Writing · September 2026
Written by Harry Wenham.
As the game rapidly evolves and T20 leagues pop up all over the world, it has produced the opportunity for kids and people of all ages to virtually watch cricket whenever, wherever we want.
This has come as a positive light, where cricket is now in the eye of the beholder more regularly than you may see. It can be seen as the positive, while others may see it as a new era and time of change for the sport we all love.
With this, an important distinction has been found within the cricketing world. Everything up top is built and being built; the downstream of the river and lakes, the smaller communities, may not be being as well fed as what they once were used to — or in correlation, the game is not equally evolving at the same pace for sections such as grassroots and junior cricket.
It has come at a time where technology is readily available for us to build and create platforms to be ever so more connected today and make life easier for others, while we are still yet to fully bridge and adapt this concept at hand.
Through reading and learning about this, a major interest has stuck out to me where my time as a junior cricket coach and developer over the years has stuck out. The chance for kids to play cricket, or be involved in cricket outside of that one hour game a week they play, or that one hour training they attend. Simply put, the involvement in the game, the chance to play, to maximise touches and to improve their skills. To develop a lifelong love of the game.
While learning about this, and the availability for some kids to play cricket, we identified this important issue where some kids are limited to the exposure to cricket they may wish to have, or more so don't get enough time to play the game. These people growing up are our future stars of the game, future generations of village club cricketers, the die hard fans that live for a cold beer at the end of the day down at the local cricket ground with life long friends you have created over the years.
This is what cricket is all about — community.
And currently right now, as we try to bring it together, the gears still run and turn trying to catch up with the fast episodic shift we have seen up top at the pro level over the recent few years.
This has brought upon the realisation and introduction to giving kids and people more exposure to the game, to be able to play when they want, where they want.
We recently built an online cricket game called Pavilion, to be played currently on Roblox. It's a simple game, where you have the chance to play internationally against players all across the world — in a dual pitch format. It's not your regular game of cricket, and we decided to build it for that reason why. We wanted to make it fun for everyone to play. We wanted them to feel like they too could be a star, from their home, beating the best in the world. We wanted to make them feel like they could be connected to a community and feel a sense of belonging. This is why we built Pavilion. A fun fast paced game, where everyone belongs and everyone is welcome.
The most exciting rule is called the Reload. A reload happens when a team-mate hits a 6. If you have 3 wickets down, the 3 wickets that are out are brought back in. It's a legendary rule and the kids absolutely love it. Talk about creating a lifelong love of the game — kids live for the reload at the end of a hard game, hard training, to be that hero and carry their team home across the line.
Cricket is a great game. It's been a game that's helped and supported me through thick and thin. Without the game, I don't know where I'd be today. Honestly, and for that we are forever grateful to be able to play and be involved in this great game.
We built Pavilion as a way to give back to the game. As a way to let people play a game and feel a sense of belonging, wherever they are in the world. A true community. The best part about this game is that it's not limited to online — you can recreate it at your training or set up leagues to play. It's truly a revolutionary version of the game and I can't wait to see how it evolves into the future.
If you were interested in giving the game a test, we are in early beta so all feedback is valued to improve the game. Or if you like the sound of it and want to give it a test at your local ground with juniors, or seniors, you can find the game doc of how to play here.
Value all community and team feedback, and love to hear from everybody about all things cricket, growing the game and evolving it. Especially from the community club and grassroots level.
Without community there is no sport.
Harry Wenham
New Zealand, September 2026
