Cricket gear unaffordable for the young: cricket gear reuse pilot projects unveiled for Surrey’s Frensham and Rowledge cricket clubs, and Spencer CC, Wandsworth

Launched by The Centre for Sustainable Design, at UCA, Farnham, Surrey, the projects include drop-off points and collection events to allow equipment to be donated and picked up by those in need and swapped

Context: As the cricket season approaches, the daunting cost of new cricket gear is on the agenda again. This is particularly challenging for cash strapped families with children who want to play the game and emulate Ben Stokes or Tammy Beaumont. Can players and their clubs dig out old cricket gear and divert it to people who need it to enable them to play the game? Yes…

20-3-2024, Farnham, Surrey.  Cricket Gear Reuse (CGR) pilot projects in Surrey and Wandsworth that slash the cost of cricket gear to zero, promote a sustainable approach to the game – and engages a more socially diverse range of participants, including disadvantaged groups such as children in cash-strapped families, and adults on lower or irregular incomes – has been launched by Farnham’s Centre for Sustainable Design (CfSD) at University for the Creative Arts (UCA).

Example of cricket equipment that can be donated. Image source – vecteezy(.com)

The projects involve the Frensham and Rowledge cricket clubs in Surrey and Spencer CC, Wandsworth. The aim is to make use of discarded cricket gear through reuse, and not sending it to landfill.  Discarded gear – a lot of it good quality – includes gloves, caps, bats and thigh and leg pads, and is often left and forgotten at a cricket club or at home in a loft, garage or shed.

“It can be put to very good use,” says CfSD Director Martin Charter, himself a former cricketer. “Donating discarded gear gives a great entry point into the sport for the young especially, and for others who see it as unaffordable.

“There are social, economic and environmental benefits to what we are doing. Being a gear-intensive sport, cricket’s cost creates barriers to getting started, playing regularly and improving skills, especially at the junior level.”

Spencer CC

Spencer CC has 1500 members and was formed in 1872 when the local landowner, Earl Spencer, the great great grand uncle of the late Diana Princess of Wales, permitted the founders to drain and enclose a portion of Wandsworth Common. In 1878, the club moved to the site now bounded by Lyford and Ellerton Roads before residing at its current location in Fieldview in 1903. 

CfSD is encouraging other cricket clubs or foundations to set up their own scheme, and has produced a video on “How to Set-up a Cricket Gear Reuse” scheme with guidance and tools that can be downloaded for free from https://cfsd.org.uk/projects/cgr  Further to that, there is a webinar recording: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JSn9s6mN41M&feature=youtu.be – and a list of guides, tools, etc related to supporting the development of schemes: https://cfsd.org.uk/projects/cgr/tools

Extending the life of the kit

Charter comments, “Diverting gear from landfill reduces CO2 emissions by extending the life of the kit. Research by CfSD has indicated that more than 1,624 tonnes of cricket gear could be going to waste each year, even though a lot of it may be good quality and have lots of play left in it. A survey also indicates that 52% of people said they had to cut back on buying sports equipment due to the rising cost of living.”

Funding

CGR is made possible by the UK’s Strategic Priorities Fund, an £830 million investment in multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research across 34 themes. It’s funded through the government’s National Productivity Investment Fund and managed by UK Research and Innovation. More at https://cfsd.org.uk/projects/cgr/

Comments by Surrey club chairmen

Carl Baker, Chairman, Rowledge Cricket Club (RCC), comments, “Rowledge Cricket Club is really excited to be part of this new initiative to prevent perfectly good cricket equipment from being placed in landfills sites, and to see it reused either by cricket players or clubs who urgently need kit to provide it a new home.”

Max Falkiner, Chairman, Frensham Cricket Club (FRC), says, “Frensham Cricket Club is proud and excited to be involved in the Cricket Gear Reuse scheme.  This is a great opportunity to offer cricket kit to less fortunate children in and around our community and to encourage more children into the world of cricket.”

Comment by Spencer CC Managing Director

Jamie Greig, Managing Director, Spencer CC, says, “Spencer Cricket Club is delighted to support the Cricket Gear Reuse pilot and is committed to the reuse/sustainability of cricket gear to the benefit of underrepresented groups as part of the Spencer ONE initiative.”

There are three elements to the Cricket Gear Reuse (CGR) pilot projects:

 1.     Drop-off: donation of clean, usable youth and adult cricket gear to RCC and FCC on the dates below at the club’s pavilions. The gear will then be temporarily stored and organised for collection. 

RCC

Drop-off/ CollectionYouth/AdultSaturday06/04/20249:00 – 12.00

FCC

Drop-offYouth/AdultSaturday30/03/202414:00 – 16:00

2.     Schools: RCC and FCC will initially offer the cricket gear to schools and disadvantaged groups or clubs before recreational players. If you know of any schools, groups and clubs that need cricket gear – please ask them to email mcharter@uca.ac.uk in the 1st instance, so their cricket gear needs can be assessed. .

3. Collection: RCC and FCC will make cricket gear available for collection by players and clubs at their pavilions on the dates below.

RCC

CollectionYouth/AdultFriday03/05/202417:00 – 20:00

FCC

CollectionYouth/AdultSaturday13/04/202414:00 – 16.00

 Spencer Cricket Club  

DescriptionTargetDayDateTime
Drop-offYouthWednesday03/04/202411:00 – 13:00
Drop-offAdultSaturday06/04/202409:00 – 11.00
CollectionYouthThursday11/04/202411:00 – 15:00
CollectionAdultSunday14/04/202409:00 – 13:00

For specific queries for the clubs about Drop-off and Collection events, contact

RCC: Email cricketequipmentreuse@gmail.com

FCC: Email max.falkiner@btinternet.com

Spencer CC: Email jamie.greig@spencercricket.org

For general questions on the CGR project  email mcharter@uca.ac.uk

Image shows Yorkshire Cricket Foundation’s Cric-Kit drop-off at Headingley-Cricket Ground

End notes

A partner in the project is The Lord’s Taverners Cricket Kit Recycling programme – the largest kit reuse initiative in the UK. The programme provides access to the sport for young people in the UK and abroad who would otherwise not be able to participate due to a lack of the right kit and equipment. The charity provides usable cricket kit to those who need it the most at projects within the UK and abroad to make the game more accessible to young people facing the challenges of inequality.

Other projects are being run by the Yorkshire Cricket Foundation (YCF) – its “Cric-Kit” seeks to reduce affordability barriers to cricket equipment, and support sustainability by ensuring cricket gear doesn’t end up in landfill; and by Gloucestershire CC; also by Derbyshire Cricket Foundation, “to reduce cricket kit going to landfill and promote cricket as a game for everyone by allowing kit to be accessed by those who may find cost a barrier to participation.”

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