Laura Cordingley, head of leading cricket charity Chance to Shine, has called on the professional game to look beyond its traditional pathways and tackle the “postcode lottery” that holds some young talent back.
As chief executive of Chance to Shine, Cordingley oversees a network that brings the sport to state schools and some of the poorest areas in the country with a reach of almost 600,000 children annually.
It is a long-term partner of the England and Wales Cricket Board, which has increased its financial support by £200,000 per year as part of its response to the damning ICEC equity report which exposed structural racism, sexism and class-based discrimination.
The organisation operates at a grassroots level – running nearly 300 street cricket clubs last year, and working in over half of state primary schools in England and Wales since 2017 – but celebrated its first two Test-playing graduates when Lauren Bell and Issy Wong debuted for England Women in June 2022.
That was a landmark moment for a sport which sees a disproportionate number of its elite players come from a narrow stream of private establishments, but one that Cordingley believes could become a more familiar one.
“We do not exist to produce the next Mark Wood, Heather Knight or Moeen Ali, but we do exist to help young people reach their potential, whatever that may be,” she told the PA news agency.
“Historically, young people have been underserved in the communities we operate in. At the moment, it’s definitely still a postcode lottery as to whether they are seen or not.
“We work with more than half-a-million kids a year – statistically a percentage of those will be very talented. We have a duty to make sure these young people are seen. In the past we’ve been scared about getting into this conversation but Lauren and Issy gave us a platform to talk in a different way about the journey.
“We are not talent ID experts, I can’t go into a school and spot the next Ben Stokes, but we do understand the barriers that stop young people accessing sport.”
There are several of those, not least the most basic tool of the trade. Many Chance to Shine street clubs use tape-balls – tennis balls wrapped in electrical tape, which add weight and encourages swing – rather than the traditional hard leather ball.
That is a typical entry point for young players in South Asia, including current stars like Shaheen Afridi and Rashid Khan, but has been less successfully integrated on these shores.
“Cost is a barrier, location is a barrier, transport is a barrier but so is hard ball. There has to be more we can do to ask if it has to be hard ball only at such an early stage,” said Cordingley.
“We need to be more open-minded as a game to the different types of cricket that can be played and how different young people display talent. We want to change people’s perceptions about what good cricket can look like.
“There are green shoots emerging but I think we still have a long way to go. Tape-ball and street cricket have sat outside the traditional pathway for so long but that’s not a good enough reason. You’ve only got to look at the Asian continent to see so many wonderful cricketers coming through tape ball. If it can happen there, I don’t see why it can’t happen here.”
Cordingley sees the potential for 2024 to be a time of positive change, buoyed by her dealings with the current ECB hierarchy, but insists the issue cannot be allowed to fall off the radar.
“There are people at the top of the ECB now who are absolutely committed to making change and I believe they will keep looking to find ways of doing that,” she said.
“The additional funding announcements for ourselves and others are a good start. They’ve recognised there are different ways of doing things and empowered organisations to do more.
“But I don’t want to belittle the scale of the challenge or say it’s all wonderful because it’s not. With the ICEC report we had the opportunity to speak and be heard but there is now an awful lot of work to be done over the next year in particular.”
Salt century gives England winning start to West Indies T20 series
Phil Salt hit a superb century as England drew first blood in their T20 series against West Indies, with a commanding eight-wicket victory at the Kensington Oval.
Salt's unbeaten 103 off 54 balls was the highlight for the tourists, who successfully chased down their target of 183 with 19 balls to spare.
The West Indies endured a difficult start and were reduced to 18-3 and later 117-8, with Saqib Mahmood (4-34) and Adil Rashid (3-32) doing the damage.
However, the hosts managed 65 runs in the last 5.2 overs to finish at 182-8, with Gukadesh Motie knocking 33 off 14 balls along the way.
Salt kick-started England's chase with 50 off just 25 deliveries taking them to 73-1 after six overs, with Will Jacks (17) dismissed with the final ball of the powerplay.
