A NORTH-East cricket official has said youngsters are "hitting a brick wall" when trying to take part in junior cricket.

Although more children than ever are being taught cricket in schools, the chairman of Darlington Cricket Forum, Steve Gill, has said that several clubs are having to cut junior teams because child welfare legislation is putting volunteers off.

Barningham Cricket Club, in Teesdale, has already dropped junior teams because of a lack of volunteers.

Mr Gill said because of the English Cricket Board's (ECB) Playground to Test Arena policy, nearly 1,500 very young children were being coached in cricket at Darlington schools, compared to 638 in 2003.

However, they were finding it difficult to take it to the next level as several clubs in Darlington had dropped junior teams.

Mr Gill said the ECB's Safe Hands child welfare policy was putting an unrealistic workload on youth team volunteers.

He said: "If the kids are wanting to do something out of school, they are hitting a brick wall.

"At the end of the day, it is a recreational game and many of the volunteers are working a 40-hour week, they do not want to have to finish work and have all this paperwork in cricket.

"I would hate to think that is the way cricket is going - the clubs should be there for the community."

Under the Safe Hands policy, all ECG-affiliated clubs must appoint a child welfare officer and all adults involved with children must have Criminal Record Bureau checks.

A spokesman for the ECB said: "Obviously, for some people it means they have to go through a bit more rigorous application procedure, but this is something that we as a governing body have to do."