Sidmouth and Ottery St Mary are among 50 clubs in Devon hoping the ECB’s new youth cricket initiative being launched this week will boost recruitment, writes Conrad Sutcliffe.

More than 50 youngsters have already signed up for the All Stars club at Sidmouth, which starts this Friday night at 5pm.

Ottery’s opening All Stars night is also this Friday, but with a 5.15pm start.

Matt Cooke, one of the cricket development officers for Devon, is the All Stars project manager. He said the aim of the All Stars programme is to get youngsters interested in cricket for the first time.

“We want to show five to eight year olds through All Stars that cricket can be fun,” said Cooke.

“We want boys and girls to have a great first experience playing cricket - and for the mums and dads to join in too.

“There will be small-sides games with plastic bats and balls and activities that encourage basic cricket skills.

“The sessions last an hour and are due to run for eight weeks.”

All the local clubs involved in All Stars begin their programmes this week, apart from South Devon. They start on May 26

Clubs are already devising their own follow-up programmes to keep the new cricketers involved after All Stars ends in early July.

To find the club nearest running the All Stars initiative, go to https://www.ecb.co.uk/play/all-stars and follow the search prompts.

Registration is £40 per child and every child who signs up will receive an All Stars branded backpack full of goodies.