Cricket partnership announced to offer young people in LB Hounslow the opportunity to play

Launch of the partnership between Middlesex in the Community, Hounslow Council, Sky and Sport Impact at Springwell Academy on Wednesday 25 March

A bid to persuade young people in the borough to be more active

Middlesex Cricket Club’s charitable arm Middlesex in the Community, responsible for the development and growth of recreational cricket in Middlesex across 17 London boroughs, has launched a partnership with Hounslow Council, Sky and not for profit group Sport Impact, to give young people in Hounslow the opportunity to play cricket.

Based at Lord’s Cricket Ground in St John’s Wood, since 1877 the club has had a proud history of developing many of the game’s greatest known cricketers, including the likes of Denis Compton, Mike Gatting, John Emburey, Andrew Strauss, Steven Finn and Eoin Morgan.

“We are excited to develop the game in such a diverse community through a number of different projects in the borough”, said Middlesex in the Community’s Senior Partnership Manager for Recreational Programmes, Chloe Longdon.

“We hope to unearth talent that may feed into Middlesex’s female & male pathways – harnessing growth for years to come”.

Springwell Academy girls v Men in suits

Partnership aimed especially at getting more girls interested in playing cricket

The partnership, launched at Springwell Academy on Wednesday 25 March, aims to make cricket accessible for girls and boys in the borough, ‘inspiring participation, building confidence and helping young people to get active’, said a spokesperson for Hounslow Council.

Hounslow has one of the worst rates of childhood obesity in the capital.

Former England fast bowler Angus Fraser and Managing Director of MITC was at the launch, conducting a cricket session for female pupils at the school. Hounslow Council Leader Cllr Shantanu Rajawat also tried his hand at batting.

With the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup to be hosted in England this summer, one of the core aims of the partnership is to get more girls involved with cricket across the borough.

QEII Sportsground at Swyncombe Avenue

New home for women’s and girls’ cricket in Brentford

The development of the QEII Sportsground in Brentford will be the Club’s new home for women’s and girls’ cricket and build on the 200 women’s and girls’ teams playing cricket in the county of Middlesex, one of which is the Chiswick Women’s Cricket team based at the club house in Dukes Meadows, which doubles as the Duck & Ball pub.

READ ALSO: Chiswick Women’s Cricket team to play in beginners league

Swyncombe Avenue Playing Fields was owned by GSK. The pharmaceutical company gave the freehold and assets to Middlesex Cricket when it announced it was moving its headquarters out of Hounslow.

The 4.5 acre grounds are protected in perpetuity by Fields in Trust, a charity established almost 100 years ago to protect parks and green spaces for future generations, which protects nearly 3,000 such spaces across the UK.

Middlesex Cricket say: ‘Whilst the site is not large enough to provide Middlesex Cricket with opportunities for its professional sides to play competitively, the Club sees it as the perfect venue to continue its commitment to grow and develop the Women and Girls’ game, with support from the ECB, by providing a training and playing base for Middlesex Women and the County Age Group Girls’ squads to further strengthen the player pathway’.

Leader of Hounslow Council Cllr Shantanu Rajawat at the wicket

More details of how to get involved will be announced in April

The Leader of Hounslow Council, Shantanu Rajawat, said:

“It’s fantastic to be working together with Middlesex in the Community, Sky and Sport Impact, giving more children access to sport, especially girls.

“We support many popular sports in Hounslow and look forward to giving women and girls’ cricket the boost it deserves”.

The Council says it will utilise its partnerships with schools and the local community to increase participation in the sport, while MITC and Sport Impact will provide coaching and support cricket festivals.  Sky, whose headquarters are based in the borough, will help organise the partnership and provide volunteers for events.

Specific information about the sessions will be publicised in April, they say.

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