How is the Ashes inspiring this Cambridgeshire cricket club?
Its chairman feels there are hurdles for young people to play cricket in schools.
The Ashes between England and Australia may catch a lot of global attention, and for one Cambridgeshire cricket club, it's hoped this can help youngsters get involved in the sport.
Figures from the England and Wales Cricket Board found 2.6 million people took up cricket last year, with 1.4 million of those under 16.
Chatteris Cricket Club has roughly 30 senior players and 20 juniors on its books and is encouraging more youngsters to take up different roles other than just playing.
“We’ve got Stokes, Bairstow, people like them and youngsters look up to them as role models and want to be like them,” Chris Pope, the club’s chairman, said.
“We want to make it a club you want to come back to; nice clubhouse, facilities, good ground. Our head groundsman has just turned 18.
Lack of education is a 'barrier' to youngsters
“He’s an apprentice greenkeeper at a golf club and works with us, and that’s a shining example of getting the youth involved at another level.”
The ECB found last year, 13 million people described themselves as fans of cricket, including 1.2 million children.
Pope thinks it’s not just the men’s and women’s Ashes series that can play a part in participation levels, but a change in how accessible it is in schools.
“We have to recognise people will come in, drift out then come back again, the key is to encourage them to come in as youngsters and stay for as long as they like,” he said.
“The problem is not all schools encourage cricket; if you get a PE teacher who likes cricket, you play cricket but if they prefer something else, you probably play something else.
“Cricket takes up half a day or a day and you need a lot of ground and equipment - I think that’s a barrier and I’d make cricket part of the national curriculum.”