Young Ambassadors Scheme success
The success of Cricket Shropshire’s Young Ambassadors programme was highlighted during the Presentation Evening held at the Albright Hussey Hotel.
Disability awards in spotlight
Three members of the Cricket Shropshire Disability community were in the spotlight during the Presentation Evening held at the Albright Hussey Hotel.
The three awards were handed out as Coach Graham Furber reflected on a mixed season for the county’s Disability sides – the D40s and the S9s – presented by Lead Coach Jonathan Caldecott.
He said: “It’s fair to say that the Disability squads have had a difficult season. The S9s finished bottom of their group without a win, but the weather did disadvantage us on two occasions and adversely influence the result.
“The D40s finished third in a their group, despite being top after the first two games – a similar situation to last year.
“Our main problem has been unavailability, with three regulars being unavailable for the whole season due to illness and injury, and a further one due to international call-ups.
“We need to recruit to bolster our aging squads, with both youngsters and established players.
“We will be working closely with Cricket Shropshire to raise the profile of disability cricket in the county in the coming months – if you know of anyone in your club that would be eligible to join our squads, please get in touch.”
Successes:
- Youngster Oli Harrison debuted for the England and Wales Transplant Team.
- Youngster Tom Wallace took 5-17 in four overs against Yorkshire D40s at home, when the game looked lost.
- Congratulations to Dave Hassall, our S9 Squad Manager for winning one of the Cricket Shropshire Volunteer of the Month Awards (part of ECB Grassroots Awards).
- The Disability Premier League was held again this summer – Pirates beat Tridents in a Sky televised game at Sofia Gardens
- Kev Baker played for Black Cats, James Wojda coached Hawks, Matty Bailey played for Tridents.
- Matty Bailey couldn’t play for us this season because he was always representing England Deaf in a series with India (India won series 5-2). Hopefully he will be available to us next summer.
S9 Player of the Season – Ewan Woodhouse
Graham said: “Ewan who has been with us for a couple of years, but who couldn’t start the season with us because of taking his GCSEs. Once available, he represented both the S9 and D40 squads and contributed something in every game he played.
“For the S9s, he made 38 v Warwickshire away in the pouring rain (4x4s and 3x6s!) and took 3-19 against Staffordshire away. For the D40s he took 3-17 v Warwickshire at home.”
D40 Player of the Season – Adam Marshall
Graham said: “Adam is unable to be at the awards because he is spending the Winter playing cricket in Australia. He returned to play for Shropshire this Summer, after taking a year away with Yorkshire. In five innings he scored 205 runs at an average of 68.33 with a top score of 75 not out at Yorkshire.
“Bowling he took 2-8 against Yorkshire away and 3-33 against Warwickshire at home.
“In this latter match, he also had kept wicket for the first 20 overs of the innings due to illness of our regular ‘keeper, Kev Baker.”
Disability Champion of the Year – Ellen Hassell
Disability Coach Tyler Ibbotson said: “Ellen has shown remarkable dedication and commitment over several years, particularly in scoring for the Super 9s and D40 games.
“Her consistent hard work and passion have made a significant impact, ensuring that every game runsmoothly and that all players feel valued and supported. Her behind-the-scenes contributions often go unnoticed and they have been asset to our community.
“Ellen, your dedication is truly inspiring. Thank you and congratulations!”
If anyone would like a high-resolution digital version of any of these pictures, we can supply them for £5, half of which will be donated to the chosen charity of the evening MIND. If you wish to order three pictures it will be £10, five for £15 or 10 for £20.
New Evening League plan update
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UV Women’s Softball Festival sparkles
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Expressions of interest sought for new midweek league
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Umpiring: Best seat in the house
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Sacha’s epic charity trek for CTS
Cricket Shropshire Community Officer Sacha Lee is taking on an epic challenge to raise vital money for Chance to Shine STREET projects.
The evolution of our Craven Arms project
A major element of Cricket Shropshire’s Inspiring Generations plans during the past four years has been to put a bat and ball in as many hands as possible.
