Cricket East

Two great sporting days recently took place at Putteridge High School in Luton helping to promote sport in the community with 140 young people from Luton's Wicketz project and 24 ethnicities brought together.

The Cricket World Cup came to Luton on Wednesday 20 February as part of the 100-day tour of England and Wales. As part of the day, ten teams took part in a Lord’s Taverners Indoor U12s 6-a-side Cricket World Cup Tournament - which included youngsters representing the different World Cup nations. There was also an inspiring Master Class with English professional cricketer Sam Billings and former English cricketer Devon Malcolm on hand with cricketing tips for the Wicketz children taking part.

It was a high-profile day with the Luton Mayoress and many other key stakeholders from Luton and beyond paying a visit. Public Health also delivered a workshop on Health Lifestyles.

In addition, Lord's Taverners officially launched their 'Cricket 4 Good' partnership with the International Cricket Council for this year's Cricket World Cup. The relationship aims to celebrate the reach and diversity of the Lord’s Taverners national cricket programmes and showcase the commitment of the ICC to deliver a positive cricketing and social legacy through the World Cup.

See a lovely montage from Wednesday's event courtesy of Lord's Taverners:

The event was attended by Anglia ITV News, BBC Sport and Sky Sports. Check out the Anglia TV News report HERE.

See Sam Billings giving tips to the youngsters:

On Day Two of the action on Thursday 21 February for the slightly older children, 10 schools played in the Lord’s Taverners Indoor U16s 6-a-side Cricket World Cup Tournament. In addition, English former cricketer Kabir Ali gave the Wicketz participants some fast bowling tips. The teams also learned about the importance of Civic Participation - delivering a solution to a local problem in their area. The winning team - Putteridge High School - did a great presentation on knife crime.

Luton Wicketz Development Officer Amran Malik said: "Over these two memorable sporting days, it was great to see so many young Wicketz participants in Luton enjoying their cricket."

Pictured: Luton Wicketz participants pictured with the ICC Cricket World Cup Trophy and Sam Billings and Devon Malcolm

Pictured: Sam Billings sharing his tips with the youngsters!