Durham County Cricket Board are leading the way nationally in terms of girls signed up to All Stars Cricket in this year’s campaign.
Every one in four registered children to England Cricket Board’s entry-level programme is a girl in Durham county. The 6.8% increase of girls signing up from last year is the highest growth seen in the North.
Durham County Cricket Board have also become the first county in the country to beat their 2017 participant result and have seen the largest growth of any county in terms of both actual numbers of All Stars participants and percentage increase.
Cricket Development Director at the Board Graeme Weeks said: “It’s absolutely fantastic seeing the great response we’ve had to All Stars Cricket so far and we’re all very excited to welcome so many new children to our game.
“It’s brilliant to know that we have had such a great take up from girls. The sport has admittedly struggled in the past to attract female participation but I think that All Stars Cricket is now tackling that issue.
“All Stars Cricket will give girls their best first experience in cricket and I am confident that we now have a good women and girls’ structure in the county which will give new girls coming into the game many different playing opportunities after the eight weeks of All Stars are finished.”
After Durham Cricket Board’s success with their Women’s Soft Ball campaign last season when they attracted more new women into cricket than any other county, they are looking to develop the female game further and girls’ participation in All Stars Cricket is a crucial part of that.
Graeme said: “After achieving great numbers in female cricket last summer, it is important to now connect all the levels of the girls’ and women’s game together and All Stars Cricket is an important part of that.
“Getting more girls involved at an earlier age can make a big difference to recreational cricket and seeing the start of this is really exciting.”
All Stars Cricket runs in 61 local cricket clubs throughout the summer, with some programmes beginning at the start of May.
With more that a thousand children already signed up to attend the eight-week programme in a club in Durham, it is set to be a successful season for junior cricket across the county.