Facilities Strategy 2023-2033

As stated in the Republic of Ireland’s National Sports Policy – 2017-27, increasing participation is the cornerstone of the National Policy and this Facilities strategy. The policy wants to see every citizen in the Republic of Ireland engaging regularly in some form of sport and physical activity, irrespective of their age, economic or social circumstances, their ethnic background or their physical capabilities. This policy is rooted in research by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) estimating that “regular participation in sport is equivalent, in health terms, to being 14 years younger”.

Sport involves the highest level of community participation by adults in playing, club membership and volunteering with historic research published in The Lancet estimating that physical inactivity was responsible for 14.2% of all-cause mortality in Ireland. Furthermore, physical inactivity has been estimated to cost Ireland approximately €1.5 billion per year.

The policy notes how participation in sport and physical activity is effective in reducing depression, anxiety, psychological distress and emotional disturbance across Ireland.

The Power of Sport – Sport Northern Ireland’s five-year plan aims to address inequalities within the sports sector and maximise the power of sport to change lives for everyone in society. The Power of Sport focuses on two strategic outcomes:

• People adopting and sustaining participation in sport and physical activity
• Our athletes being among the best in the world

Again the plan highlights sport and physical activity as powerful tools to support emotional, mental and physical well-being as well as education and social cohesion.

Ground management practices are a key consideration for local authority / council owned facilities. Consultations have raised the challenges of cost, access to natural resources and gaps in knowledge in order to deliver a quality solution.

Access to off-field amenities is also a focus for local government, as is managing the challenge of increasing maintenance and renewal costs. Cricket facilities also need to consider inclusivity and access and support the adaption of facilities to meet the changing needs of local communities (for example inclusive design to meet growing demand in women and girl’s cricket).

As the population changes across Ireland so too does the demands for cricket. Changes in programmes, increased demand for cricket from girls and women, year wide interest from some communities and increasing understanding of the positive impact of formats such as walking cricket all play a vital role in determining Cricket’s participation base.

Ireland’s population is changing in some areas. While this is not new, Cricket needs to adapt to these trends, whether its population growth in urban areas (which will impact on ground provision and need), declines in rural areas (which impacts on player numbers and club sustainability), or a shift in player numbers within different age groups as these all impact on the facility requirement.

Recent census results have also outlined increasing ethnic diversity within both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In urban areas this change is

driving demand for access to cricket facilities and not just in the April-September window.

The growing importance of national programmes has also increased the demand for the provision of welcoming facilities in clubs and schools for the younger age level, with an anticipated increase in 4-11 year olds being involved in cricket as the game recovers from the lockdown years of COVID.

The growth in the number of people from a non-Irish background living in Ireland provides not only an opportunity but a responsibility upon Cricket to welcome as well as cater for this cohort.

Cricket and our facilities most urgently need to reflect the growth in female participation and the opportunity for the sport to become gender-balanced at every level. Girls are being introduced to the game earlier than ever before and the links to school provision is critical as this is the time in which they are most likely to be introduced to the sport.

Cricket and its facilities need to clearly articulate the value they provide to the local community and critically to funders, in particular local authorities / councils. Cricket played in safe and welcoming environments has the power to deliver significant social, economic, physical, mental health and community collaboration benefits.

Investment by Governments, Cricket and the local authorities / councils will help to leverage existing community and education assets and clearly link cricket facilities that can sustain themselves operationally, as well as generate localised social and economic benefits.

With limited capital investment available, demonstrating a project’s sustainability will become an increasingly important requirement. Cricket needs to clearly articulate how future projects can deliver environmental, social and financial sustainability.

Growing the capacity of Grounds management teams for cricket is a challenge around Ireland with limited access currently to cricket-specific training and support. There are professional courses for professionals on sports turf management which provide a strong introduction to someone beginning on their career in sports turf management but to be able to progress further then access to more cricket specific information is required.

Equally, there is no formal Grounds management training available for volunteers across Ireland so it is difficult for volunteers to enhance their skills. Grounds management across the globe is undervalued and accordingly is generally under-resourced in respect of maintaining pitches, particularly at the highest levels of the game. Currently across Ireland, there are individuals maintaining international grounds where the equivalent venues in the UK would have a team of four undertaking this work. Discussions have highlighted that the current situation is not sustainable and more needs to be done to support the professional and volunteer grounds teams across the island.

Many clubs are now at capacity and have very limited opportunity to grow without access to additional facilities. The rate of growth in the game cannot be accommodated on the current facility infrastructure. There is an immediate need to identify new sites for cricket to continue to grow across the island. Good quality artificial pitches have been identified as a key way to grow the reach and capacity for cricket quickly. Alongside new artificial pitches and new technologies such as hybrid pitches, securing the existing facilities and ensuring they are financially sustainable is also essential to maximise the return from the existing infrastructure.

Overall, the quality of cricket facilities across many Clubs in Ireland do not not meet the required standard for the range of activities that modern clubs undertake. The recent growth of the Women and girls’ game has meant that many facilities on offer don’t meet the needs of it users. It is important where possible that investment in new pitches are combined with infrastructure improvements to toilets and changing rooms to provide welcoming environments for new players and volunteers.

Weather has a significantly greater effect on cricket than many other sports. Given the impact of climate change and the already high levels of precipitation in Ireland, cricket has to consider how it is going to mitigate against the weather to maximise the amount of cricket played. This means looking at a wide ranging strategy which will look at cricket activity on a year round basis.

Cricket will not be able to deliver all its facility needs by itself and will be reliant on support and partnerships from a wide range of stakeholders. These include LAs, schools, other sports amongst a long list of potential partners. It is essential that the game prioritises enhancing these relationships with key stakeholders. Currently these relationships are very varied and more needs to be done to develop them into meaningful collaborations that help drive cricket in Ireland forward.