Playground to Test arena

Across the road from The Oval, pupils from two London schools were demonstrating a different form of cricket to the media on Thursday morning. Inter Cricket is a new form of the game targeted initially at year seven and eight secondary school pupils.

It can be played anywhere, on grass, indoors and out, or - as happened in yesterday's fifteen minute demonstration match between Archbishop Tenison's School and Highgate Wood Secondary - in a school playground.

There are two fielding zones, bonus runs, free hits and the last remaining batsman in an innings can keep batting with a runner until he is out. However the ECB's Peter Ackerley was keen to point out how players are still rewarded for genuine cricket skills. Inter Cricket is not played with a hard ball, but the ball has a seam and allows seam bowling. It also means helmets are not required.

Tactics are also important - teachers may impose rules so that a batsman is dismissed for hitting a ball out into the road but gains extra runs if they hit it into the outer zone whilst not crossing the boundary. And the captain takes responsibility for positioning all his or her fielders during the innings.

Kits for playing the game will cost about £100 and will be subsidised in a scheme similar to that already used for Kwik Cricket. 10,000 copies of the rulebook will be distributed The specially designed pitch for the game costs £1,500 - money many schools would find it difficult to justify spending. However the ECB and NatWest have pledged to supply at least 400 of them free of charge over the next three years.

After the match it was only a short journey from the school playground to The Oval banqueting suite for the ECB pre-season launch. But when Iain MacLaurin asked for questions, the discussion immediately switched to the performances of the national side, the reported disputes over the signing of central contracts and if he wanted to continue as ECB chairman for another two years.

The ECB say they want people to have "a lifelong interest in cricket", but for many people, that interest depends on England winning Test matches. Yesterday the ECB showed what could be done in schools, but they face an uphill struggle to convince the armchair viewing public that their initiatives will put things right.