BPCA 2023: St Leonards captain Steve Grey believes cricket is dying and young people don’t want to play

A BPCA club has had his say on diminishing participation and their uneven competition. And he has offered a solution to the problem.

A BPCA2 clubs has spoken out on the imbalance in the competition. Picture: Mark Wilson

St Leonards captain Steve Grey has declared that cricket is a “dying breed” and that the younger generation doesn’t have the desire to play the game.

Grey believes that the lack of young talent coming through the ranks has led to diminished standards and depth issues across the state and is a contributing factor to the uneven results in the BPCA2 competition in particular.

The competition imbalance was laid bare on the weekend when St Leonards and Newcomb both lost on the opening day of their two-day matches with Wallington also rolled for 95.

St Leonards, who was relegated from BPCA1 at the end of last season, managed just 49 runs in their first innings against Drysdale, coming after the Hawks skittled Newcomb for a paltry total of 27 a fortnight ago.

Drysdale and Collendina – who sit on top of the ladder – both boast a net run rate above 2.10, while Newcomb (one loss, three wins) and new addition Surfcoast (0-4) are languishing at the bottom of the ladder with net run rates below 0.45.

Steve Grey says that cricket is a dying breed. Picture: Mark Wilson

It is a similar story in BPCA1 where Anglesea (4-0) and Armstrong Creek (3-1) pale in comparison to winless sides Jan Juc and Inverleigh.

The St Leonards skipper believes that playing 50 over one-day cricket and some T20s instead of 75 over two-day cricket could help breathe life into the BPCA competition and encourage youngsters to continue playing.

But he conceded that the lack of opportunity young cricketers get – both at senior level and in juniors – is also turning kids away from the game.

“The hardest thing today, the way I look at cricket today is cricket is a dying breed I think,” Grey said.

“Some teams used to have four or five teams, now they are down to three. I feel like the standard of cricket is dying and we are not getting the younger generation coming through and playing now.

“It’s a big difference, even looking at A1 there’s a fair bit of a difference from the top sides to the bottom sides.

“I just feel there are too many sports or kids don’t want to play a sport where you are out in the field for five hours or so, playing all day for five hours in the field.

“Going back five or 10 years the kids weren’t given an opportunity by playing. And then that’s why they’re falling off because you’ve got the kids now, juniors are dominating and then some kids there who are just filling up making numbers.

“They’re going well, ‘I’m not getting a go, so why would I be playing?’”

Grey said the level of commitment – to two-matches in particular – also isn’t what it used to be with availability inconsistent from week to week.

He believes this is another reason why the BPCA should consider playing one-day cricket for the entire season, rather than the current model of seven one-day games and seven two-day fixtures.

Grey said that matches could also start earlier to ensure players aren’t giving up their entire Saturday.

“We should look at playing with a white ball all the time and playing 50 overs. Bring it back from 75, play 50 overs and it could be a good idea just playing one-day cricket, 50 overs, playing in colours,” Grey said.

“It gets a bit of atmosphere because guys seem to enjoy it a lot more.

“You can probably bring it back and start it at half past 12, we’ve got daylight savings anyway and just play that. You find it hard with some guys who can play one week and can’t play the next week.

“Got work commitments or they’ve got something on, you’re not getting guys who are committed anymore. It’s pretty tough at the moment.”

Originally published as BPCA 2023: St Leonards captain Steve Grey believes cricket is dying and young people don’t want to play