Stephanie Peacock

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. I am pleased to respond to this debate, and I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Andrew Lewin) on securing it. I applaud his work chairing the all-party parliamentary group for cricket. He is an incredibly important champion for the sport. This nation has a rich and proud cricket history, and I am not going to pass judgment on how the Ashes are going—I will leave that to other Members—but I share the optimism of the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Isle of Wight East (Joe Robertson), for a comeback. In mentioning the Ashes, it is important to say that I know that the thoughts of the whole House are with the victims, families and everyone affected by the abhorrent Bondi Beach terrorist attack. Both teams will be wearing black armbands this evening. I will begin my response to the debate by addressing some of the specific points put to me; I will address others as I progress. My hon. Friend the Member for Welwyn Hatfield is right to point out that this year 2.5 million people played the game. It is incredibly important to communities up and down the country. I know that from my own constituency.