A FORMER England player will visit May’s Bounty in the coming months after Basingstoke and North Hants CC were one of three lucky clubs picked to win a special prize.

Matthew Hoggard drew Basingstoke out of the hat as one of the winners of the NatWest Famous Fridays prize draw during the NatWest CricketForce showcase event at the weekend.

The prize draw was created to reward clubs who registered for and galvanized their local communities to take part in this year’s NatWest CricketForce.

The Bountymen’s prize is a visit from a former England cricketer, who will travel to the club for a special event on a Friday night during the NatWest T20 Blast campaign. The club also gets a free 12-month subscription to Sky Sports.

Andy Giles, cricket chairman at May’s Bounty, said: “I couldn’t believe it when we found out we’d won the prize draw.

“So many clubs had signed up to NatWest CricketForce that we never thought we’d stand a chance of being picked. We’re very excited about having a former England cricketer attend our club and will put on a fantastic event to celebrate.”

NatWest CricketForce is an annual volunteering initiative which sees cricket clubs up and down the country getting their clubs ready for the upcoming season.

NatWest, who has been a long-standing supporter of grassroots cricket, encourages volunteers, local businesses and its staff to help local cricket clubs with renovation projects and ground improvements before the new season begins. Last weekend saw records broken with over 2,200 clubs signing up.

Martyn Wilson, Senior Sponsorship Manager at NatWest, said: “The NatWest Famous Fridays prize will allow Basingstoke and North Hants CC to screen live matches throughout the season as well as help the club to create a showcase event one Friday night around the NatWest T20 Blast matches, where our England legend will attend.”

NatWest CricketForce is run in partnership with the England and Wales Cricket Board and is celebrating its 13th year, with over 2,200 clubs taking part in 2014.

For further information about NatWest CricketForce visit www.natwest.com/cricket.