§ Mr. McWalterTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the adequacy of cricket training facilities for young people outside school hours. [130105]
§ Kate HoeyOutside school hours the largest providers of cricket training facilities are cricket clubs, and of the 6,600 affiliated clubs, around 4,100 have junior sections. In 1999 there were 157,000 youngsters who participated in these clubs.
Funding is also available to cricket through the Lottery Sports Fund, one of whose priorities is young people. The Fund has made 527 awards to cricket facilities, worth a total of over £61 million, towards project costs of over £107 million.
The ECB spends 11 per cent. of the £26 million per annum it receives from broadcasting revenue for the development of cricket. Approximately 2,000 coaches per 636W year are qualified through the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Coach Education Scheme and the majority of these go on to work with young cricketers in clubs. The ECB is investing £450,000 on Inner City Projects this year to increase the opportunities for young people to play cricket.
Junior cricket is also eligible for funding from Sportsmatch, the Government's sports sponsorship incentive scheme. Since its inception in 1992 Sportsmatch has made 336 awards worth a total of over £2.08 million to grass roots and junior cricket applications in England, attracting a similar amount in commercial sponsorship.