Grassroots Cricket Clubs

Baggy Shanker Excerpts

Tuesday 16th December 2025 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

It is always a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. I thank the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Andrew Lewin) for setting the scene so well.

I have to say, I was never much good at cricket, to be truthful, but I loved it. I was one of those guys who went to the crease and would bat about three or four balls. Usually, my idea was just to hit the ball as hard as I could, and if I missed it, the wicket was away. My prowess at the cricket crease never lasted more than about four balls. But I never got a duck; I always got at least a four, a two and maybe a one, but that was as far as it went. However, cricket is one of the many sports that I enjoy watching. I still follow the Leicestershire cricket team; I do that because I followed the Leicester football team back in 1969, when I was at boarding school at Coleraine Inst.

When the Ashes come, everyone’s national pride rises. As my old mother always taught me, I always support the home nations, so I root alongside most of the hon. Members in this Chamber, whether it be for England, Scotland, Wales or indeed us back home. However, the benefit of cricket is not simply giving the Aussies what for once in a while—and I have to say, it is once in a while these days. The benefits are felt in communities throughout the United Kingdom.

I want to talk about those grassroots, as that is in the title of the debate. The benefits are felt everywhere. Grassroots cricket in Northern Ireland thrives through clubs under the Northern Cricket Union, offering youth and adult programmes across Northern Ireland. I am very proud to say that a number of the popular clubs lie within my constituency. There is absolutely no doubt that everybody else here is going to talk about their cricket clubs as well—and why shouldn’t they? We want to promote them. We have Ards cricket club, Bangor cricket club and North Down cricket club, which is in Comber and is probably one of the better ones out of the three. These cricket teams provide coaching, matches and community for all ages and genders, as seen with the initiatives from Cricket Ireland. I read a synopsis on cricket, which sums up the benefits to the local community as follows:

“Grassroots cricket clubs in Northern Ireland are vital community assets, fostering social cohesion, physical health, and personal development by providing inclusive, accessible sporting opportunities for all ages and abilities, building local pride, offering guidance, and creating spaces that bridge divides, supported by funding from Sport NI and local councils to improve facilities and coaching.”

All of those things are admirable.

[Baggy Shanker (Derby South) (Lab/Co-op)]

Does the hon. Member agree that the work of fantastic charities such as Derbyshire Cricket Foundation is essential to nurturing the game from the ground up and ensuring that people from all walks of life can enjoy it?

[Jim Shannon]

I certainly do. The hon. Gentleman is certainly right to highlight the issue of Derbyshire, as I and the hon. Member for Leicester South (Shockat Adam) will do shortly; we will also highlight the attributes and the plusses of Leicestershire cricket team as well.

I love the fact that sport draws people together, as the hon. Member for Derby South (Baggy Shanker) referred to in his intervention. With the increase in adverse mental health in Northern Ireland, particularly in young men, we must promote and support these clubs, now more than ever, to help them get people involved and part of something worthwhile—something positive for them, that they can grasp and be part of—and hopefully take away the concerns, anxiety and even depression, sometimes, that they may have.

Only last month, the Communities Minister in Northern Ireland was at Lisburn cricket club to announce that its application has been approved for the next stage in the Olympic Legacy Fund. That fund is designed to build on those breathtaking Northern Ireland Olympic successes —and boy have we had a brave few in the last few years —and ensure a lasting legacy for local sport. It just so happens that the Communities Minister is one of my colleagues in Northern Ireland; I understand the good work that he does.

That funding will help sports clubs grow stronger, enable facilities to be modernised, and help communities come together through sport. I believe that it will secure many benefits for the local community. Indeed, part of that funding awarded by the Minister for Communities is reliant on the club also crowdfunding a contribution towards the total investment, so the money comes, but the club has to match it. That will mean community fundraising events, which will inevitably draw more people into involvement in the club.

It is clear that we must invest in the grassroots clubs that deliver so much in return. I look to the Minister—where it is within her remit—to ensure that clubs throughout the United Kingdom have access to funding to create fit-for-purpose clubs and facilities. This is not just simply about funding, but about an investment in health and mental wellbeing, and in communities. I look forward to hearing the Minister’s response on what can be done to help those volunteer clubs that really are a lifeline in so many rural communities.