Moeen Ali hopes ECB initiative will attract new generation of South Asian players

[MenInG]

The England and Wales Cricket Board has created an 11-point action plan to try and provide better engagement with South Asian communities.

The governing body has identified a number of barriers which prevent South Asian communities, which include approximately one million cricket fans, from fully engaging with everything the sport can offer.

The ECB's plan was developed over a wide-ranging consultation over the past 15 months, and covers the entire sport including recreational cricket, elite player pathway and coaching, media and communications, administration and culture.

As part of the plan, the ECB will introduce the Rooney Rule for all national coaching positions, guaranteeing that one black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) candidate will be interviewed during the recruitment phase.

Short-term actions also include the creation of up to three urban cricket centres, the installation of 100 non-turf pitches in urban areas and installing or upgrading up to 25 turf pitches.

The ECB is also planning 200 Chance to Shine street programmes nationwide and cricket activity delivered in 6,000 primary schools, also through Chance to Shine.

Each of these short-term aims is expanded upon in longer-term ambitions which run until 2024.

The ECB hopes, while the strategy focuses on South Asian communities, it will also have an impact on the entire game and all involved in it.

ECB chief executive Tom Harrison said: "We know that the passion South Asian communities have for the game is extraordinary.

"This passion is matched by our desire to get a bat and ball into more hands, introduce more people to the power of cricket and show a new generation how to get involved.

"We want cricket to be a game which brings all people and communities together from across the rich spectrum that makes up our society.

"Through the creation of this action plan, we have seen the incredible volume of cricket activities that is already happening at a local level in South Asian communities.

"This is a testament to the dedication of members within these communities. This passion, drive and innovation, which has contributed to such a rich and diverse culture of cricket within this country remains vitally important and will continue.

"This is our collective plan, indeed 'cricket's plan', to work in partnership, engage more meaningfully and grow the game we all love together."

http://www.skysports.com/cricket/ne...n-plan-to-engage-with-south-asian-communities

 

[MenInG]

England all-rounder Moeen Ali is backing a new national plan to better engage and fund prospective cricketers from this country's South Asian communities.

The England and Wales Cricket Board's action plan, launched on Thursday, identifies key objectives which it hopes can improve engagement and recruitment.

It is an initiative which chimes with Moeen, who has won 145 caps across the formats for his country but can see there are still "barriers" to others following his lead.

"Growing up in inner-city Birmingham, I fully understand some of the challenges and barriers for young South Asian cricketers," he said. "I see many of those challenges now when I help my dad coach at his cricket academy."

He believes extra investment can be a major step forward.

"Many parents are still struggling to afford kit for their kids, and the new bursaries will give emerging players the opportunity to continue to improve and develop in the game," added Moeen.

"In the next six months, England's men play against Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka - and as well as hoping to play my part on the pitch, I'm looking forward to seeing a new generation of players, fans and coaches coming into the game."

The ECB's action plan is launched with specific events in 'core cities' - a Chance to Shine Street Tape-ball competition at Sparkhill Park in Birmingham, a schools' cricket competition at Bradford Park Avenue and a women's and girls' cricketing session at Leyton County Ground Sport Centre in east London.

Lord Patel of Bradford, an independent ECB director, has been a driving force behind the plan and will be in attendance.

He said: "As a British Asian who grew up playing cricket in the streets and on the pitches of Bradford in the 1960s, I have first-hand experience of the enormous benefits of our sport.

"Cricket gave me the confidence, connections and opportunities to meet new people outside my community, as well as develop life-long friendships.

"The passion South Asian communities in the UK have for cricket remains high - but over 50 years later, there is still so much untapped potential. This plan will help to change that - starting today."

Leicestershire chief executive Wasim Khan and cricket pundits Isa Guha and Mark Nicholas were among those taking part in a South Asian Advisory Group.

They identified a lack of effective talent spotting as well as access to equipment as problems to be tackled, following consultations with more than 600 people which has resulted in 11 recommended actions.

They include the creation of at least 20 new urban cricket centres, 1,000 non-turf pitches and 100 turf pitches by 2024.

Community 'talent champions' will also lead scouting efforts, with regular cricket sessions held in 6,000 urban primary schools.

ECB chief executive Tom Harrison added: "Cricket is a force for good in society, and our job is to ensure that it makes a positive impact on as many people's lives as possible."

http://www.skysports.com/cricket/ne...ive-to-involve-more-british-asians-in-cricket

 

[MenInG]

ECB today (10th May) announced a wide-ranging Action Plan to transform the way it engages with South Asian communities and draw more players, fans and volunteers into every level of the game.

