By Charles Randall 4 December 2011

Cricket participation among community clubs in England and Wales has grown by more than five per cent in the past year, according to an ECB survey, and about 1.4 million children have been introduced to the game in schools. The announcement from Lord's has been welcomed by the Club Cricket Conference.

The ECB published the findings from their annual survey on Friday that showed there were 639,986 active players of all age groups last summer in 1,418 Focus Clubs, an increase from the 607,393 from a slightly higher number in 2010. The work of the Cricket Foundation, through the award winning Chance to Shine programme, has been credited with the encouraging figure for schools cricket.

Club Cricket Conference have praised the ECB's involvement in community cricket and are aiming to provide support for the lower strata, an estimated extra 4,000 small clubs who fall outside the ECB's Focus category.

Alf Langley, the CCC chairman, said that the ECB figures suggested that the number of recreational cricketers was still rising across the board, but he added that poorly resourced clubs outside the scheme could face a fight for survival. "We are very pleased with the ECB's success in encouraging more players into cricket through their Focus scheme, and we feel we can complement this work by reaching out to clubs and park teams who have not as yet  recognised the benefits of embracing the opportunities of the traditional affiliation routes available to them" he said.

ECB chief executive David Collier said the recent £52 million investments into community cricket demonstrated the ECB's commitment to the sector. "It is very rewarding that during difficult economic times there has been such a substantial increase in participation numbers," he said. "In our strategic plan we recognise that the current levels of participation, if they are to be sustained, require an increased investment in facilities and coaches."

The Club Cricket Conference represent and provide resources for 1,000 clubs of various sizes in the south half of England. Focus Clubs have to be ECB-affiliated, to work closely with county boards and local community, to run youth sections, to have development plans and to prove themselves as safe, effective and child-friendly.