Cage Cricket campaign launched to promote sport's 'street version'

Cricketing stars including Sir Ian Botham have teamed up with MPs in London today (12 June) for the launch of a campaign to promote Cage Cricket as a new "street version" of the sport.

The concept – devised by former Hampshire cricketer Lawrence Prittipaul and Trevor McArdle – aims to increase participation across the country and remove barriers such as lack of time, space and money.

Funding is now being sought in order to support the roll out of Cage Cricket across the country, with a crowd-funding campaign fronted by Sir Ian Botham aiming to reach out to fans and businesses alike.

Portsmouth has been earmarked as one of the first locations for bespoke cricket cages in which six players compete against each other and score points across cricket's three disciplines – batting, bowling and fielding.

According to Cage Cricket, there are around 12,500 Multi-Use Games Areas in the UK that are "perfectly suited" to supporting the concept – one that is designed to be played in confined spaces.

Last December, Capita Symonds was appointed to assist in the roll out of the concept, while a year-long pilot is underway in London to install 50 cricket cages across the capital.

Sir Ian said: "It's a concept for anyone and everyone whether they're fit, old, young or disabled. It's all about accessibility. In Cage Cricket, everyone's an individual vying for the biggest score."

Chris Gourlay, founder of crowd-funding platform Spacehive.com, added: "Spacehive gives community the chance to get popular sports projects like Cage Cricket off their ground by harnessing their collective financial clout."

Last month, Leisure Opportunities reported that actor David Suchet is fronting a new campaign to regenerate an historic east London dock through the creation of a "crowd-funded" nature and arts hub.

Examples of how crowd-funded schemes are making a difference include Luchtsingel in the Dutch city of Rotterdam and The High Line in New York City, US.

To read more about the success of The High Line in New York City, US, see Leisure Management 2012 Issue 1, p32

For more on New York-based dot.com Kickstarter, the world's largest crowd-funding platform for creative projects, see Leisure Management 2012 Issue 1, p46

Details: www.cagecricket.com (Cage Cricket)

Details: www.spacehive.com (Cage Cricket on Spacehive)