The Action Plan will launch with a series of events in three ‘core cities’ including a Chance to Shine Street Tape-ball competition at Sparkhill Park in Birmingham, a schools’ cricket competition at Bradford Park Avenue Cricket Ground in Yorkshire and a women's and girls’ cricketing session at Leyton County Ground Sport Centre in East London.

Announcing the long-term approach, Tom Harrison, ECB Chief Executive Officer said:

“Cricket is a force for good in society and our job is to ensure that it makes a positive impact on as many people’s lives as possible.

“Whilst we’ve long acknowledged the passion for the game in South Asian communities in the UK and had the best intentions, we have never fully understood how to engage with South Asian communities. This report gives us a road map to change that.

“How can we ensure the level of South Asian participation in the recreational game, often outside our own programmes, is reflected throughout cricket? We now have a much deeper understanding of how cricket can play a part in multi-faith, multi-lingual, multi-cultural communities, whether that’s creating a match-day experience which respects everyone’s customs, renovating derelict council buildings into cricket centres in urban areas or putting the game’s talent scouts into more diverse communities.

“Ultimately, we want more people picking up a bat and ball, the best talent getting opportunities to play at the highest level and attendances which match the UK’s passion for cricket. Whilst this Action Plan is about South Asian communities, in developing it we have learnt a great deal about how to reach other communities too. Cricket has a wonderful opportunity to grow and become a sport that is truly diverse and representative of its broad fan base.”

Lord Patel of Bradford, the ECB Senior Independent Director, who has driven the development of the Action Plan, added:

“As a British Asian who grew up playing cricket in the streets and on the pitches of Bradford in the 1960s, I have first-hand experience of the enormous benefits of our sport. Cricket gave me the confidence, connections and opportunities to meet new people outside my community, as well as develop life-long friendships.

“The passion South Asian communities in the UK have for cricket remains high but, over 50 years later, there is still so much untapped potential. This plan will help to change that – starting today.”

As part of the ECB’s ambition to make cricket more representative and reflective of modern communities, a South Asian Advisory Group was put together by Chief Strategy Officer David Mahoney. The group includes experienced individuals from within and outside the game such as Wasim Khan, Isa Guha, Mark Nicholas, Manoj Badale, Ron Kalifa among many others.

The group looked at the challenges facing South Asian communities at every level of the game. Within a wealth of insight, the research revealed that:

South Asian participation in recreational cricket is at 30%;

The single biggest barrier to South Asian participation is access to facilities in urban areas;

Other challenges identified included; lack of scouting or talent ID in urban areas, the cost of travel and equipment for county age group cricketers, a lack of female coaches, access to cricket at school and a lack of cultural considerations within the match day experience;

3% of domestic, non-international, ticket sales are from South Asian audiences compared to 40% in the Champions Trophy;

Cricket is overwhelmingly popular with South Asian communities who contribute 18% of the cricketing economy.

To develop the plan, the project team, led by Head of Strategy Vikram Banerjee, conducted the largest ever UK study into cricket in South Asian communities, analysing tens of thousands of survey responses and hundreds of thousands of database records to understand how these diverse groups view cricket.

The plan started by working in collaboration with University College, London to produce an interactive ‘heat map’ of all South Asians living and playing cricket in England and Wales on a street by street basis (www.southasianheatmap.ecb.co.uk) to fully understand demographics, cultures and preferences.

The team then spoke to more than 600 people in a series of forums across England and Wales in order to get a better understanding of some of the barriers that are preventing more South Asians from participating in organised cricket or engaging more with the governing body. Those consulted included families, teachers, young people and community leaders.

Using all of this data and insight, ECB worked with Sport England to identify ten ‘Core Cities’ where the majority (61%) of the South Asian population live: Birmingham, Bradford, Kirklees, Leeds, Leicester, London, Luton, Manchester, Sandwell and Slough. These ten areas will be the focus of the first two years of the project. Following this initial period, the plan will expand to engage with a further 300 districts that make up the remaining 39% of the audience.

ECB also worked closely with key partners including the National Asian Cricket Council, the British Asian Trust, cricket charity Chance to Shine and principal partner NatWest. These partners will work closely with the ECB to deliver the report’s recommendations.

