By Charles Randall
17 January 2013
The National Cricket League, based in east London, has become the eighth ethnic league to affiliate to the Club Cricket Conference in the past year.
The CCC initiative has brought about 2,300 more players into the mainstream as part of their drive to increase cricket participation. The Conference is now working with the ECB to make further progress, and representatives of these leagues were invited to a recent meeting with the ECB at Lord's. Wide-ranging topics were discussed, such as ground-sharing, facilities, fixtures, player pathways, funding, coaching, links with county boards and much-deserved recognition.
All these Asian ethnic leagues have done sterling work encouraging participation and spreading passion for the game. The CCC formed links with the South East Sunday League, Elliott Davis League, British Tamil League, England Tamil League, Telugu Association of London League, London Tigers, Victoria Park Community League and most recently the National Cricket League, from the Leyton area.
The National Cricket League plays solely in coloured clothing, competing at 20 overs and 40 overs for three seasons. They state their aims and objectives are to "expand the level of cricket to different regions in the UK and promote our colour concept to achieve our goals in empowering and encouraging our new generations and other passionate cricket lovers to take on the sport of cricket".
Most of the leagues compete in London or within the M25 environs, though the South East Sunday League stretches for five divisions through Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Surrey in a 30-year existence. In east London the Elliott David and Victoria Park Community leagues have been around for more than 20 years.
Affiliation to a central body such as the CCC holds the key to a challenge demanded by the funding distributors of Sport England. More playing participation is required -- and the means to measure any increase. At the moment no one at Lord's or elsewhere knows how many cricketers there are in England, let alone whether numbers are rising or falling.
Alf Langley, the CCC chairman, would like to see affiliations extended to other parts of the country after the London link-ups. "It has been a pleasure to welcome these ethnic leagues into the mainstream and give them the same access to funding, for example, as other clubs," he said. "Though they aren't as well known as many premier or county leagues, they represent all that is good about cricket. They encourage playing, inspire children and build community spirit."
"So far we have touched only on the London area, but there many leagues in other areas of England, such as Bradford and Leicester, where there is a great deal of cricket going on outside the ECB family. There is much that can be done. For example, there must be hundreds of very capable players without a realistic chance of achieving their ambitions of county cricket simply because the selectors don't know who they are. The CCC are determined to help break down any barriers that might exist."
In December, Sport England announced a grant of £27.5 million to the ECB for recreational cricket. This reduction in funding from four years ago was not due entirely to the dominance of the Olympics in 2012 as netball, for example, received a huge increase to help boost participation.
Sport England’s director of sport Phil Smith said cricket had made "good progress" in the past 18 months. "We are confident that it can build further momentum over the next four years," he added. "We are particularly interested in the progress made in women’s cricket and the initiatives which focus on disabled participation. The sport has acknowledged the need to do more to help the South Asian communities -- who have strong cultural links to cricket - to get involved, and we look forward to seeing growth in this area." Sport England’s commitment to all sports totalled £493 million.
The CCC initiative in 2012 to engage with the Asian community is undoubtedly one of the most significant advances in recreational cricket for a number of years.
The South East Sunday Cricket League comprises teams from Pakistani communities in Beds, Berks, Bucks, Herts and Surrey. The league has five divisions and more than 45 teams, playing 40-over games on Sundays. They hold two annual bank holiday knockout tournaments, and over the years a number of international players from Pakistan have played.
The Elliott Davis Cricket League draws from the Pakistani community in the east London area. A total of 20 teams play 40 overs in two divisions on Sundays and hold regular knockout tournaments. Pakistan international players have appeared occasionally.
The British Tamil Cricket League is made up from the Sri Lankan Tamil community mostly around around the M25. This league has been going for more than six years, with four divisions totalling about 40 teams in limited overs Sunday games. They hold knockout and 20/20 competitions throughout the season.
The relatively new Telugu Association of London Cricket League has teams from the Telugu community, originating from south east India, based around the M25. There are two divisions for 20 teams playing mainly 20/20 cricket on Saturdays, with annual knock out tournaments on bank holidays.
The England Tamil Cricket League, known as ETCL, is based around the M25. It has two divisions totalling 15 teams playing limited overs on Sundays, with an annual open invitation 6 a side cricket festival involving 20 teams and some 20/20 tournaments.
London Tigers is a charitable organisation in east London mainly for the Bangladeshi Community. Their cricket has been running for just over two years, playing on Sundays.
Mixed midweek league games are organised by the Victoria Park Community Cricket League for players of all nationalities in east London. This league has been running for more than 20 years with two divisions and 30-plus teams. They play league and knockout limited overs competitions.
The National Cricket League offers two divisions for 18 Asian teams in the Leyton area, playing 20 overs and 40 overs.