Since the Summer of 2018, Wicketz Cricket sessions have been running in Peterborough. Wicketz is a Lord’s Taverners funded initiative working with youngsters aged between 8-15 in deprived wards working across 18 towns and cities in the UK. These towns and cities include Birmingham, Leeds, Bradford, Manchester, Bristol, Cardiff, Southampton and closer to home in Luton and Peterborough which are in the Cricket East area.
The sessions, run at local community centres, are run throughout the year for boys and girls. As well as this the Cricket East Wicketz team also visit a number of Primary and Junior Schools to coach and deliver Cricket during curriculum time and after-school sessions. At the after-school sessions and also at the evening community hubs there is a mixture of coaching, fitness, games and also looking at social topics that affect the youngsters. Over the last year, the Wicketz youngsters have had a variety of talks. These have been on a variety of topics including healthy eating, fitness and motivation, respect and responsibilities, road safety, social media and internet safety.
In the last 18 months, the Peterborough youngsters have taken part in a variety of competitions.
On Saturday 27th April 2019 the local Wicketz youngsters from Gladstone and Dogsthorpe attended the Peterborough World Cup Day at Bretton Gate. The World Cup was on a huge tour of as many towns and cities as possible leading up to the World Cup starting in England on Thursday 30th May 2019. Youngsters from Peterborough and Luton enjoyed a day out at Bretton Gate playing matches against each other on the hockey astroturf before being the first to see the trophy and have photographs taken with it.
In July 2019 Peterborough Wicketz boys attended the Repton Wicketz festival. The youngsters experienced 3 days away from home learning life skills, attending workshops, receiving expert coaching from Nottinghamshire and former England coach Peter Moores and also competing in a Cricket tournament against other Wicketz cities and towns. This was a very successful 3 days with the Peterborough team working in partnership with the Leyton team finishing 2nd in the competition.
In August 2019 Peterborough Wicketz girls attended the inaugural Repton Wicketz festival. The youngsters, like the boys experienced 3 days away from home and took part in teamwork and motivational skills that they had never experienced but would be crucial and critical in life. Like the boys, the girls attended some workshops and activities which included a Navy circuits session, a sugar smart workshop, a body image workshop and a brilliant inspirational talk from Cricket commentator and broadcaster Mel Farrell. The Peterborough girls also joined forces with the Luton girls to finish 2nd in the tournament.
In August 2019 the delayed Wicketz World Cup took place at Central Park in Peterborough. This tournament should have been during the World Cup on Saturday 8th June 2019, but was postponed due to very heavy rain. The competition on Saturday 31st August 2019 took place in the afternoon after the highly competitive annual Peterborough City Council, Police and Fire Service 11 v The Peterborough Mosque Community match. This match was held as part of the Central Park annual Family Fun Day which saw hundreds of people in the local community arrive to enjoy the activities in Central Park. The 3 teams that played that day were West Indies, Australia and Bangladesh (the 3 teams chosen by the Wicketz officer as he was lucky enough to see them at the World Cup) After a round robin of matches with all youngsters kitted out in Lord's Taverners green, red or yellow shirts representing their specific country the West Indies were the winners.
January 2020 – 25 Peterborough youngsters left Peterborough at 8.15am on Saturday 18th January to have a once in a lifetime trip to Hull. LNER have helped fund the Hull and Peterborough projects over the last few years and this Wicketz tournament was a celebration of the fantastic work that is happening in Hull (the City of Culture) and Peterborough (the fastest growing City in the East of England)
The day saw the youngsters using the brand new facilities at the University of Hull. In the morning, the youngsters had an ice breaker and a workshop on train safety. This was followed by specialist coaching in batting, bowling and fielding. After lunch, the youngsters experienced a workshop on “what is good and bad in your community” followed by 4 indoor matches, with the 8-11 year olds playing 2 matches on one side of the hall and the 11-15 year olds playing in the other side of the hall. After 4 competitive matches, the Peterborough youngsters ended up winning all 4 matches.
This Summer should have been a huge Summer. The Wicketz youngsters had a number of events scheduled for this year that have been cancelled due to the coronavirus. As well as 2 Wicketz tours to Repton for the boys and girls in July and August, the youngsters also should have taken part in the Central Cricket Championships on Saturday 6th June 2020 which saw all the youngsters competing against each other in competitive matches. This event was part of the Central Sports Day in Central Park, which was an afternoon event taking place after the annual community cricket match between the Peterborough City Council, Police and Fire Service Team v The Peterborough Mosque Community Team. This annual match raises thousands of pounds for Pancreatic Cancer.
The Wicketz youngsters also missed out on the Family Fun Day at Central Park on Saturday 5th September 2020. This event was going to see the Wicketz youngsters working in partnership with our colleagues from the RAF. The morning was going to be a mixture of fitness and problem solving challenges which saw the youngsters having to work in teams to create success by using the key ingredients of team work, communication and co-operation. The afternoon would have seen the youngsters competing in a round robin of 11-a-side matches with the help of the flicx pitch which had been funded by the Lord's Taverners and lent to me by my colleagues in Luton.
It was very frustrating that all these events were cancelled, but totally understandable after the horrific events of the last 8 months. Outdoor Wicketz sessions restarted in the last week of August 2020 with coaching sessions at Peterborough Town and Orton Park Cricket Clubs and indoor hubs restarted at the beginning of October 2020 at the Gladstone Park Community Centre and the Focus Community Centre. All sessions had new rules with the youngsters having to be 2 metres apart along with 3 hand sanitising breaks during the sessions. Also, a reduced capacity had to be introduced due to the coronavirus and all youngsters had to book onto the sessions instead of just turning up.
Five weeks of sessions have happened with healthy numbers.
- Monday night session at Gladstone Park Community Centre is held weekly from 5.15-6.45pm,
- Tuesday night session at Focus Community Centre, in Chestnut Avenue runs from 4.45-6.15pm.
- Thursday night hub from 5.30-7.00pm at Millfield Community Centre should have started on Thursday 3rd December 2020, but sadly this has been delayed till the New Year due to the 2nd National Lockdown.
If you have any questions about the Peterborough Wicketz Programme, please don’t hesitate to contact the Peterborough Wicketz Officer Jonathan Bigham on 07388 949 572 or by e-mailing him at jonathan.bigham@cricketeast.co.uk