The ECB Action Plan has set out 11 recommended actions which include:

URBAN CRICKET CENTRES - The creation of 20+ new Urban Cricket Centres and the development of 1,000 non-turf pitches and 100 turf pitches by 2024;

COMMUNITY TALENT CHAMPIONS - Piloting the implementation of ‘Community Talent Champions’ to scout talent previously missed by the scouting system;

PRIMARY SCHOOLS - The delivery of cricket sessions to 6,000 primary schools in deprived urban communities through Chance to Shine by 2019;

DIVERSITY IN COACHING - The adoption of the ‘Rooney Rule’ to support the progression of BAME coaches working in the professional game for all future ECB coaching roles; working with the ten ‘core cities’ to train and develop 200 female coaches;

BURSARIES - The awarding of bursaries to talented young South Asian players.

Manoj Badale, Chairman of the British Asian Trust, added:

“This plan represents a real step change from the ECB. They have invested significant time and energy in understanding how to engage with South Asian communities in the right way. The British Asian Trust fully supports this plan and is delighted to be a strategic partner. We are excited about the opportunities this will create for South Asian communities to get involved in all levels of the game.”

England international and Worcestershire player Moeen Ali said:

“Growing up in inner-city Birmingham, I fully understand some of the challenges and barriers for young South Asian cricketers and I see many of those challenges now when I help my Dad coach at his cricket academy.

“Many parents are still struggling to afford kit for their kids and the new bursaries will give emerging players the opportunity to continue to improve and develop in the game.

“In the next six months, England’s men play against Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka and as well as hoping to play my part on the pitch, I’m looking forward to seeing a new generation of players, fans and coaches coming into the game.”

Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Matt Hancock MP added:

"We care deeply about driving greater participation in sport. The ECB’s exciting plan delivers just that. Cricket is central to so many communities and I look forward to seeing how this new plan not only engages South Asian communities in new and exciting ways but also gets more people playing the wonderful sport of cricket in every corner of the land in the future.”

Heather Knight, captain of the England’s World Cup-winning women’s team, said:

“Hearing the noise of the crowd in last summer’s ICC Women’s World Cup Final against India gave a really great indication of the untapped potential we have in our game.

“There was real passion and vibrancy and much of it came from people who may not traditionally have come to watch cricket. It’s so important that we speak to new audiences and engage new fans especially women and girls and South Asian communities.”

South Asian Advisory Group

Professor The Lord Patel of Bradford KBE

Manoj Badale

Shirley Cramer CBE

Isa Guha

Anshu Jain

Poppy Jaman OBE

Ron Kalifa OBE

Wasim Khan MBE

Mark Nicholas

Lucy Pearson

Shailesh R Solanki

Masroor Siddiqui

 

[UN talkz]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">13 year old boy from London asked on the radio who he wants to bowl like - his answer, Hassan Ali.<br>Then asked which country he wants to play cricket for - his answer, Pakistan.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/994475582762225665?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 10, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[JattMaula]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">13 year old boy from London asked on the radio who he wants to bowl like - his answer, Hassan Ali.<br>Then asked which country he wants to play cricket for - his answer, Pakistan.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/994475582762225665?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 10, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Wow. British kids want to play for Pakistan.

 

[the Great Khan]

Wow. British kids want to play for Pakistan.

yes because they don't see any real representation in the cricketing structure. It is White from top to bottom. Elite and exclusive. racism both conscious and unconscious is institutional. I'll give you an exampl and you can do this yourself, go to the leicestershire county cricket website and find the juniour teams. Then see which clubs the kids play for. Then go onto google maps and I guarantee you they all play for clubs that are in the rural areas of leicestershire where it is predominatly white, upper middle class..its a disgrace fora city like leicester where 54% of the populace is of a BME or minority background that we cant get our kids playing more cricket!!

This is the news I have been waiting for for years..I'm hoping to see some new urban cricket centres pop up in my city and I hope its affordable..

 

[Markhor]

Interesting initiative, English cricket has been dominated by an elitist, public school class for many years.

But I think English cricket suffers massively with all demographics from a lack of exposure.

The only cricket on free to air TV is a highlights package on Channel 5 (not a prestigious channel) every home summer.

 

[Bilal7]

English cricket needs Moeen Ali to rediscover his form this summer.

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

No please no more asian players in non asian teams.

I am sick of seeing teams like Canada full of Indians and Pakistanis. Defeats the purpose.

 

[Bilal7]

No please no more asian players in non asian teams.

I am sick of seeing teams like Canada full of Indians and Pakistanis. Defeats the purpose.

