AN increase of 1.5 million either played, attended or followed cricket last year, according to new ECB figures. Total match attendances reached 2.9 million people – the second highest annual figure in history, while the number of fixtures for women and girls almost doubled from 2021. The figures have been released from the launch of the ECB’s Inspiring Generations strategy in 2020, which details the growth in number of fans, players and TV viewers over recent years. ECB chief executive Richard Gould stated: “These figures show that cricket is in a good positi...