Sheffield Cricket Lovers' Society Year Book 2012

35 Sheffield Cricket Lovers’ Society Why Cage Cricket? Cage Cricket has been devised to give everyone an opportunity to play cricket. The key barriers to wider participation in the game are “Time, Space and Money.” Cricket is an expensive sport, not only in terms of kit and club subscriptions but in terms of the time and space needed to partake in the game. To increase participation, particularly among new comers to cricket, any game devised would have to be more democratic than the parent game giving participants equal time with the bat, ball and in the field regardless of ability and ensure that achievement in all three disciplines be rewarded. Most social sport in the UK, such as five-a-side football and pair’s tennis is played on a defined court, booked for an allotted time span (usually one hour). Therefore, to be successful Cage Cricket has to sit within these parameters. In terms of infrastructure to play Cage Cricket there already exist 12,500 MUGA’S (multi use games areas) and 10,000 unused tennis courts within the UK. The game can also be played within sports halls and gymnasia. We therefore devised a game that lasted approximately 50 minutes and utilised this existing nationwide infrastructure. The skills of Cage Cricket replicate those required in the parent game. And, therefore, participation in Cage Cricket could easily lead to participation in cricket itself, whilst opening up new audiences and increasing the overall fan base for cricket. As an urban street sport, Cage Cricket may not be wholly designed to discover the next Sir Ian Botham, however, we should remember that Olympic Gold Medallist Sir Chris Hoy spent the first 7 years of his cycling career on a BMX. Playing the game Uniquely, Cage Cricket is a game for INDIVIDUALS not TEAMS and is therefore very easy to organise and play. It has been devised to be more democratic than the parent game giving participants equal time with bat, ball and in the field regardless of ability and to reward achievement in all three disciplines. It is ideally suited to: • Disabled - it is zonal, target driven and does not involve running between the wickets • Women and girls - it involves the skills and disciplines of cricket and does not rely heavily upon strength and power • Youths - total involvement throughout the hour’s play, with the added attraction of the strong street element of the game • 16 – 18 year olds - continued involvement in cricket after leaving school without the need for expensive whites, 22 players and access to cricket pitches • Adults - gives similar access to the social five-a-side / tennis competitor, i.e. an hour’s competitive sport after work with colleagues The Game Format • Cage Cricket is played by six INDIVIDUALS not TEAMS • Players are numbered 1 to 6 and they keep those numbers throughout the game • The court is divided into six, coloured zones (four fielding zones, a batting zone and a bowling zone)