§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the number of people in the United Kingdom regularly playing cricket. [51318]
§ Mr. Banks[holding answer 20 July 1998]: According to the England and Wales Cricket Board, there were more than 2 million cricket participants at 6,500 affiliated clubs in 1997 throughout this country, including some 150,000 junior club members. The Government, through the English Sports Council, actively encourage all governing bodies of sport to have programmes in place which promote our policy of "sport for all" and increase participation levels in all sports, from grass roots through to elite competitors.