Jos Buttler's first match after four months out lasted just three minutes, as the skipper was caught by Motie for a golden duck.
However, it proved a false dawn for West Indies, with Salt and Jacob Bethall (58 from 36 balls) safely steering England to victory.
Data Debrief: Salt completes hat-trick of hundreds as Bethell makes historic half-century
England put their disappointing ODI series behind them, making history with the highest T20 chase at the Kensington Oval.
Salt was the hero with his third T20I century, all of which have come against West Indies in the past 12 months.
Bethell also made history on Saturday. Aged 21 years and 17 days, he become the youngest England player to score a 50 in a T20I.
Asalanka leads Sri Lanka to ODI series win over West Indies
Sri Lanka wrapped up the ODI series against the West Indies with a five-wicket victory in Pallekele.
The hosts successfully chased down their opponents' total of 189, giving them an unassailable 2-0 in the three-match series.
Sri Lanka controlled the early powerplay - Asitha Fernando (3-35) and Maheesh Theekshana (3-25) took two wickets apiece to leave the tourists at 31-4 in the ninth over.
Wanindu Hasaranga (4-40) then claimed three of his four wickets as Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh and Alzarri Joseph were all dismissed in the space of 14 balls.
However, Sherfane Rutherford (80 off 82 balls) and Gudakesh Motie (50 not out) steadied the ship to take the Windies from 58-8 to 189.
Although Joseph claimed Avishka Fernando (9) in the fourth over, Nishan Madushka and Sadeera Samarawickrama both chipped in with contributions of 38 to get the hosts to 112-4.
Skipper Charith Asalanka (62 not out) led the charge thereon, while Kamindu Mendis (11) comfortably got them over the line with 34 balls remaining.
Data Debrief: Rutherford-Motie historic stand proves academic for tourists
West Indies were looking to level the series, but their hopes were not aided by Sri Lanka's impressive bowling.
Rutherford and Motie did their best. Their partnership brought 119 runs, which is their nation's highest ninth-wicket stand in ODI history, breaking the previous record of 85 between Yannic Cariah and Alzarri Joseph.
However, it ultimately proved in vain as the hosts secured the series with a game to spare.
'I was a tired, grumpy old man' - Stokes apologised to England team-mates after Pakistan defeat
Ben Stokes says he apologised to his England team-mates after his frustrations were evident during the second-Test defeat by Pakistan.
The hosts levelled the three-Test series on Thursday after wrapping up a 152-run win in Multan.
However, it could have been a different story but for fielding errors at crucial stages for the visitors, Jamie Smith and Joe Root notably dropping catches to dismiss Salman Agha, whose subsequent knock of 63 helped Pakistan seal victory with a day to spare.
Stokes, who returned to action following a hamstring injury, could not hide his frustration during a difficult day for England, but insisted he would not let his emotions get the better of him again.
"No one means to drop catches, but it just proves how important catches are in these subcontinent conditions, they don't come along that often," he told Sky Sports.
"I actually apologised to the group last night. It's the first time in my captaincy that I've let my emotions and how I was feeling with the way the game was unfolding show in my body language.
"I owned up to that and was very annoyed at myself for letting that out. It's something that I don't want to do or be seen to be doing, so I apologised to the group about that.
"Poor old me, I was a tired, grumpy old man last night! You won't see that happen again."
However, England coach Brendon McCullum defended the actions of his skipper.
"We all know how passionate Ben is, how much it means for him to play for England," he said.
"We've seen that through his bloody-mindedness to get back from injury, which was significant, and to do so in a nine-week timeframe and to have his first TM [Test match] in extreme conditions, 40 degrees, and be able to give what he gave to the side.
"I think, maybe, that's where some of that frustration led to - certainly, it wasn't directed at any of the players. It was more about trying to assess the rhythm of the game, and to impact on it."
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