Cricket officials in Lincoln say that England’s poor performance at this month’s one day ICC Champions Trophy will lead to less funding for the sport in the region.
Eddie Burke, head of development at Lincolnshire County Cricket, said that England’s dissapointing results “affect us more than people think.”
He said: “If they do not play well the cricketing counties all receive less money, and that will affect the quality of coaching and facilities.”
As Lincoln is a second class county, it already receives less funding compared to first class counties with a professional team.
Martyn Dobson, CEO of Lincolnshire County Cricket said that “England’s performances have been hard to watch, we’ve had a rough winter and it’s frustrating to watch not only as a fan but as a man in the business as well.”
He also said: “Financially we won’t suffer too much at the moment, we will not see the backlash for a while but England’s performances have to improve or we will lose even more funding and participation in the future.”
Lincolnshire County Cricket has recently announced a new county domestic structure for their women’s team, and they plan to improve accessible facilities.
This may become more difficult to achieve if England do not improve on their performances.
It is not just a problem financially, but it can affect participation as well.
Martyn said: “The national team helps boost enthusiasm for the sport in Lincoln.”
He added: “We have seen a good spike in women and youth participation and a steady growth since COVID-19, the national team has really helped the sport get more popular across a lot of demographics.”
He carried on: “When they do not perform we get a lot less participation in grassroots level, this can affect the clubs financially, and also affect the quality of Lincoln’s cricket in the future.”
England has had a disappointing ICC champions trophy campaign, they finished bottom of their group after failing to win in three matches.
The competition saw India take home the trophy after they beat New Zealand by four wickets in the final.
Despite England’s poor performances the youth participation in Lincoln is currently healthy.
This can be credited to the increased exposure of the sport on television.
It has also helped the women’s game grow exponentially.
Despite their recent struggles they have been a successful team that has had increased air time on free TV.
