If you love cricket but hate the idea of a winter net (queuing, coldness, squeaky trained silence) then perhaps an energetic game of cricket indoors might appeal. But trying to understand the different formats of the game and how it exists in the UK is like trying to find your way through a particularly mixed bag of damp knitting.
Historically there have been two forms of indoor cricket. The first is played in a public gym with the idea of roughly recreating outdoor cricket – but indoors. Sometimes matting is laid, but there are no specific laws and specific formats; The game usually occurs temporarily. The second is “official” indoor cricket, played on a taut netted court and with a pitch 30 meters long, 10-12 meters wide and 4-5 meters high – played primarily in Australia, but also to a great extent in New Zealand and South Africa. format with international competitions and the World Cup.
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The England and Wales Cricket Board runs two competitions: the indoor competition for girls under 13 and under 15, and the National Club Indoor Championship. Both fall under the general gym category.
ECB took over management of the girls competition from the Lady Taverners. It is open to all schools and is played from January until Easter. County winners will compete at five regional venues around the country, followed by five district winners playing in the national finals at Lord’s the week before May half term.
There has been a generous increase in the number of schools entering, with 1,903 signatures on the dotted line for 2024, an increase of 400 since 2015.
“It’s really encouraging,” says Sue Laister, the European Central Bank’s director of women’s and girls’ football competitions. “As well as being an easy game to play, the fact that there are eight on a side means the game can be played in 45 minutes to an hour, the duration of a normal school lesson or lunch time.
“Schools are easier to organize compared to outdoor cricket as schools usually have access to a gym or sports hall and you need less specialized equipment.” Teams use plastic bats and there is a strike, no lbw, maximum of two overs per bowler and players have to retire when they turn 15 – but they can bat again if the rest of the team remains out.
“This is a really good introduction to the game,” says Laister. “Everyone participates; it’s a fun, engaging and fast-paced format.”
Nearly 500 teams across the country then play in the National Club Indoor Championship run by the ECB. The winners of each county competition play in a regional final, with the national final also taking place at Lord’s in March. This is a 6-a-side 12 contest (maximum three overs per bowler) and matches are completed in about an hour.
Apart from these there are the Bucs (British Universities and College Sports) indoor cricket leagues which are very popular, partly due to the nature of university terms and little time is devoted to outdoor university cricket in the summer months. In fact, the University of Kent won the ECB Indoor National Club Championship in 2023, beating the University of Sheffield in the final.
Jen Barden is the Lancashire Foundation’s cricket development manager. He recalls that indoor cricket continued throughout the winter 20 years ago and admits there is some gap in supply at the moment, but there is a reason for this: “It is a high-cost activity. “Only 16 kids will compete in an hour and you need to rent a venue and find a referee.” Lancashire don’t usually run competitions but they are happy to provide advice and equipment to anyone who asks. “It depends a little bit on who is at fault in a particular area.” Barden recalls a purpose-built tension-net indoor cricket center in Rochdale, “but now the nearest one is in Birmingham.”
Which brings us to Action Indoor Cricket England and its chairman, Duncan Norris. Norris is the England representative to the World Indoor Cricket Federation and Birmingham-based Action Indoor Cricket is responsible for local, national and international teams and tournaments.
“In the 80s and 90s there were over 60 cricket centers with mangos and there was huge attendance,” he says. “People like Mike Gatting and Asif Din started playing the format as a supplementary form. Unfortunately, it is very difficult for the commercial model to do business at high rates in this country and the activities are very seasonal. So gradually a lot of these centers closed down.” There are now only four tension network centers left in the country, all based in the Midlands, in Derby, Nottingham, Leicester and Birmingham.
Norris’ involvement came in 2009 when he bought the Bristol indoor cricket center (which later closed after the financial pressures of Covid) from administrators and reinvested in it. He was later brought on by the ECB as an advisor and “in 2014 the ECB asked my company to manage, manage and develop the game and we signed a memorandum of understanding”.
He is a big believer in the thriller version of indoor cricket, both as a way of developing cricketers and as a participation sport.
“This is a very high-pressure competition and everyone has to bat, bowl and field, there is no place to hide. Over the last 30 years cricket has changed dramatically, becoming shorter and more dynamic, and you increasingly see indoor skills on outdoor pitches. “His fielding skills in the indoor format are very impressive.”
Action Indoor Cricket runs 24 weekly evening leagues from Monday to Friday and 24 weekends of national competitions for all age groups from under 11s to masters (50+) at the Birmingham Center on Stockland Green between September and March. He is extremely proud of the number of people who come to play the game. “This amounts to around 1,000 matches in the winter months, with 16 players involved per match, while in the summer months a club can fit in 40-50 matches.” The players also come from diverse backgrounds; 60% of those playing in local midweek leagues are of Asian descent.
Perhaps most importantly, Norris thinks the game is about to enter new territory; This is something that could attract the attention of the ECB and even the International Cricket Council.
“Globally, gaming is about to explode, with the UAE joining the party with three major hubs in Dubai,” he says.
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