BAME PLAYERS COULD BE LOST TO THE GAME

RICHARD EDWARDS tells how this summer might change the recreational game for good – and bad

- RICHARD EDWARDS

Simon Prodger is a man who has found himself in the eye of the storm during a summer like no other. The head of the National Cricket Conference has been in constant communication with the ECB and clubs and leagues up and down the country as the recreational game attempted to navigate its way through a period of unprecedented uncertainty.

The uncertainty that until relatively recently looked set to single out 2020 as the year when no club cricket was played anywhere in the UK. That threat has passed, but as clubs grapple with the new normal – no teas, no changing rooms, and regular sensitisation of both ball and hands – it’s clear that some threats to the long-term future of the sport at the grassroots level remain.

Not least, the provision of facilities owned by local authorities and the ubiquitous park leagues which are home to huge swathes of Asian and African Caribbean cricketers across the country.

“Getting the game back on has demonstrated a huge surge in support and the collaboration we’ve witnessed between county boards, leagues and clubs has probably never been seen to such an extent before,” he tells The Cricket Paper. “There are so many positives.