Beach tournament raises funds for local cricket
I have been sent a great story by Jon Dixon about a Beach cricket event he is putting on this year. Take a moment to check out the details:
Proceeds from the first ever UK International Beach Cricket Tournament are to go back to local cricket this summer. Set on the glorious sands of Weymouth Beach the event will feature players from village green to Test arena.
Whilst the sunny climes of Australia and recently South Africa seem the ideal home for the growing sport of Beach Cricket, the first week in September will bring the game to Britain.
The format will echo that used in Australia and South Africa with 17 international cricketers divided into two teams. The players will be provided by the now World Famous Lashings World XI. Local club talent will be demonstrated in another team and a sponsor will provide the final side in the tournament played on Thursday 4th and Friday 5th September.
Tuesday 2nd September will see a junior tournament competed between three local Under 18 sides from Weymouth, Portland and the now established Wessex Academy. Wednesday 3rd September give the ladies the chance to shine.
Organising coordinator Jon Dixon said "Seeing this form of cricket on Sky my wife suggested that it would be a good idea to do something locally. A lot of planning and telephone calls later and we are well on our way to hosting a unique event in Weymouth that we hope will develop from year to year".
Although not a cheap exercise the participation of companies such as BSkyB, Red Bull, New Look plc, RAM Sports, Flicx Pitches UK, All Out Cricket and many others has meant that this project is rapidly becoming a viable enterprise.
For further information about the event please contact Jon via harrowdrive. He will be happy to answer any questions you may have especially if you are considering doing something like this yourself.
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O, I am so envious, this sounds huge fun. I am sure Jon and his team have put a lot of time and effort into this Tournament. I wish him all the best with it, including the weather and perhaps if it grows next year, Jon may like to invite a touring sqaud (?)
I agree Liz. Let's cross our fingers for great weather.
[...] Dixon, organiser of the first International Beach Cricket Festival in Weymouth, has experienced the challenges first hand and has come up with some major name involvement: Sky, [...]
[...] If you want the best cricket tips every day, try subscribing for free to my RSS feed or get free email updates Thanks for visiting!If you have found harrowdrive to be of help to you at all please consider making a (£1) donation to the Weymouth Beach Cricket charity I talked about here. [...]
I look forward to playing and hammering the likes of the 'lashings'.
Are you planning on coming down from Derby to play Faris?
Well it sounds good, I just need to talk to people at my local club.
Are we allowed to take our tops off since its the beach? Haha...
Best of luck with the tournament John. I will hopefully get down to watch. I was just watching on Sky and thought ooohhh that looks like fun, I wonder why Poole doesn't do that. So started researching and found your article. If I get something going maybe we can take you on in a year or two for an across the bay challenge.
Andy Milner
Watched format on sky and loved it. When can we buy tickets. Several friends and i want to come and watch.
Thanks for all the kind words guys. Latest news is that it is free to attend and watch. Naturally we will try to sell you a souvenir brochure, produced by All Out Cricket! and the normal raffel etc. Tickets are on sale for the luncheon at £52.50 per head for a 3 course meal with all the stars in attendance. The latest news is that I have been contacted by Smasher Sports Pros who wll provide the 4th team comprising Pakistani first class players inlcuding the current Pakistan Captain's Brother. They beat Lashings at Slough last year and were recommended to me me by Rashid Latif. If any of you want details ie conformed players, bookings, accommodation, or indeed anything else please phone me on 07876242802. This is just year 1 of a 7 year plan, which will hopefully culminate in a major open tournament with an exchange with a South African festival. Our winner will be fully funded to go and play in SA. Naturally this is some time away, but I would love to welcome you all down here. Sponsorship drive is still ongoing, but it now looks like we have secured the services of a major brewer, which I hope to annnounce shortly
was woundering what the mix is like at weymouth and especially at the beach front. are there only white people there, or is there any pakistanis and indians about? whats the ratio? or percentage on a daily basis? just want to feel comfortable when I go there and not like an alien.
I know it is 'Beach Cricket' but what is the disabled access like?