Over the half term break, Essex Cricket in the Community were delighted to partner with Lord Taverners and The Berkeley Foundation once again to host the second round of the Super 1s event at the Leyton Cricket Hub with hours of fun for ability cricket sessions.
This afternoon focussed on the East London side of the competition with teams from Redbridge, Bexley Heath and Barking Dagenham competing against each other. Bexley Heath powered through for the win, but the competitive element is just one of many joys this initiative brings.
Targeting young people with a disability aged 12-25, the Super 1s event aims to create community cricket hubs around the country. Here, young people can receive coaching and participants get the chance to compete against their peers and enjoy the benefits of playing sport.
This creates a real sense of achievement and combats feelings of loneliness and isolation. The tournament is carried out by splitting teams into pairs. Each pair will bat and bowl in tandem for two overs each with the team having a total of six overs to score their runs.
With Patrick Ward, the County Lead for Ability Cricket, who helps to organise these events saying: “It was great to see everyone at the event and back enjoying cricket. This is only the 2nd competition we have been able to hold since 2020 due to the covid restrictions and its great to have everyone back. Lockdown was hard for many of the super 1s participants so its great to see them back enjoying the game again”.
The event was attended by Nichola Crawshaw, a representative from Cloud FM Group, as they seek to become more involved in the wider community and helping to develop these grassroots initiatives for everyone.
