Pupils across Surrey and the London Borough of Sutton have been putting their cricket skills to the test via a unique programme offered by LEO Academy Trust and Surrey County Cricket Club (Surrey CCC), which aims to inspire and raise sporting aspirations amongst children from all backgrounds.

While cricket has seen a steady increase in participation from women and girls in recent years, professional cricket player Azeem Rafiq’s testimony of racism at Yorkshire County Club in November this year highlighted the need to improve diversity and inclusion in the sport.

Providing more grassroots opportunities for boys and girls to get involved in cricket from an early age will help increase engagement, so more children from diverse backgrounds will feel confident and equipped to pursue a career on the cricket field.

To this aim, LEO Academy Trust teamed up with Surrey Cricket Foundation (SCF) to run the All Stars and Dynamos Cricket programmes specifically for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds across its schools. The initiative (national programme), created by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), offers five-11 year olds an exciting introduction to the sport as they get to become real-life cricket pros. The eight-week programme includes:
Personalised cricket kit, including a rucksack and team t-shirt, for each pupil
60-minute coaching sessions to help children develop key cricket skills, such as batting, bowling and catching
The opportunity to develop positive sportsmanship and interpersonal skills, including communication, teamwork and accepting winning and losing.
Providing more pupils with the opportunity to play cricket first-hand is a brilliant way to combat some of the misconceptions around the sport and show children anyone can be a cricketeer. The All Stars and Dynamos initiatives have been a great success, inspiring LEO pupils to run their own cricket tournaments in schools.

Traditionally only offered at cricket clubs, LEO Academy Trust has been running the All Stars and Dynamos initiatives as an extra-curricular opportunity for children thanks to support from Surrey CCC.
LEO Academy Trust has also been working with children’s national cricket charity, Chance to Shine, to give P.E teachers continuing professional development (CPD) which enhance their cricket teaching skills.

Kim Price, cricket participation manager – schools and children lead, at Surrey CF, said:

“The year-on-year success of our partnership is due mainly to value that LEO Academy Trust place on cricket opportunities for pupils. The programmes not only develop and inspire young cricketers, but enable cricket to be used as the vehicle for teaching important life skills such as teamwork, confidence, be gracious both in victory and defeat, patience, compassion and decision making. It is a pleasure to work with the Trust and we hope to be able to roll this model out to other school trusts within the county.”

Matt Warner, sports development officer at LEO Academy Trust, said:

“Cricket is a fantastic and unique sport for children as it is governed by the Spirit of Cricket, which promotes teamwork, mutual respect and fair play as rules of the game. It has been wonderful working with Surrey CF to give more children the opportunities to experience cricket for themselves and discover their sporting potential. The All stars and Dynamos programme means we can start children off on the right foot with cricket and help nurture their talent, which is key to developing the next generation of diverse cricket superstars.”