New tape ball competition continues English cricket's inclusion push

GEORGE DOBELL: The ECB has launched the National Core Cities Tape Ball Competition in 11 cities and towns in an effort to embrace forms of the game which not previously have been defined as either 'recreational' or part of the 'pathway'

English cricket has to look beyond "clubs with picket fences around them" in a bid to appeal to more people and find more talent, according to ECB chief executive Richard Gould.

Gould believes English cricket has "missed a trick" in the past by limiting its thinking to "Premier League and village cricket clubs."

But now, as the sport comes to terms with its inclusion issues, it is broadening its scope and trying to embrace forms of the game which not previously have been defined as either 'recreational' or part of the 'pathway'.

To that end, the ECB have launched a new tape ball competition in urban communities across the country.

Tape ball is a variation of the game which originated in Pakistan and is now played across the world, often within South Asian communities. A tennis ball is physically taped up to create swing and bounce variations in play. No protective equipment is required and the game can be played on any surface.

Tape ball cricket is thought to have originated from the streets of Karachi in the 1970s (ASIF HASSAN/AFP via Getty Images)

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That accessibility saw it identified as an area for potential growth of the game. Now the ECB has launched the National Core Cities Tape Ball Competition in Birmingham, Bradford, Kirklees, Leeds, Leicester, London (Middlesex, Essex and Surrey), Luton, Manchester, Sandwell, Slough and Nottingham. And Gould hopes the competition, which will feature male and female teams, can help unearth players who could go on to enjoy professional careers.

"I think we've learned huge lessons from SACA [the South Asian Cricket Academy] and [its co-founder] Dr Tom Brown and ACE," Gould said, "in terms of making sure that we don't just sit there and wait for the talent to come. We have to get out and try to find the talent. More to the point, we have to try and find talent in areas that we haven't normally looked for it.

"I do think county pathways will be looking to make sure they don't miss out on this talent. You can, for example, use technology to see how fast people are bowling.

"Birmingham is a good example of how this can work: when players want to put themselves forward [for consideration at a county], they send a video of themselves. It's just about punching through all of our normal procedures and finding ways to both get people in the game and unearthing that talent which may be unorthodox and great."

"It's really important to give people across the country the opportunity to play"

Adil Rashid, England men's leg-spinner

The scheme's future is, according to Gould, secure for the foreseeable future thanks to the recently announced government funding into the sport.

"The additional funding will help to fund 16 new indoor hubs," he said. "It is precisely for this sort of informal cricket. You can play the game anywhere, anytime, with anybody in any environment that you want. You don't have to have whites, willow and leather to do it."

Heather Knight, England women's captain, also welcomed the initiative. "It's massively important to us as players that entry into the game is as inclusive and accessible as possible," she said.

Rashid is excited by the announcement of a national tape ball competition (Ashley Allen/Getty Images)

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"And tape ball is a fantastic way of opening up cricket to a wider audience of kids and adults alike who traditionally might not have had the chance to play cricket."

Adil Rashid, England men's leading T20 wicket-taker with 107, agreed.

"I used to play tape ball in the street with my brothers and it would get really competitive," said the leg-spinner, currently rated No.1 in the ICC's T20I rankings.

"It's such a great format of the game, can be played anywhere by anyone and that's what cricket should be about. It's brilliant that there's now a national tape ball competition. It's really important to give people across the country the opportunity to play."

To find out more about tape ball cricket or the competition go to www.ecb.co.uk/tapeball.

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