The European Central Bank announced the allocation of £45 million of funds to finance comprehensive grassroots projects

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced that around £45 million raised from a £520 million investment in The Hundred will be used to fund projects that make cricket more inclusive.

When the 800 teams were sold last year, 10% of the total money raised was allocated to the grassroots game in England and Wales.

The ECB has confirmed the creation of the Strategic Facility Fund, which will be used for large-scale projects and is expected to provide investment for at least 10 years.

It will target schemes that benefit women and girls in cricket, disabled cricket, those from lower socio-economic groups or ethnically diverse communities.

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for grassroots cricket thanks to the investment we have received in The Hundred,” ECB Chief Executive Richard Gould said.

“With more children playing, the rapid growth in women’s and girls’ cricket, and our desire to become the most inclusive team sport, new and improved facilities are vital to opening up access to cricket for communities across England and Wales.”

The ECB hopes to obtain additional funds from the UK government and other partners to boost financing.

The government announced £1.5m in funding last year to build two new cricket domes, although it did not meet the previous government’s pledge to put £35m into grassroots cricket.

The ECB is also doubling the money available in smaller grants for new and upgraded facilities at individual clubs and increasing the amount available in interest-free loans to finance improvements.

An additional £6 million from the Leisure Game Share in Hundred investment will be used over the next three years to support district leisure boards in delivering their own strategic plans.

Bids for money from the new utility fund will be submitted from district councils. Applications will open in April.

In 2023, an Independent Cricket Equality Commission (ICEC) report found that “structural and institutional racism” still exists in cricket, women are treated as “subservient” to men at all levels of the sport, and said there is widespread “elitism and class-based discrimination”.

In response, the European Central Bank invested an initial £2m to improve diversity in 2023, and last year an independent report said sport was “moving in the right direction”.