Walking Cricket is for everyone, young or old!

It's played on a shorter pitch (18 yards rather than 22) with a soft, lightweight ball and plastic bats, and there's one rule above all others: one foot on the ground at all times. Run, and the other team gets five penalty runs!

Teams are made up of eight players, men and women mixed, batting in pairs for four or five overs. If you're out, you don't trudge back to the pavilion - you change ends and carry on. Nobody wears pads. Nobody sits out. The kit is simple: stumps at both ends, a plastic bat, a compound ball. No helmets, no gloves, no protective gear at all. Everyone bowls, everyone fields, and the umpires decide what's walking and what's not!

Perhaps the best thing about Walking Cricket? When the session ends, nobody's in a rush to leave. The tea, coffee and biscuits afterwards tend to run a little long, and that's entirely the point.

Many communities have created Walking Cricket sessions as part of wider efforts to tackle isolation, inactivity and poor mental health because it works on all three issues at once. One player put it simply: since taking up Walking Cricket, his coordination and fitness have improved, his blood pressure has come down, his Type 2 diabetes has gone into remission, and he hasn't suffered from anxiety or depression since. He sleeps better too. 

Who's it for? Anyone, but particularly those getting on in years who still fancy a game. No experience is required, complete newcomers can pick it up quickly, and former cricketers love it just as much. It's a great fit for community centres, cricket clubs with outreach programmes, mental health organisations, and council health and wellbeing teams. 

Doune & Dunblane CC

Every Friday

October-March: Indoors (1200) at The Dunblane Centre, Stirling Rd, Dunblane, FK15 9EY

April-September: Outdoors (1100) at The Grazings, Castle Hill, Doune, FK16 6BU 

Contact: dave.simpson@dounedunblanecc.com - 07779650708 

Strathmore CC 

Every Friday

October–March: Indoors (1000) at Forfar Community Campus, Kirriemuir Road, Forfar, DD8 3TG.

April–September: Outdoors (1045) at Lochside Park, Graham Crescent, Forfar, DD8 1DU.

Contact: admin@strathmorecc.co.uk or via Facebook Messenger