English cricket can always find a toenail in a bucket of diamonds in the run-up to a World Cup contest, and the sad tale of Alex Hales was just the 2019 episode of a long-running saga. But whatever the drug that ruined his chances this summer, it is alcohol that causes more problems.
In an unfortunate turn of phrase last year while trying to promote the Hundred, Andrew Strauss talked of making the game simpler for “mums and kids”. But in the raised eyebrows over his choice of words, a salient point was lost. The current T20 Blast is a cracking little tournament – spectator numbers are up, big games sell out, scoring rates increase year on year. However, plenty of cricket fans won’t take their children along despite the relatively family-friendly timings.
Written by Tanya Aldred
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/may/07/cricket-booze-drink-culture-putting-off-kids-ecb-problem under the title “The Spin | Boozy cricket nights are putting off kids – and this gives the ECB a problem”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
