Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
Creating cricket pathways
I have just finished reading ‘‘The Skipper’s Diary’’ which recreates the diary of Walter Hadlee, captain of the New Zealand Cricket team which toured England in 1949.
It is a fascinating and highly recommended read and it is interesting to reflect on how much has changed in the modern game.
The ‘‘49ers’’ tour spanned eight months including a 6 week journey by ship each way and 32 1st class games, 12 of which preceded the first of four test matches. Modern day tour schedules have certainly changed with only one or two warm up games before a condensed test match series. The games on the 1949 tour drew large crowds, even games against county sides attracted 10,000 or more spectators.
Fast forward nearly 70 years and in July this year over 24,000 fans attended an English county game between Lancashire and Yorkshire in Manchester.
The difference was that this game was a Friday night T20 format rather than the two or three day fixtures the 49ers played.
‘‘So interest in cricket remains strong but we need to adapt to make sure we are meeting the needs of our players.
There is still plenty of interest but how we play and watch cricket has certainly changed.
In local cricket we have seen similar changes. Ten years ago for the start of the 2008 season we had ten teams in our junior 4th & 5th grades.
This season we have 15 teams but the formats they play have changed. Fifth grade is now played on Friday evenings with eight players per-team rather than Saturday morning 11 a side, while 4th grade is played with nine players per team. New ages and stages guidelines are designed to keep more players involved with more action, which better suits today’s generation of young players.
Kiwi cricket shows similar increases. Ten years ago we had 50 players registered for Kiwi Cricket. This year that number is 120 with 65 of these female players playing in a separate girls only competition.
Adult cricket has also seen change with mid-week T20 cricket proving a popular format since it was introduced in Marlborough 10 years ago. This season we have nine teams entered in the 2nd grade T20 competition plus five more in Senior grade.
There are areas of concern however. There have been problems getting a 3rd grade competition up and running and some confusion around which grades intermediate and secondary school players should be playing. Secondary school sport in general across the country is a key area of focus for NZ Cricket this season and it is vital we get this part of the pathway right for this and future seasons.
So interest in cricket remains strong but we need to adapt to make sure we are meeting the needs of our players. This is the biggest challenge facing cricket if we want to retain players in the game, junior and adult. It is a challenging and exciting time for our sport.
For more information on ‘‘The Skipper’s Diary’’ visit: https:/ /www.theskippersdiary1949.com/
* Ed Gilhooly is the general manager of the Marlborough Cricket Association.