- Communities in Birmingham, Bolton, Derby, Newcastle and
Nottingham to get new state-of-the-art cricket domes
- £3 million investment is latest step in push to break down
barriers to playing cricket
- Announcement comes as England & Wales host ICC Women's
T20 World Cup
Cricket fever is set to sweep the nation this summer, with
England hosting a major global tournament for the first time
since the men's side famously won the World Cup by the barest of
all margins in 2019. Just as famously, though, poor weather often
stops people enjoying the game and all its physical and social
benefits year-round.
To tackle the problem, five state-of-the-art domes will be built
in areas lacking high-class all-weather facilities: Bolton,
Derby, Newcastle and Nottingham, as well as Birmingham, where
England meet Sri Lanka in Friday night's tournament opener.
All five domes will place an emphasis on continuing the surge in
female participation that has seen more than 2,000 new women's
and girls' teams launch across the country since the start of
2024.
It's part of a government drive to make the most of cricket's
diverse reach and open up the sport to people of all backgrounds
by bringing quality facilities to their doorsteps.
A £3 million funding injection will be matched by the England
& Wales Cricket Board and represents a doubling of Government
investment in the sport following last year's £1.5 million
to build domes in Luton and Farington. The first of those is
due to open later this summer, but ahead of the World Cup, the
Government and ECB are already turbocharging the tournament's
legacy.
Sports Minister said:
Cricket has such a brilliant ability to bring people from
different backgrounds together. We want people all over the
country to be able to enjoy our great summer sport - and not just
when the sun is shining.
We're putting facilities people can be proud of at the heart of
their communities and helping to ensure this summer's Women's T20
World Cup leaves a lasting impact across the country.
England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt said:
World Cups have the power to inspire people to give cricket a go,
and having the right facilities in place is crucial to keeping
that momentum going.
It's fantastic to see investment being made in communities so
that people can play all year round, whatever the weather. With
more and more women and girls getting involved in cricket,
opportunities like this can make a real difference in helping
them develop their skills and fall in love with the game.
The five new domes are expected to open throughout the 2027
cricket season, giving communities a place to come together, keep
fit and play sport recreationally. They will also remove a major
barrier on the pathway from grassroots level to the elite for
girls and boys inspired by the tournament's Catch The Spirit'
ethos as they watch the world's best players this summer.
The Government's investment is part of its wider £400 million package to
build and upgrade grassroots facilities across the UK. While
the domes will be cricket-led, all five sites will support a
range of sports and activities, helping more local people get
active year-round.
The Women's T20 World Cup is the latest global women's tournament
to be held on these shores, coming hot on the heels of the 2025
Women's Rugby World Cup and 2022 UEFA Women's European
Championship. That pipeline of major events, which also includes
welcoming the Tour de France Femmes Grand Départ for the first
time next summer, is part of the Government's plan to drive a
decade of change in women's sport, hopefully culminating in the
FIFA Women's World Cup in 2035.
Alongside this, the Women's Football Taskforce and Women's Sport
Taskforce are already delivering
tangible change, with the latter to meet again during the
Women's T20 World Cup.
ECB chair Richard Thompson said:
Hosting this year's ICC Women's T20 World Cup is a huge
opportunity to turbocharge the growth of women's and girls'
cricket, and access to top quality facilities is an important
part of that.
We've seen from the three all-weather cricket domes which are
already open how they can be a game-changer as we strive to make
cricket the most inclusive team sport. I'm pleased that with this
Government support another five communities will now benefit, and
hope that by working together in the years ahead we will be able
to open many more.
This World Cup is a moment to celebrate the very best of our
sport, and these facilities will help ensure its legacy is felt
across the country for years to come, enabling us to accelerate
the rollout of cricket domes across England and Wales.
