England and Wales cricket board (ECB) visit to Selby

Last month, we welcomed Richard Gould (Chief Executive Officer) and Bruce Cruse (National Funding and Facilities Manager) to the Selby Centre. They met with Paul Butler (Our Chief Executive Officer), Jack Skinner (Our Redevelopment Manager) and Purva Tavri (Our Fundraising and Partnerships Manager).

On the agenda was bringing cricket into the focus as part of our ambitious plans for the future, the Selby Urban Village.

The Selby Urban Village will offer a vastly improved set of sports facilities including 3G football and rugby pitch, two junior grass football pitches, a grass cricket pitch, cricket nets, two padel courts, a Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA), and a new sports changing pavilion with a clubhouse. The project could also include a new sports hall, if funding can be secured, which would replace the padel courts.

For 16 years in the 1980s and 1990s, the Selby Centre arguably hosted the finest cricket academy of its era, Haringey Cricket College.

Funding however for the cricket college dried up at the dawn of the millennium.

The number of black professional England-qualified cricketers in England has fallen by 75% since 1997. The decline has also been seen at national level. Between 1980 and 1997, 14 black men made their debuts for England. Since 1997, only six have made their England debuts, as well as two women.

A shared goal through the partnership between the Selby Trust and ECB is to improve access to cricket through the upcoming development for the local community, unlocking access to the sports for local people, inspiring the next generation of cricketers.