Started in 1930s and grew in popularity in the 1970s. Initially it was designed to enable cricketers to
have the opportunity to play their sport all year round, not just 4 months in the summer.
The sport really took off in the 1970s in Australia where it was seen as an ideal way to introduce
young people to the sport where a soft ball version of the sport could be played. They also found
that this soft ball version of the sport appealed to both casual players new to the game and lady and
girl players. Indoor world cricket championships are played annually for Men, Ladies, Seniors (over
50s) and boys and girls junior teams, 13, 15 and 17.
There are indoor centres across the world, in large numbers in Australia, the UK, and India. In the
last year centres have started to open up in Germany to support the large increase of cricket loving
refugees entering Germany.
Indoor cricket is also enjoyed by visually impaired and disabled players and there is a world
championship event for visually impaired players played annually.
Indoor cricket in Australia is played by over 220,000 people of which 25% are females.