You understand that only Canadians can play for Canada and only Englishmen can play for England, right? Or are you some kind of racist who believes Canadians and the English all look the same?

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

You understand that only Canadians can play for Canada and only Englishmen can play for England, right? Or are you some kind of racist who believes Canadians and the English all look the same?

No I just don't want every team to be full of Indians and Pakistanis.

Right now UAE, Hong Kong, Canada are not representing their home nations. These are India Pakistan Z teams. I don't even know where they pick up the players from because they are terrible. Can't grow cricket like this.

 

[the Great Khan]

English cricket needs Moeen Ali to rediscover his form this summer.

hopefully against India lol not us..

 

[Bilal7]

No I just don't want every team to be full of Indians and Pakistanis.

Right now UAE, Hong Kong, Canada are not representing their home nations. These are India Pakistan Z teams. I don't even know where they pick up the players from because they are terrible. Can't grow cricket like this.

I repeat, only Canadians can play for Canada.

hopefully against India lol not us..

Yeah, he might not even get to play against us.

 

[the Great Khan]

Interesting initiative, English cricket has been dominated by an elitist, public school class for many years.

But I think English cricket suffers massively with all demographics from a lack of exposure.

The only cricket on free to air TV is a highlights package on Channel 5 (not a prestigious channel) every home summer.

check out Mark Selveys twitter feed where he put this discussion to the test. He was of the opinion the free to air hasnt made that much of a difference but many objected to that conclusion,

I am in the camp of we need more cricket and international cricket on free to air. This new 100 ball league is stupid but may help out. But we need more International ODI's and t20's on free to air..Why cant they make a deal to show the World cup on free to air? or at least some of the games..the highlights by their very nature appear late in the day when most kids are sleeping!!

I just cant afford sky sports at the moment with everything else on my plate and I suspect there are many out there in the same boat..my kids are being deprived of some great cricket buzz and games..

Most of the parents at my sons cricket academy are rich,white or asian. some who are from a lower income background are stretched..

 

[NeVerMind]

What radio show/station was this? Would love to know if there are radio shows dedicated to cricket in the UK besides TMS....

 

[DeadBall]

No please no more asian players in non asian teams.

I am sick of seeing teams like Canada full of Indians and Pakistanis. Defeats the purpose.

What about South Africans playing for English teams or New Zealanders playing for the Australian team?

I however get your point regarding UAE, Oman etc teams filled with expats. However if the players playing in Canadian or any other Non Asian team have been born there or have gained citizenship of said country (without sport merit) then I think their origin does not matter.

 

[HitWicket]

check out Mark Selveys twitter feed where he put this discussion to the test. He was of the opinion the free to air hasnt made that much of a difference but many objected to that conclusion,

I am in the camp of we need more cricket and international cricket on free to air. This new 100 ball league is stupid but may help out. But we need more International ODI's and t20's on free to air..Why cant they make a deal to show the World cup on free to air? or at least some of the games..the highlights by their very nature appear late in the day when most kids are sleeping!!

I just cant afford sky sports at the moment with everything else on my plate and I suspect there are many out there in the same boat..my kids are being deprived of some great cricket buzz and games..

Most of the parents at my sons cricket academy are rich,white or asian. some who are from a lower income background are stretched..

Who televises the world cup isn't down to the ECB so they can't do much about that. Home T20Is will be on the BBC from 2020.

 

[Siraj.Hussain]

I coach cricket for Chance to Shine in Birmingham, and I can honestly say that the work they do is amazing.
Thanks for raising awareness on their behalf!

 

[Siraj.Hussain]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZdp82MmiGA

An amazing video

Can England's Moeen Ali and co play Street Cricket?

 

[Saj]

Wow. British kids want to play for Pakistan.

He was of Pakistani descent though.

 

[Saj]

Looking at the list of names involved in this, they should have people who are at ground level in Asian cricket - the guys involved in local Asian cricket leagues etc rather than the likes of Mark Nicholas.

 

[hadi123]

Wow. British kids want to play for Pakistan.

I was born and raised in England but I support Pakistan and would love to play for them

 

[HitWicket]

Looking at the list of names involved in this, they should have people who are at ground level in Asian cricket - the guys involved in local Asian cricket leagues etc rather than the likes of Mark Nicholas.

Are local ground level coaches with generally little relevant qualifications necessarily the people you want to be handing a notable sum of funding over to and telling to put in place a national plan?