Cricket Market and Interest in the UK

6,500 clubs affiliated to the England and Wales cricket board and a further 2,000 that are not therefore making a total of 8,500 cricket clubs in England and Wales
1.1 million children play at primary school and a further 800,000 at secondary school, 200,000 adults playing the game at recreational level and a further 200,000 at the junior level
7.4 million People watched the ashes in 2005 however this figure dropped due to the change from free to air television (Channel 4) to pay per view television (Sky TV). However 5 million people tuned-in to watch the highlights on Channel 5 during the final match of the 2009 ashes, a further 100,000 children watched the prime time highlights programme
In 2009 1.15 million people watched international games in the UK which is a record
Women’s cricket has also shown a significant increase in both the number of people playing and watching, this is largely due to the success of the England women’s cricket team who in the summer of 2009 retained the ashes and won both the World Cup and the inaugural World Cup Twenty 20. Interest in the women’s game is highlighted by the decision to hold the men’s and women’s finals of the World Cup Twenty 20 on the same day at Lords.

Twenty 20 Market Size and Interest

It is important to note that cricket already has a huge worldwide following, however the Twenty 20 format and structure has increased this following as is demonstrated below.

Twenty 20 attendances were 3 times higher than any other one day competition in 2009 Attendances for all Twenty 20 matches in England rose by 23% from 2007 to 2008 reaching a record 1.5 million
593,717 watched the Domestic Twenty 20 Cup in 2008 an increase of 36% from 2007
The ICC Twenty 20 World Cup in England achieved a staggering 98% sell out (386,000 tickets sold)
The ICC Twenty 20 World Cup in England broke records for crowd attendance for cricket in this country and due to these figures and statistics many county grounds are looking to increase capacities as the demand is so high and the revenue through tickets and sponsorship is too important to ignore.
Due to the shortened format of Twenty 20 new audiences have been created, games are now possible to fit into weekday evenings therefore allowing people to go and watch after work or school
The IPL (Indian Premier League) after initially being staged in India was moved to South Africa amid security concerns and achieved a 93% sell out throughout the tournament.
Due to similar security concerns Pakistan are unable to play matches at home and subsequently other venues have been put forward, in 2010 England will host a programme of cricket matches between Australia and Pakistan
The amount of money spent to obtain the rights to the IPL franchises was $718 million, and the two most expensive players were Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff who both fetched £1.55 million at the player auction, both players are English.
Australia, Canada, England, India, Kenya, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, USA, West Indies, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe all have their own Twenty 20 competitions
In October 2009 there was the inaugural Twenty 20 Champions League Trophy held in India. This involves 12 domestic teams from India, Australia, England, South Africa, West Indies and Sri Lanka and includes 23 matches where the winners will win a trophy pot of £3.62 million.
Qualifying for the 2010 ICC Twenty 20 World Cup was staged in October 2009 in the United Arab Emirates, the eight teams looking to qualify are Afghanistan, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Netherlands, Scotland, United Arab Emirates and USA
The 2010 Twenty 20 World Cup will be held in the West Indies on the 30th April 2010, this is less than a year after the previous Twenty 20 World Cup. Due to the shorter game format, cricket boards are able to stage tournaments easily throughout the yearly schedule.
One of the biggest indications of the growing appeal and success of Twenty 20 cricket is the suggestions that is should be a potential sport at the Olympics.