Image: The project will target young jobless adults

Young unemployed adults living in inner city areas affected by crime and anti-social behaviour are to receive free cricket sessions as part of the Cricket Foundation's StreetChance scheme.

Sport England has awarded £1m towards the programme, which is to provide weekly cricket sessions to around 11,000 people aged between 16- and 24-years-old over the next three years.

Young adults currently not in education, employment or training will also have the opportunity to gain work experience and qualifications as a result of the Barclays Spaces for Sports-backed project.

Areas in Birmingham, Liverpool and London are among those set to benefit, with sessions to involve a fast-paced version of cricket using a tennis ball wrapped in electrical tape.

Six-a-side street cricket competitions are scheduled to run throughout the summer, while the StreetChance Inner-City League will run from six months starting in October.

Cricket Foundation chief executive Wasim Khan said: "Making cricket accessible and driving participation in deprived, inner-city areas has always been at the heart of what StreetChance works to achieve."

Details: www.streetchance.org