A Wrexham primary school has become the first from North Wales to win the Northern Area finals of the National Kwik Cricket competition, organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
The mixed team from St Peter’s School, in Rossett, Wrexham finished ahead of the winning schools from nine counties, including Yorkshire, Lancashire, Durham and Cheshire. The St Peter’s girls team finished third in their event.
The school has developed its Kwik Cricket programme through the Cricket Wales Community Coach Programme supported by the Chance to Shine initiative.
After qualifying through stage one of the competition at Chirk, the school took two mixed teams and one girls team to the area finals at Brymbo, and won both competitions.
They went on to win both contests at the regional finals, which meant the school would represent North Wales in both the mixed and girls competition.
In the Northern Area finals at Harrogate, the mixed team won the final, and the girls reached the semi-final and finished third in the competition.
“For a school from North Wales to win in the Northern Area finals is a massive achievement,” said Gavin Hawkey, Cricket Wales Development Manager. “Counties such as Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cheshire have huge numbers of cricket clubs by comparison with North Wales. It was fantastic to win such a big prize, and reflects the thriving cricket culture in the school.”
The schools raised funds to buy a cricket net, and deputy head David Lloyd was able to acquire Kwik Cricket equipment through the support of the local authority. With the support of Community Coach Jamie Griffiths, the children used the equipment to practise before and after school, at break time and lunch time.
As a result, 43 of the school’s 220 pupils have joined a cricket club, and seven have represented North East Wales U11s or U10s.
Cricket Wales is the national governing body for junior and recreational senior cricket in Wales. It works closely with Glamorgan County Cricket Club, which governs the men’s professional game. For information visit www.cricketwales.org.uk.
