 successful Grass Pitch Improvement projects through Sport England funding and investing in 200 new places to play in urban areas, including “cricket domes”. There is also a plan to invest in schools through the State School Action Plan.

What’s more, the push for equality and to improve opportunities for females to take part in cricket has resulted in the strategy listing commitments to investing in women’s and girls’ facilities. Among these are plans to invest in high- performance facilities to support a new women’s domestic structure and to fund more than 400 women’s and girls’ projects at recreational clubs.

The strategy also showcases how the world’s first cricket dome – which opened at Bradford Park Avenue in 2024 – could pave the way for similar projects in the future. The dome is a covered outdoor space with elite surfacing, lighting and netting and includes two match play courts that convert to ten training lanes. The facility won the 2025 SAPCA Award for Large Sports project and was created by two SAPCA members – Total-Play and Fordingbridge.

Policy

“The cricket-playing environment matters – it needs to be welcoming and inclusive for all,” the ECB states. “Working with partners such as Sport England, and turbocharged with Government investment, we are seeking to create world-leading, inclusive facilities at all levels of the game.”

Funding the game

The strategy also sets out the ECB’s funding plans for the next five years. There is a commitment to increase investment to the county network by 31% – to £512m – over four years. It is clear, however, that there is much more investment being made at the top end of the game than the grassroots.

A total of £404m distributed to the professional game, while £108m will be invested in the recreational game. “Alongside this distribution we will be working to maintain healthy ECB reserves, which were integral to navigating the COVID-19 pandemic for the whole sport,” the SCB says.

“We will also continue as signatories of the Voluntary Broadcast Code, where we seek to reinvest a minimum of 30% of revenue from broadcast rights for the long-term development of the sport.”

Measuring success

Ultimately, the strategy’s success will be judged on its ability to deliver the ECB’s main aims – getting more people playing cricket and ensuring the game’s long-term financial sustainability. The future looks bright and, according to Chair Richard Thompson, it is now down to ECB to build on the momentum.

“The game has been growing in every tangible sense,” Thompson said. “More young people are playing the sport at the grassroots level – cricket is just one of three team sports to see under 16 participation trending upwards.

“At grassroots level, we have the chance to give every young person the opportunity to pick up a bat and ball. We are working in partnership with the Government to maximise the legacy of the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup, building transformative cricket domes across the country and delivering state school programmes for more young people than ever.

“Cricket is a unique game that can reach communities no other sports can. It can inspire the nation and bring people together from all walks of life. We have a once in a generation opportunity to inspire the next generation. This is cricket’s time.”

OBJECTIVE 2

OBJECT 3

OBJECT 4

OBJECT 5

OBJECT 6