...Ireland Cricketer Andrew White was joined by EglintonPrimary School and Artigarven Primary School at the Launch of the Northern Ireland Asda Kwik Cricket Competition 2009 to support the drive to get the nations kids healthy and active and continue to progress the rise of Irish Cricket.
The Launch was due to take place at the interval between Ireland and Hampshire match in the Friends Provident Trophy game but while the damp outfield was a problem for the professionals and meant the Ireland game did not take place, it posed no problem at all the young players whose game of Asda Kwik Cricket became the main event, attracting all the attention from the crowd at a sunny Eglinton Cricket Club!
Andrew White, theIrelandplayer, was supporting the event to help raise the profile of grassroots cricket in Ireland. He will soon be heading over to take part in the Twenty 20 World Cup but took time to play games with the young children, passing on some tips, signing autographs and giving the young players a very unique experience when he joined in the game, having a bat and a bowl. As an added bonus, Irelandskipper Kyle McCallan joined in aswell!!
The Asda Kwik Cricket competition will involve 2500 kids across Northern Ireland this summer. It is part of a UK wide competition which involves 12,000 schools and 130,000 primary school kids across Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales, taking cricket to the UK’s primary schools on a large scale.
The Northern Ireland Final is scheduled to take place at Stormont Cricket Club on the 18th of June, where the best 12 schools from around the country will fight it out to become National Champion. They will then travel over the Headingly Cricket Ground on the 15th July for theUK final where they will join the other best 16 schools from the UK. Last year’s Northern Ireland Champions were WaringstownPrimary School.
Strabane schools will again be taking a big part this summer. Barrack Street Boys, Holy Cross, Artigarven, St Marys, Glebe, Sion Mills Boys, Donemana, St Edwards, St Annes Clady Boys are just a selection of the schools that will be in action around Strabane this year.
Asda Kwik Cricket is not only a way to drive grassroots cricket but also to get over 130,000 primary school children healthy and active. It is a format that helps keep everyone involved throughout, and is equally suited for boys and girls. Asda are sponsoring the competition to help drive this healthy eating message and they help out by coming down to match days with food and drink to keep the young players energised.
Asda Kwik Cricket is designed to promote the most basic cricket skills and keep everyone involved throughout. The kit is very basic and the game can be played almost anywhere. Asda Kwik Cricket has involved nearly one million children in its structured county, regional and national competitions since it’s inception in 1988.
