Why Cricket Australia isn’t worried despite dive in child participation

There’s been a 10 per cent reduction in the number of five to nine-year-olds who are taking up cricket for the first time.

Cricket Australia’s annual census shows a 10 per cent reduction in first-time players in its Blast program.

Recruiting 15,000 children aged between five and 10 has been identified by the organisation as a key strategic priority.

But executive general manager of community cricket at Cricket Australia, James Allsopp, says the participation dive isn’t due to a lack of interest in the sport.

“People haven’t drifted away from the game,” he told Neil Mitchell.

“Our retention of people coming back to cricket from last year and the year before is really, really strong.

“When we talk about being down we’re down in a particular cohort — five to nine-year-olds — and they’re actually just new kids we try and attract to the sport through our entry level program.”

Mr Allsopp says COVID-19 lockdowns meant programs had a delayed start in 2021, and some centres couldn’t open.

“Our volunteers did a phenomenal job to get club cricket off the ground but it probably came at the expense of our Cricket Blast centres being open,” he said.

Press PLAY below to hear why Cricket Australia isn’t concerned by the participation dive

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