- New indoor domes will grow game in areas of need and boost women and girls’ cricket ahead of 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup
- Investment is part of plan to provide new opportunities for young people to get active and take part in sport through Plan for Change
Cricket-loving communities in Luton and Lancashire will soon get to play all year round, after the Government today announced funding for the construction of two new indoor domes that will keep the nation’s summer sport thriving throughout the winter months.
In its mission to break down barriers to participation up and down the country, the Government is investing £1.5 million to help the England and Wales Cricket Board build high-class facilities in areas that are desperately lacking suitable places to play.
The two state-of-the-art venues will make the most of cricket’s diverse reach, opening up sport to people of all backgrounds as part of the Plan for Change. A third of all recreational players in England and Wales are of South Asian descent, while participation among women and girls rose by more than a fifth in 2024 alone.
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy, said
Cricket has a remarkable power to inspire and unite communities all over the world and today we are making sure that more people of all backgrounds have the chance to experience the game.
These domes will be places where cricket-lovers and newcomers alike can come together to play, get active, make real-life connections and chase sporting dreams.
The Luton dome, due to open in early 2026, will give underrepresented groups such as state schools much-needed access to cricket, with the potential to offer other sports – such as hockey, tennis and badminton – so that as many local people as possible have the chance to get active.
Providing access for the whole community, the dome at Farington, near Preston, will also become a focal point for women and girls’ cricket. It will host a pathway that runs from entry-level right through to Lancashire’s professional women’s side and also act as a hub for disability cricket in the North-West. It is due to open next summer.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy made the announcement during a visit to Leyland Cricket Club in Lancashire, where she joined local children taking part in the ECB’s Dynamos cricket programme and met England internationals Phil Salt and Sophie Ecclestone.
With the Women’s T20 World Cup to be held in England in less than 12 months’ time, the Government and ECB are already working together to secure the tournament’s legacy.
The domes will help to smooth the road from grassroots to the top of the game, so that boys and girls of all backgrounds can be inspired by Lauren Bell’s bowling brilliance in the Hundred, or the heroics of Ben Stokes in the recent Test Matches against India, and have a clear route to emulating their heroes.
The announcement is the latest step towards the Government’s new National Youth Strategy, which will be published in the autumn to make sure every young person has somewhere to go, someone to talk to and a community where they truly belong.
ECB chair Richard Thompson said
These state-of-the-art all-weather cricket domes will be transformative for the communities they serve, opening up cricket to more people year-round and providing top-class facilities for elite players too. They are an important part of our plans to break down barriers and make cricket the most inclusive team sport.
We are pleased to secure Government support for these incredible community facilities, which we hope will provide a vital proof point of what can be achieved, and look forward to future collaboration. As we have seen in Bradford, centres like these can have a hugely positive impact—bringing people together, opening up opportunities, and inspiring the next generation.
As we look ahead to hosting the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2026, building on that success by rolling out more domes in communities across England and Wales will be key to creating a genuine and lasting legacy from the tournament.
England and Lancashire spinner Sophie Ecclestone said
It’s fantastic that more people will get the chance to play cricket thanks to these brilliant domes.
Facilities like these can make a massive difference in local communities and open cricket up to so many more people, and it will be brilliant to see them in action next year.
