New and expanded ECB charity partnerships will provide free cricket to more state school children, open up talent pathways to young people from state schools and ethnically diverse communities, and help young British South Asian cricketers make their professional breakthrough.
An additional £2 million injection over the next two and a half years stands to benefit tens of thousands more children and young people as part of efforts to make cricket the country’s most inclusive sport and address barriers highlighted in the recent report by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC).
The ECB will officially partner with MCC Foundation, African Caribbean Engagement (ACE) Programme and the South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA) to open up opportunities and talent pathways for state school, Black and British South Asian cricketers. Long-term partners - Chance to Shine and Lord’s Taverners - will also receive extra funding to deliver cricket to more state schools with high numbers of children on free school meals and for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
State school cricket
Through partnerships with Chance to Shine, the MCC Foundation and Lord’s Taverners, the ECB aims to offer cricket in more state schools to give children from underserved communities and students with special education needs the chance to play the game, as well as offering more opportunities to talented state school children who might currently struggle to access talent pathways.
Chance to Shine
Working with Chance to Shine, ECB will now take cricket into more state schools where at least 40% of the student population qualifies for free school meals.
Our long-term partnership already funds the delivery of cricket in around 4,000 state schools, and last academic year we expanded this specifically to target an additional 300 schools and 38,000 students who have the greatest chance of missing out on the opportunity to play cricket.
Today’s announcement will see this being extended further, offering up to 20,000 more students in another 150 schools the chance to pick up a bat and ball for free as part of the school day.
Lord’s Taverners
An expansion of our work with Lord’s Taverners will also see cricket delivered in more schools for students with disabilities or special educational needs.
