Vision - "To successfully stage the biggest cricket tournament anywhere in the world and in the process set a world record of 2010 children playing cricket at the same time, at the same venue".
That was the vision of Martyn Dobson and Eddie Burke, both members of staff at Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. Today, I was privileged to be part of that reality. The day was sponsored by npower, and money was raised for CP Sport (a Nottingham Cerebral Palsy Charity) and The Trent Bridge Community Sports Trust.
Having been a volunteer at the ICC T20 World Cup last summer at Trent Bridge, I was contacted, along with my fellow T20 volunteers, and asked if I would be interested in going along to the Nottingham Race course to help with this event. How could I say no?! I arrived at 8am, and had various tasks. I was firstly to sort t shirts into piles. I then went to help set out the pitches. There was little for me to do when the children first arrived, but then when the games where under way, I was to form part of a human chain removing over two thousand red bags, each containing a bat and ball for the children to take home with them. These then had to all be loaded onto the buses and coaches that would take the children back to their schools. Having moved all of those, I certainly won't be needing a trip to the gym tonight!
It was a beautiful sunny day, and a fantastic sight to see all the children playing the game I love, all cheering each other on and enjoying their day out. It was also good to catch up with many of my fellow volunteers from last years T20 and to find out how several of them had benefited from their volunteer experience. Unfortunately the target of 2010 wasn't reached, but 1990 children did all play a game of kwick cricket at the same time, at the same venue. I consider that to be a fantastic achievement! The event must have been a massive logistical challenge for those who organised it, and I hope they are all very proud of the end result.
A bonus for me, was being allowed to go up on a crane platform to take an aerial photo of the event. Booked for the professional photographers and camera men, I felt a bit of a fraud going up to take my 'snaps'!
I'm sure it will be a day the children will remember for years to come, and I suspect that going home with a new t shirt, cricket bat and ball, will make that memory even better!
Well done to everyone involved.
