Junior school girls to get a taste of cricket (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Junior school girls to get a taste of cricket

8:00am Tuesday 7th February 2012 in Headlines

BASINGSTOKE and North Hants Cricket Club is being helped by the Hampshire Cricket Board (HCB) to recruit new under-11 girls for the coming season.

As part of this recruitment drive, HCB Development Coach Simon Hammond is going into several local junior schools over the next few weeks to give cricket taster sessions to girls in years four to six.

The HCB Road Show sessions are based around fun games involving fielding, batting and bowling and serve as a great introduction to cricket.

Following on from the school sessions, new players are invited to go along to try some free cricket sessions which take place indoors on Saturday’s at the QMC Sports Hall from 12.20pm to 2pm or from May onwards at Basingstoke’s historic and picturesque ground, Mays Bounty.

All these fun based sessions are run by the clubs CRB checked and ECB qualified coaches.

The sessions will build on these basic skills and prepare the players for competitive matches in the summer months against other local clubs.

Girls cricket is one of the fastest growing sports in the country and across Hampshire this has led to a huge increase in participation and the standard has risen accordingly.

The HCB’s player development path starts at club level where gifted players will be invited to attend North Hampshire District trials in the winter and from the best of these the county squads are chosen.

If you would like more information on Basingstoke Cricket Club girls’ section or your daughter would like to try some free cricket sessions, please e-mail Simon Hammond at the Hampshire Cricket Development Office simon.hammond@rosebowlplc.com for details.