Cricket in schools has faced a cocktail of problems as far back as most people can remember. Since the inception of league tables there has been a tension between the game and exam preparation; the summer term is ever shorter and the English climate is unreliable. But none of these is especially new. There are fewer boys (though actually more girls) playing cricket in schools than ever before. But the main reason is not the weather. Or even the exams. It is because of the character of the game.

The world that teenagers inhabit...

It's a Netball match against local rivals in a competition that is all-consuming on the day. It's 20-20 at three quarter time. One player has not had any court time. Is she going to be put on the court for the final quarter? Or not?

This is a real time dilemma, lived out on a weekly basis in all school sports. For all the politically correct talk about performance and participation not being mutually exclusive, at this moment it would appear that they are. There is no good answer to this situation: put the...

It's almost all over. Another term come to an end. Another whirlwind of practices, matches, competitions, bus journeys, packed lunches and reported results. So, what has been achieved by it all? How is the world different for all that expenditure of effort, resources and emotional energy? And was it worth it?

The end of term is a time for assessment and reflection, based on the stark question: what is left when it's all over?

What are the possibilities? Maybe there are a few more trophies in the cabinet, on loan for a year, marking a...