The England and Wales Cricket Board has advised parents and clubs to stop using plastic balls distributed through its popular All Stars and Dynamo schemes after finding concerns about their chemical content.
The youth engagement schemes, which have been running since 2017 and target children aged 5 to 8 and 8 to 11, have previously provided free play equipment in addition to tutoring programmes. But safety testing of the products showed levels of phthalates, a widely used chemical that makes plastics more durable, exceeded approved levels in the balls.
Trading Standards and the Office for Product Safety and Standards have both been notified and, although neither agency has recommended a recall of the items, the ECB has written to its partner clubs advising that the items be discarded.
A statement read: “Independent testing we carried out found that the levels of phthalates in these items exceeded the levels allowed by relevant regulations. To better understand the issue, we subsequently instructed an external expert company to conduct a review of the plates. A risk assessment was conducted on the balls and the company has not identified any direct risk to program participants from the balls.
“However, the safety of our participants, volunteers and staff is our top priority and out of an abundance of caution we recommend that these balls are no longer used. We are concerned that the affected products do not meet the standards we expected and the consequences that may arise from this We are deeply sorry for any concern.”
Further testing of the batting practice T-shirts and PVC banners used in the scheme is being carried out, but hard plastic bats and stumps have been approved. With an alternative supplier yet to be agreed, the club is likely to rely on using tennis balls to complete all-star and dynamo training sessions.
