Cricket’s big tests: The Matildas, screens and the decline of the backyard game
In the face of challenges from the Matildas, the decline of backyard cricket and the rise of the smartphone screen, Cricket Australia is considering the introduction of less formal, more social formats to help keep young players in the game.
CA’s annual census data was released this week, and among its many findings was that while a focus on boys and girls aged five to 12 has borne fruit, with players in that bracket increasing by nearly 20 per cent, retention of those players is becoming more problematic, dipping by 5 per cent among teens over the same period.
Under-15 cricketers Eva Hammond and Abi Hunt, with her mother Jane Hunt. All play for Highton Cricket Club in Geelong.Credit: Chris Hopkins
For women in particular, there have been greater gains made in senior ranks than for teenagers, who increasingly live in homes with courtyards or balconies rather than backyards, and often value screen time over sport.
It’s a concern for CA’s chief of cricket, James Allsopp, and a source of impetus for the addition of more “social” cricket formats to bridge the gap between the Cricket Blast junior program and teenage club ranks.
“What’s critical is those kids that have come in don’t just leave cricket, they move into junior cricket,” Allsopp said. “So the big focus for us to ensure increased retention.
“Coming from Cricket Blast at the moment, the only choice really is to go into junior club cricket, which is important, but is there an opportunity to create another product that might be an easier entry point and more accessible, where you don’t need as much equipment, a softer ball, it doesn’t take as much time.
“In 12 months’ time I’d love to be sitting here saying those big numbers in Cricket Blast are translating into growth in junior cricket. And we’re also doing some research to really understand what’s the junior cricket experience kids are having at the moment so we can make decisions driven by data and what our community is telling us.”
At the Highton Cricket Club in Geelong, mum of two Jane Hunt, 44, helped her daughters Abi, 12, and Sophia, 7, to take up cricket three years ago. This led to her deciding to play in the seniors.
Hunt is the sister of the former Australian stars Alex and Kate Blackwell, but has taken up the game in part to show her daughters that it is never too late to try something new.
“I feel like you’re part of the community,” she said. “As a parent and now involved and playing, my main crux is that it’s been important to show Abi and Sophia that it’s never too late to pick up new interests and skills, and cricket really feels like a game for everyone.
Pat Cummins and Alyssa Healy promoting Play Cricket Week with young children.Credit: Nick Moir
“Club cricket is accessible. It shouldn’t seem daunting or something you can’t get involved in even if you haven’t played it before.”
Nevertheless, Hunt agreed that the addition of a transitional format after the fashion of beach or tape-ball cricket would make the game still more inclusive at a time when teenagers have so many options in front of them.
“Abi and I had a go at indoor cricket as a fill-in, and that’s another alternative, but it’s quite a quick game, so a transition in terms of beach or softer-ball cricket makes sense,” she said. “For Abi, she’s been under-13s with a softer ball, she moves to under-15s with a harder ball, had she not been playing the last couple of years that might have been a bit more daunting.”
Asked about the “Matildas effect” of the women’s soccer team at the front of the national consciousness through hosting the World Cup last year, Allsopp pointed to near 100 per cent growth in the number of women playing cricket in Australia since nearly 87,000 spectators packed the MCG for the 2020 T20 Cup final.
Nearly 1 million Australians watched the Matildas’ World Cup semi-final loss to England in 2023.Credit: Edwina Pickles
But he added that cricket could learn from the Matildas in terms of the storytelling around players and the halo effect of world events. This year’s World Cup has been moved from Bangladesh to the UAE, and the 2026 event will be hosted by England. The next cup up for grabs is in 2028.
“We’ve got arguably one of the greatest women’s sporting teams ever on the planet, and we’ve almost taken that for granted,” Allsopp said.
“We saw with the Women’s World Cup in 2020, despite COVID shutting down the world, we’ve since experienced 100 per cent growth in girls coming through since that time. So even though it had an impact on what we can do with programs after, the inspiration provided to those young girls is something you can’t really put a price on.
“The other day I asked a couple of young boys who are your favourite players, and they were rattling off Ellyse Perry or Ash Gardner. That’s quite extraordinary – if you asked a boy the same question 10 years ago who your favourite cricketer was, I don’t think you’d have heard that.”
Allsopp presented state by state “scorecards” to CA’s state association owners in recent weeks, which outlined some wildly divergent year-on-year results in different parts of the country.
What is uniform across all parts of Australian cricket, however, is the need to get children interested in the game at a young age. Only 10 per cent of all participants get involved after the age of 12.
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