English cricket gets 45 million pounds grassroots boost as Hundred investment pays dividends

LONDON: English cricket is set to receive a 45 million pounds ($61.05 million) injection into grassroots facilities as proceeds from The Hundred investment trickle down to community level, England’s cricket board (ECB) said on Wednesday.

The ECB announced the fund will target projects benefiting women and girls, disabled participants, lower socio-economic groups and ethnically diverse communities as part of making cricket inclusive.

The ECB also said it hopes the funding could leverage projects worth 150 million pounds over the next decade.

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for grassroots cricket thanks to the investment we’ve received into The Hundred,” ECB CEO Richard Gould said in a statement.

“With more children playing, the rapid growth of women’s and girls’ cricket, and our desire to become the most inclusive team sport, new and improved facilities are vital to open up access to cricket for communities across England and Wales.

“This additional investment into facilities will be a real game-changer and I hope other local and national partners will come on board to support these community projects so that we can get much more bang for our collective buck.”

The ECB is simultaneously doubling smaller grants for facilities at individual clubs to five million pounds this year, focusing on women’s and girls’ cricket development.

They are also increasing interest-free loans that are available to clubs from 50,000 pounds to 75,000 pounds.

The ECB said around 300 projects are expected to be delivered in 2026 alone, supporting the drive toward having at least 6,000 girls’ teams by 2028.