“I think a lot of people are reluctant to talk about climate change, being sustainable and what we can do on a wider scale. It can seem a bit daunting and scary, so we were trying to find easier ways of talking about that,” says Emily Iveson-Pritchard, Surrey’s Head of Sustainability. She sat down with ECB Reporter Network’s Ben Kosky to talk about the Kia Oval’s first-ever ‘Sustainabili-T20’ as well as the wider work done by the Club.
It seems ironic that the Kia Oval’s best known landmark, the Victorian gasholder which has loomed above the ground for more than 150 years, is an unmistakeable relic of over-reliance on fossil fuel.
These days, Surrey’s south London home is all about promoting renewable energy, reducing waste and increasing environmental awareness – goals the county were keen to showcase at their Vitality Blast fixture against Hampshire Hawks last summer.
Designated as Surrey’s first ‘Sustainabili-T20’, the day featured activities including energy bikes and pedal powered Scalextric for younger fans, climate-themed games and workshops and a quiz – as well as pedal-powered vegan smoothies on offer in the food village.
On the pitch, big hitting also brought environmental benefits as Surrey partnered with the charity Cricket Builds Hope, pledging to plant trees in Rwanda based on the total number of boundaries scored.
Sam Curran’s undefeated century, which included seven fours and six sixes, helped to ensure the planting of almost 200 new trees and Surrey’s head of sustainability, Emily Iveson-Pritchard, is hopeful that will be only the start.
“We do a lot already in terms of reducing our carbon footprint and we have a pledge to be net zero by 2030,” she said. “This was more focused on engaging our guests and getting them to think about sustainability as well.
“The point isn’t to force anything down their throats, just to engage them in a fun way so they’re taking sustainability on board and embedding it in their lifestyle.
“Cricket can use its platform in this way and you need to make sure what’s happening on the pitch draws them to the message as well – hence the connection between boundaries scored and planting trees.
“Next time we want to look at how we can get more of the action on the pitch to reflect sustainability actions. We’re hoping to be able to link that with the graphics on the screen and make it more instantaneous.”
Much of the Kia Oval’s infrastructure already ticks boxes when it comes to sustainability – the ground has solar panels, compostable recycling and a trio of anaerobic digesters, which reduce food waste by converting it to liquid.
All food packaging at the Kia Oval is compostable and there is no single use plastic in the Club’s food outlets. The outlets, instead, have reusable cups, while some of the machinery used by ground-staff is electric rather than diesel powered.
The process of installing LED floodlights – which consume less energy – is also under way, with the long-term goal for the entire ground to be converted to LED lighting by the end of 2025.
The inaugural Sustainabili-T20 showed indications that the environmental message is already filtering through to the public, with a larger number of bicycles than usual parked outside the Kia Oval prior to the game.
“We’ve got really good transport links for people who live slightly further away from the ground but for those who are closer by, cycling is a much quicker option,” said Iveson-Pritchard.
“We received a lot of positive feedback from people who had enjoyed the game and didn’t realise we did our own sustainability work. While those who get in contact are often already involved in sustainability, we got some new voices as well, which was good to hear. “Another great aspect of the day was to get our hospitality guests, who aren’t usually quite as engaged with things happening outside on the rest of the ground, more involved.”
The Club want to further increase public interest and participation in future events – which may be difficult to maximise within the time frame of a Vitality Blast match, with its express pace and fleeting interval.
Surrey have previously staged back-to-back T20 games with the South East Stars women’s team and, with the county fielding its own women’s side in the new ECB Tier 1 competitions from next summer, a double header could provide an obvious platform to feature the next Sustainabili-T20.
“It’s definitely something to explore when we get the fixtures because that would give us an additional audience and additional time to engage people between games,” added Iveson-Pritchard.
“We don’t want to dilute the impact of the women’s game because having a professional women’s side is so important to us and we want to ensure we give them the prominence they deserve.
“But we’d hope for this to become an annual event – until it doesn’t need to be. Ideally one day every game will be a sustainability matchday.”
