England Women’s Ashes winning star Sarah Taylor will be spearheading a new drive to encourage more women and girls to take up cricket this Saturday as part of a showcase ECB Club Open Day event in Sussex.
The Sussex and England wicketkeeper will oversee an introductory cricket training session at Portslade CC in Hove from 10.00 to 11.30am for local women and girls who want to get involved in the sport.
The event in Hove is one of hundreds of official ECB Club Open Days running nationwide on England’s international cricket weekends this summer.
Supported by Waitrose, the events are designed to boost cricket participation by encouraging clubs to open their pavilion doors and invite people to find out more about what’s on offer at their local club.
In addition to getting their first taste of the game on the field, participants and guests at Portslade CC will get to enjoy refreshments provided by Waitrose – including local goods like Arundel Brewery beer and handmade cakes from West Sussex based More Food Ltd.
Commenting on the event, Sarah Taylor said: “Club Open Days are a wonderful initiative providing cricket clubs with support to throw open their pavilion doors and engage with their local community.
“I’ve been a member of several different cricket clubs since I started playing, and nothing compares to spending time with your friends on a weekend afternoon at the club.
“I encourage anyone who is interested in cricket to visit their nearest club and find out how they can become actively involved with the game.”
Former England captain and ECB’s Managing Director of Cricket Partnerships, Mike Gatting, added: “We encouraged cricket clubs to hold Open Days for the first time last year and already more than twice as many clubs have registered to host an event compared with twelve months ago.
“This is wonderful news, and I am certain that by opening their pavilion doors for the day and showcasing what they have to offer their local community, clubs will be able to inspire newcomers to come and join them – whether that is as a player, volunteer, social member, or even a local business as a new supporting sponsor.”
Nick Mort, Branch Manager of Waitrose Hove, said: “Supporting local community activities is a really important part of what we do at Waitrose.
“Through our cricket sponsorship every one of our shops across the country is offering support to local cricket clubs as they hold Club Open Days over the summer. “It's great to have the opportunity to get involved in events like this one – we're really excited to be involved.”
Building on the successful launch of the initiative last year, the first 1000 clubs that sign-up to host an official ECB Club Open Day this summer will be able to take advantage of an exclusive £100 food and drink offer from Waitrose to help deliver their event.
Waitrose have further committed to developing the grassroots game by confirming that they will donate £100 to the ECB Charitable Trust for every four or six scored across the entire international summer.
This includes every England men’s, England women’s, England Lions, England under-19s and England disability match, with resultant funds (estimated to amount to around £150k) being made available for cricket clubs to apply for a special grant from.