As of early June [the first checkpoint for the season], 1620 players have competed in Open Competitions. This compares with 1489 participating at the same time last year and 2038 by the end of the 2014 season.
With direct registration we now have the opportunity to have a look at the age profile of those playing competitive cricket [allowing for two missing records]. The figures are broken down as follows.
235 are under 18 on the 1st Jan [the new basis for youth / adult figures]. The figures based on the Youth Age Groups [U19 on 1st September last year] is 264. The compares with 292 in 2014 [but there are still a number of players to come back into the figures following exams].
The next age cohort [5 years] we might count roughly as the university years. The total number here is 232. But only 147 of these have come through the Irish Youth structures. This suggests only 30 players per year across the whole league coming from this cohort.
There are 241 players in their mid to late 20s.
There are 504 in their 30s.
There are 250 in their 40s
And finally 139 who are over 50.
Of those deemed over 50, 24 recorded as 1/1/1960 which is a default age for registration in 2014 which probably have not been changed [though some may be simply be being coy about their age]. But these don’t really change the overall picture.
The above breakdown raises questions about whether enough cricketers are coming through the youth systems in Leinster to support an expansion of the sport. As we saw from figures produced last year, the domestic sport is increasingly reliant on those coming from abroad to make up the numbers. This has proved a great boon for the club game but there is a danger that it has made us complacent about the success that has been claimed for growing the sport from the expansion through local roots.
There is likely to be some change in these figures by the end of the year as numbers gradually increase as new players and returning students add to the numbers.