Ian Botham aims for inner-city edge with Cage Cricket

A new fast-paced version of cricket, played in a metal cage and taking only an hour, will be brought to the housing estates and tower blocks of London.

cage cricket

IT is not exactly leather on willow and afternoon tea. But a new fast-paced version of cricket, played in a metal cage and taking only an hour, will be brought to the housing estates and tower blocks of London this week thanks to the efforts of Ian Botham.

The legendary all-rounder wants to introduce cricket to a new generation of urban youngsters who have never had the chance to pick up a bat because of lack of space and lack of kit. He believes Cage Cricket is England's answer to the beach cricket and street cricket that get so many West Indian and Asian youngsters hooked on the game.

Botham has persuaded London mayor Boris Johnson to buy 50 cricket cages at pound stg. 1000 ($1550) apiece so children from some of the poorest parts of the capital can have a chance to play.

Cricket in England remains the preserve of the wealthy, with two-thirds of the current England team former public school boys. It is frustrating to Botham that cricket has to draw its players from this small pool.

"I would just love someone to come from the East End of London or Salford, go through the ranks and become a new cricketing star - and for the first time we have the chance to do that with Cage Cricket," he said. "There has never been anything like this before. It is fast, it only takes an hour and you only need six players. There are only about a dozen rules. It's not designed to be complicated. It's designed to be convenient, a game you can play in your lunch break."

Invented by former Hampshire player Lawrence Prittipaul, players have to rotate around each position: batting, bowling, fielding and, crucially, umpiring. They compete as individuals, winning points for their batting when they hit numbered target zones on the cage walls. Fielders and bowlers get points for catching. Points are logged electronically and a new app means youngsters can compete against each other around the capital, or the country or the world if it catches on.

But significantly for the inner cities, it does not need much space. The cage clips on to any fence around an existing all-weather pitch in about five minutes.

There are dozens of these "multi-use play areas" in London and other cities, many used for as little as an hour a day.

In addition, the ball is soft, so there is no need for expensive pads or helmets. If the first 50 cages are a success, 2000 more are in the pipeline.

Botham persuaded Mr Johnson to back the scheme when he personally demonstrated how it was played by hitting an orange around Mr Johnson's office.

The mayor was expected to launch the scheme overnight with a game in Tower Hamlets.

Among England's international rivals, talent comes from a much wider pool. Australian kids forge their skills in back yards and the classless competitions on Saturday mornings. In the West Indies, many stars of today start playing cricket on the beach, and in India and Pakistan children invent their own version of the game, street cricket.

In Britain, with no equivalent, Botham fears too many children who get a chance at the game are put off by a bad first experience.

"If your first time someone plays they stand for hours at fine leg, hardly touch the ball and then are bowled first ball when they bat, they are going to say 'I am not playing that game again'. We are losing talented youngsters. Cage Cricket should really help stop that," he said.