As nine schools head to Lord's National Table Cricket finals day, you can win a pair of tickets to a day of Ashes cricket
This article features in our June 2023 magazine. To read the full version, get a copy of the magazine by clicking here.
Hundreds of youngsters from across the country have been chasing down a place at the Lord's Taverners National Table Cricket finals day – with nine schools now confirmed for the competition's climax at the Home of Cricket on Friday, June 9.
The Lord's Taverners' table cricket regional finals took place in April across the country with nearly 70 schools and more than 500 young people with a disability eagerly looking to become the 2023 national table cricket champions.
The nine regional finals, where young people with disabilities from across 34 counties showcased their table cricket skills and teamwork, included competitions at historic venues such as Edgbaston, Old Trafford and Headingley.
Being able to play competitive cricket at such stadiums provides young people with a disability a potential once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to represent their teams at stadiums embedded in the history of the sport.
The winning schools who will be representing their regions at Lord's in June are:
- South East – Elms School (Kent)
- South West – Springfields Academy (Wiltshire)
- London and Thames Valley – Abingdon & Witney College (Oxford)
- East Anglia – Thomas Wolsey School (Ipswich)
- West Midlands – Fairfax School (Birmingham)
- North West - Piper Hill High School (Manchester)
- North East – Cambian Whinfell School (Cumbria)
- Yorkshire – Beckfoot School (Bradford)
- East Midlands – Beech Academy (Nottinghamshire)
This past year has seen more than 6,500 young people playing table cricket, benefitting from immeasurable personal development opportunities. Participants learn leadership, communication and endless amounts of key skills while travelling to new places and creating friendships with other players.
The Lord's Taverners work across the UK and beyond to provide inclusive and impactful cricket programmes – such as table cricket, Super 1s and Wicketz – empowering young people with disabilities and from disadvantaged communities to develop the knowledge, skills, capabilities and confidence required to overcome the challenges of inequality and reach their potential.
Much of the charity's work in cricket for young people with disabilities is made possible thanks to funds raised by players of People's Postcode Lottery and awarded by the Postcode Active Trust, in addition to support from the ECB and Sport England.
Access to sport and facilities is a major issue for young people living with a disability, and this is illustrated by the fact that there are 1.2m young people with a disability in the UK who access sport rarely or not at all.
But table cricket is helping to tackle this issue. The adapted form of the game – specially designed to give young people with a disability the chance to play and compete in the sport – is enjoyed by thousands.
And with the sport becoming ever more in demand, so has the need for robust and sustainable equipment to support it.
The regional competitions also saw the rollout of new table cricket equipment as the charity continues to improve access to cricket for young people with disabilities. But the equipment that's been used up until now has become old, fragile and, in most cases, held together by sticking tape.
Disability Cricket programme manager Liz Kuda said: "The quality of the experience for participants relies on good quality equipment. The kit we'd used up until now was 20 years old, had become very outdated and was not particularly robust.
"It's been great for the charity and thousands of young people with disabilities who have played the game in that time, but to elevate the game of table cricket, good quality new equipment was essential. It's been fantastic to see it in use for the first time this week and we hope this is just the start of a new and improved table cricket offer."
The new kit, of which 1,000 new sets will be distributed to schools and county boards across the country, is completely different. Designed by experts at Robert Gordon University over the past four years, it is durable, quick to assemble and includes enhanced sensory features such as more distinctive sounds for when the ball hits different parts of the kit, helping players and umpires alike to be more aware of when runs are scored and prevented, and wickets are taken.
Places are limited, but if you'd like to attend National Table Cricket finals day at the Nursery Pavilion at Lord's and see which of the nine competing schools takes the glory, more details can be found at www.lordstaverners.org/events.
The National Table Cricket finals day is a worthy appetiser for the much anticipated main course of this summer's cricket calendar, with the Ashes set to kick off just one week later.
And the Lord's Taverners have a pair of tickets up for grabs so you can watch England and Australia go head-to-head at the Home of Cricket.
To get your hands on two tickets to the fourth day of the Lord's Test match (Saturday July 1), all you have to do is complete the form below and enter your details – that's it!
The competition will close on Wednesday, June 7 and we'll let the lucky winner know shortly afterwards.
Welcome to www.thecricketer.com - the online home of the world’s oldest cricket magazine. Breaking news, interviews, opinion and cricket goodness from every corner of our beautiful sport, from village green to national arena.