Steven Finn, Charlotte Edwards and Laura Marsh kicked off proceedings as they lent a hand alongside 300 volunteers at Witham Cricket Club in Essex on Friday 8th April, the first of three national showcase clubs to feature over the weekend.
Witham CC chairman John Chick said: ‘People have been fantastic, we had 180 schoolchildren here; people from the ECB, Essex CCC, NatWest and a whole load of people from the local community came out to help us’.
‘When you have 300 people around you who are looking to do things it’s amazing how quickly things get done. Our drive is 212 metres long and we thought it would take the best part of a day to lay it as it’s all being done by hand, we’ve got no machinery. But we put a few people on it and an hour and a half later it was done’.
Bognor Regis Cricket Club featured on Saturday and welcomed the support of Chris Tremlett, Holly Colvin and Mike Gatting along with 155 people from the local community, all of which joined forces to paint a 300m long fence in just over 20 minutes.
Bognor Regis CC Chairman Bernie Burns said: ‘It’s very good for young people and Bognor Regis Cricket Club will only benefit from the people that are here today and those who want to join the club’.
To complete the weekend, former England Captain and NatWest Cricket Ambassador Michael Vaughan joined Ajmal Shahzad, Katherine Brunt and Jenny Gunn at Sawley and Long Eaton Park Cricket Club on Sunday.
Mike Gatting, ECB managing director of Cricket Partnerships said: ‘Once again we have seen fantastic contributions and generosity from the communities over the NatWest CricketForce weekend’.
‘Another record breaking year proves how popular NatWest CricketForce is with clubs across the county. It provides an excellent opportunity for clubs to engage with the local community and businesses as they assist them to renovate and prepare facilities ahead of the season’.
Published: 16/04/2011
Source: http://www.sportindustry.biz/news/view/9588/cricketforce-2011-most-successful-ever
