Cricket has a huge problem with climate change

Cricket stands for his ultimate challenge: climate change. The second most popular sport in the world (2.5 billion fans) is played in dangerously hot and humid conditions that are increasingly jeopardizing his players and fans.

The new Hit for six: the danger zone Report, written by Non-Profit Climate Central, Frontunners, the British Association for Sustainability in Sport (Basis) and the next test, analyzes the increase in extreme heat and humidity on Indian subcontinent and in other cricket-loving regions such as the United Kingdom, West India.

According to HIT for six, almost 50% of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 matches were played in circumstances of “extreme caution” or “danger” on the heat index that combines air temperature and humidity to assess heat-related risk.

The IPL is a global Juggernaut, similar to scale and quality as the English Premier League and the NFL. It is a national obsession that causes fame and fortune for players and catches the hearts of fans worldwide in every match. Unfortunately, because heat, humidity and air pollution continue to increase, it is confronted with an uncertain future despite its enormous economic means.

Reflecting on the challenge of the challenge cricket, says former West -India -captain Daren Ganga: “This challenge is an existential … I have seen the unbridled joy and enthusiasm that brings this game from us to different generations and nations. It is a pleasure to see and cherish me deeply to clash.”

Cricket in extreme heat

The implications of the circumstances of “extreme caution” and “danger” are strong for cricket players and fans. According to the National Weather Service“Extreme caution” is the classification for heat index temperatures between 90 ° F and 102 ° F (32 ° C to 39.4 ° C). The effects on the human body can vary from cramps to unit impact and are exacerbated by long -term exposure or physical activity.

“Danger” is referred to as a heat index temperature from 103F to 124F (39.4 ° C to 51 ° C). 12% of the IPL matches in 2025 was played in this temperature range, one that seems unbearable to sit in, let alone bat, bowl and run in.

England International Maia Bouchier is subject to these temperatures and calls them ‘incredibly difficult to play’. Bouchier says: “We played in Dubai in October for the Twenty20 World Cup and after one match, where I had only beaten about 45 minutes to an hour, I could not breathe in the humidity and I had to sit 15 minutes after we were ready because I felt that light was on my way and could not stand physically.”

The conditions are also not strange to Ganga. The resident of Caribbean says: “I played in sizzling heat and remind myself lively that he is nausea, the dizziness, the cramps associated with feelings of Hittaroer.”

As the heat and humidity increase, the reaction times of players increase, the concentration and his reflexes are affected. Drying causes cramps and the overall performance deteriorate the longer the athlete is in the heat and exercises itself. For a sport such as Cricket, which can last between three and eight hours, depending on the size, heat can be deadly.

Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill in India, who are both used to the hard heat index of the subcontinent, members during the ICC World Cup semi-final against New Zealand, forced to retire a number of innings.

The data

The hit for six researchers collected Harmte index temperatures from 1970 to 2025 of all major cricket cities of India, and from other countries around the world. At that time, Mumbai saw his risky heat days by 125%.

Every major cricket -nation has seen an increase in extreme heat days as a direct cause of climate change. Thiruvanantanthapuram in the South -Kerala region in India registered more than 100 dangerous heat days in 2024 alone. According to the report: “These are days when the temperature exceeds the safe limits for human health, dramatically increasing the risk of heat -related disease.”

Dr. Kaitlyn Trudeau is the Senior Research Associate at Climate Central. Trudeau synthesized the temperature data for the report, but admits that temperatures in the study and their effects can even be greater than reported.

Trudeau said to me, Trudeau said Heat Index is the easiest and most accessible climate -related figure to calculate in different parts of the world; However, it assumes that the person is in the shade and it underestimates the impact of heat on the body.

Heat -index is not enough good latent heatThat is the moisture in the air that can lead to larger total heat accumulation. Nor is it a factor in elements such as wind and radiation.

In Cricket, players in sunny areas are for the duration of the game, often in quilted gear, which adds extra heat while they bats, which is really justified.

Heat is also just the tip of the climate -iceberg. The T20 World Cup in the US and the Caribbean Last summer was disturbed several times by constantly unpredictable and devastating thunderstorms.

The lasting image of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in India is from Bangladesh players who wear masks while training in a smog-filled Delhi prior to their world cup match against Sri Lanka. When air pollution In India would be reduced, heat and humidity on the subcontinent could increase, because the particles currently reflect some of the sun’s rays in the room.

What is even more worrying, according to Trudeau, is that the world is already reaching temperatures that were expected in 2050. Changes in the climate, and especially the upper borders, take place faster than expected. As she says: “It is hard to imagine that we will no longer see this, unless we do something dramatically.”

Recommendations for Cricket

The most obvious recommendation that the report makes, albeit one that is outside the hands of the cricket industry is to reduce carbon pollution through exploration, refining and burning fossil fuels.

As Kristina Dahl, the VP of the science of Climate Central, explains: “In India, climate change increases the number of days that extreme heat threatens the health of both cricket fans and cricket players. This trend in the direction of more often, more extreme heat will continue the fetiel. Safe. “

If climate change is not arrested and the temperature continues to rise, governing bodies must consider playing games at cooler times of the day or indoors to prevent potential heat exhaustion.

In line with this, HIT for Six recommends that national federations follow the leadership of Cricket Australia and England and Wales Cricket Board and publish guidelines for playing in extreme heat, something that Bouchier says she would welcome.

The report also insists that administrative bodies are registering with the UN sports for the framework of the climate action, their heat policy revised annually, their commercial sponsors, such as the International Cricket Council partnership With Saudi oil major Aramco and invest in environmentally conscious infrastructure.

In the words of Selwin Hart, special adviser to the UN Secretary General about climate action, “If a cricket is to survive and bloom, it must adapt. But, just like any good team, it also needs great cricket powers to play their respective parts in tackling the rose of the game of the game of the game of the game of the game of the game of the game of the game of the game of the game of the game of the game of the game of the game of the game of the game of the game of the game. Continue the game of the game of playing the game under the clear skies and setting the game under the clear skies and the game of the game under the clear skies and the future of the game of the game of the game of the game.