Leyton Orient and Essex Cricket joined forces to bring the local community together to enjoy, celebrate and play cricket at The Breyer Group Stadium – The home of Leyton, on Wednesday 23rd May. The event was part of the countdown to Waltham Forest being the first London Borough of Culture 2019, England and Wales hosting the Cricket World Cup 2019 and the recently launched South Asian Cricket Action Plan.
The event saw local primary and secondary schools taking part in games before a showcase Women’s match and an all age tournament. Feroze Khushi (from Leyton) and Matt Coles joined in the day’s events.
Local Primary Schools Pupils opened the festival with 60 Year 4 boys and Girls taking part in a mini tournament, followed by Secondary School students, with 60 Year 7 boys and girls participating. Also 50 visually impaired students from Joseph Clarke School played an adapted version of the game. Diploma in Sport students from Leyton Orient Trust College Study Programme supported the event by being umpires for the day.
Pupil, Davies Lane Primary School, said: “This is the first tournament I’ve played in, I was a bit nervous at first but when I realised I could hit the ball I enjoyed it.”
Sean, PE Teacher, Holy Family Catholic School said, “The team we’ve brought with us today haven’t really got any experience of playing cricket, so it is a good opportunity to get them some exposure to the game, learn from professionals and to understand more about the game. I think they’ve really enjoyed today and have learnt a bit about a sport that otherwise they wouldn’t have the opportunity to play.”
The Tornado Tape Ball World Cup took place from the afternoon in to the evening with six local adult teams taking part. There was also a showcase women’s match.
Danny Macklin, CEO, Leyton Orient Football Club said: “We were absolutely delighted host cricket at the home of Leyton Orient and bringing it back to Leyton. It is great that the charities associated with Leyton Orient and Essex Cricket came together to put on what was a brilliant and memorable occasion for all involved. It brought together the local community to celebrate everything that is great about Cricket.”