This has meant a focus on non-traditional cricket settings in the county, particularly in areas where children have less opportunity of experiencing the game we all love.
Community Officer Sacha Lee said: “We now have a proven model to enable us to deliver a variety of programmes which can be half-term MUGA (Multi-use Games Area) sessions, community spaces of a period of days and weeks during school holidays.
“This has been done by the relationships we have built with local authorities, town and parish councils along with those hard-working community hubs.
“These evolve with delivery of our Chance to Shine programme in the local schools and if we believe they could be sustainable, we seek funding for Chance to Shine STREET Programme, which is a 30-week programme delivering in the heart of community settings.
“The route from school to community also leads to children moving to their local clubs and some of our participants have made it onto our talent pathway.
“High population urban areas are always the typical targets, but with the rural natures of our county, we also need to assess the requirements of the villages and small towns.
“With success in Sutton Hill, Brookside, Wellington, Grange at Shrewsbury, Market Drayton we were keen to seek a location in the south of the county.
“Craven Arms has always been an area we were keen to target.
“Local youth groups have worked in this area for years and previously there has been cricket activity and the area hosts a lively footballing hub.
“This area has a well-supported Community Centre and many Primary schools in and around the area, but no direct access to a cricket club – sitting between Ludlow and Church Stretton.
“We met with one of our sponsors Dyke Yaxley USA, to explore the idea with them. We felt it was a great fit for their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). We had no funding for breaking into this area and we were delighted when Rob Whittall agreed to support.
“It also allowed us the opportunity to connect with Church Stretton Cricket Club members to begin the local connections.
“During the Spring we promoted and delivered a weekly outdoor session, linking with our Chance to Shine six-week Schools Programme and cricket engagement days at all the local primary schools.
“Children aged from 8-16 engaged with our STREET style cricket games and skill building. This led onto a two-day Cricket Camp during the Easter holidays.
“The engagement from the community, schools and local families has been fantastic and we are hugely grateful for the support from our sponsors, who also visited site during sessions. We were able to provide T-shirts to the participants who had come out during a soggy Easter period.
“Jumping ahead to the Summer holidays, using both the outdoor grassed pitches and the indoor Sports Hall, we hosted a two-day Cricket and Multi-sports Camp with more than 35 children attending.
“This has secured the engagement from the community in Craven Arms and the surrounding areas, which has now become complete with Chance to Shine awarding us funding for a STREET CLUB to begin in September 2024.
“We are really excited to be offering this Chance to Shine STREET Club in the south of the county. This will hopefully see an increased school participation at competitions, club memberships – both junior and senior players and more participants in a game we all love.
Cricket Shropshire Lead Officer Steve Reese said: “Without doubt we would not have been able to move this idea to a STREET Programme and all the benefits this will have in this area without the support from Dyke Yaxley USA.
“We are really appreciative for their ongoing support and it allows us the opportunity to continue to be able to offer these communities the opportunity to engage with our game, which has so much to offer in terms of health and well-being and socialisation.
“This also highlights the importance of the STREET Programme which gives us the opportunity to make these initial outreach projects far more sustainable and impactful.”
Dyke Yaxley USA Managing Partner Rob Whittall said: “It is great to be involved in a community project like this.
“It is supporting the local cricket network and contributing to creating a sustainable project in the community through Chance to Shine.”
Sacha is taking on an epic charity Trek in the Alps next month with a Three Peaks challenge to raise money for Chance to Shine STREET.
Steve added: “If you can get behind Sacha’s trek and make a contribution, it will help to change lives and have such a positive impact in these communities who sometimes struggle to connect with cricket.”
For more about Sacha’s charity challenge HERE.
CRAVEN ARMS – CHANCE to SHINE ‘STREET’ CLUB
TUESDAYS 4:30-5.30
HALO Community Centre, Newington Way, Craven Arms.
For more information please contact Sacha via sacha.lee@cricketshropshire.co.uk