BBC Essex’s ‘Around The Wicket’ is set for it’s return this weekend. The opening show starts at 2pm on Saturday (11 May), running until Saturday 27 July, so tune in on BBC Essex or listen on BBC Sounds.
The special studio guest this week will be wicket-keeper, Adam Wheater.
This will be the fourth season and a new presenter is also taking the reins this year who is an avid fan of cricket and her county club!
Twenty-five-year-old broadcast journalist Victoria Polley, who has an immense knowledge of cricket, is presenting the Saturday round-up of the Club, as well as in-depth coverage at club level. Victoria plans to get under the skin of the sport and bring listeners a unique perspective.
Victoria grew up in Colchester, listening to BBC Essex sport. Now the sports fanatic has achieved her dream of being a cricket and sports presenter in a historically male dominated field. Aged just 14, Victoria knew that she wanted to make a career in sport, even leaving school early one day to get Sir Alastair Cook to sign her copy of his autobiography at the local Waterstones.
Victoria said: “I’m hugely proud to be a part of programme that offers so much for fans of cricket in Essex; from news and analysis of our county side to the remarkable stories of people who shape the sport in Essex. BBC Essex Sport has been a part of my life for so long, first as a listener and now as the place I’ve built up my career over the past 8 years. The team care so much about what they do and it’s always so exciting – it never feels like work and I love being a part of it.”
Lou Birt, Editor at BBC Essex, added: “Everyone at BBC Essex is proud of Victoria, a local girl who grew up loving our output, and we are excited for her to get started on Around the Wicket. She is incredibly passionate, and will bring that enthusiasm to the Saturday afternoon show. She is an amazing role model to other young sports fanatics, and I’m keen to see more talented women given opportunities in playing and presenting sport.”
