On the second day of the Women’s Ashes test at Trent Bridge earlier in the summer, around 50 children from across the local area were given the opportunity to play on the outfield during the lunch break as part of the ECB All Stars initiative.
All Stars is a fun way for 5-8 year olds to get into cricket, and all abilities are welcome and catered for. Clifton Village Cricket Club, who play their home games at NTU Clifton Campus, have been running the programme locally, as well as a Dynamos programme for 8-11 year olds.
Siblings Isabel and Benjamin, from Clifton, were two that were selected and were given free tickets, along with their parents, to watch day 2 of England vs Australia Women’s test match. The children rotated around three different activities (as well as throwing in a good number of cartwheels and handstands) over the 30 minute break while being cheered on by the crowd.
Isabel and Benjamin became involved in All Stars after information was circulated at their school, The Milford Academy, about funded places for the 8 week programme, which included being provided with a kit bag and a named t-shirt. Their cricket-crazy mum said, “When I saw the information about All Stars through school comms, I absolutely jumped at the opportunity to get them involved through Clifton Village CC. It is a really friendly club and most weeks the kids have wanted to stay after their All Stars session to keep practising with their new friends. I was thrilled that they wanted to take part at Trent Bridge and it was such a proud moment seeing how confident they were in front of the crowds and the TV cameras! They both had an absolute blast.”
Although the All Stars programme has officially finished for this year at Clifton Village CC, the club continue to offer free coaching sessions for children on a Friday evening and hope to get the players involved in some Kwik cricket competitions locally over the summer.
For more information on this, contact Ross Carnelley on [email protected] or check out the Clifton Village CC Facebook page.