England cricket stars coach Birmingham children

Jul 28 2009 by Paul Suart, Birmingham Mail

HOWZAT! Young cricketers in Birmingham were hit for six when England duo Ravi Bopara and James Anderson delivered them coaching tips.

The pair, both members of the 13-man England squad to face Australia in the third Ashes test at Edgbaston on Thursday, put about 40 youngsters through their paces during a series of bowling and batting drills and also posed for pictures and signed autographs.

They were joined at the Urban Cricket centre in Highgate Park, Highgate, yesterday by former Warwickshire and England bowler Gladstone Small.

And coaching staff from the Warwickshire Cricket Board also passed on advice during two one-hour sessions.

The centre, officially opened by Anderson and Warwickshire and England batsman Ian Bell last August, is one of five built across the country as part of the npower Urban Cricket project to get more children playing cricket.

All rounder Bopara said: “It’s great to be in Birmingham to see how npower Urban Cricket is working.

“Judging by some of the children I’ve seen here today the scheme is really making a difference.”

Thousands of young cricketers have benefited from expert coaching and more than 50,000 cricket kits have been distributed under the grass roots scheme launched by the England and Wales Cricket Board in 2006.

Birmingham City Council, in partnership with Warwickshire Cricket Board, regularly uses the Highgate Park base to run cricket coaching camps in a bid to take the sport into inner city schools.

Anderson, who will lead England’s bowling attack alongside crowd favourite Andrew Flintoff at Edgbaston, said: “It’s fantastic to see initiatives giving youngsters the chance to learn the game.

“A partnership approach like the one here is key to building the firm foundations required for the development of grass roots cricket.”Pupils sent to the scheme came from The Arthur Terry School and Bishop Vesey Grammar, both in Sutton Coldfield, Kings Norton Boys, St Laurence Junior, Northfield, St Albans Primary, Kings Heath, and Washwood Heath Technology College.

Eleven-year-old Charlie Croft, a Kings Norton Boys School pupil, from Bournville, said: “I’ve learned to enjoy cricket and see that fitness is a key part.”

“It’s been great,” said Abeen Hussain, a 13-year-old Washwood Heath student, from Ward End.