Cricket Australia fears 'missing generation' of cricketers after Covid lockdowns

Cricket Australia conducted an annual survey for the number of kids that had taken up cricket between the age of 5-12, and the answers seemed to have created a panic after the Covid-19 pandemic. The first time participation in age-group cricket had fallen by 15,000 last season, which might result in a ‘missing generation’ of children.

The lockdowns had a big toll on the game around the world. However, there have been constant efforts to get back things in the right place and the quarantine days have been reduced. While the club players have returned in big numbers after the lockdown, the entry of new talents into the game has been affected massively in Australia.

5-12-year-old is a key component of Australian cricket: James Allsop

Executive General Manager of Community Cricket, James Allsop mentioned that it will be a challenge to make sure that Australia does not misses out on a generation and described the significance of young participants in the current era. He noted the importance of learning the fundamental skills at a young age and explained said that there is less probability for a player to play cricket after growing up without playing age-group cricket.

“This has created a challenge to ensure there is not a missing generation and increased participation among 5-to-12 year-olds is a key component of Australian cricket’s soon-to-be-released strategy,” Cricket Australia said in a statement.

Allsop said: “We’ve got some really strong data that shows if you haven’t played cricket and learned the skills of the game before you’re 12, it’s less likely you’ll play cricket as a teenager or into adulthood. Some of the things we’re doing and what we’re building into the strategy are designed to make sure we can turn this around so we don’t miss a generation of new participants; we just miss a year. That’s the problem we’re determined to solve over the next 12 months.”