It’s been a while since I uploaded a blog, I’ve been having a bit of writers block. I wanted to write something about India and Australia but whilst I gather my thoughts on that, I wanted to upload this. A slightly late video of our coaching day in South Africa and talk a bit about – as the MCC like to call it – ‘the spirit of cricket’

I was lucky enough to be given the chance to go on tour and play cricket in South Africa and on top of that I was even MORE lucky to be given the opportunity to coach some really talented young kids cricket in a Township in Cape Town. Created during apartheid as a dormitory area for migratory workers, today it is the biggest and youngest black township on the Cape Flats.

It was so inspiring to see these young kids running around (playing better cricket than myself to be honest) and bursting with energy. Working alongside Sporting Chance who work tirelessly with the kids and do amazing work we were able to deliver some bowling, batting and fielding coaching sessions and donate some kit and £700 to the charity. It’s nothing in the grand scheme of things but every little helps and the day had such a profound impact on everyone who participated, we established a crowdfunding page to help raise money and develop a sustainable relationship with the charity and the kids.

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/khayelitsha <if you have a few pounds to spare!

It got me thinking about the impact cricket has in the world and in particular on women and young girls. From Cricket Without Boundaries who work in sub-Saharan African countries to deliver cricket development alongside health and social education messages from HIV to FGM two of the most prevalent health issues faced by some of these countries…

(http://www.cricketwithoutboundaries.com/volunteer < you can read more about volunteering if you’re interested!)

… to Opening Boundaries who  just recently teamed up with the White Ribbon campaign to promote the role of men in the prevention of male violence against women and girls through sport and have done incredible work to promote gender equality and empower women and young girls through cricket.

Even at the elite level, cricket is making progress. the MCC have in recent years started running development and legacy tours to coach and train up coaches in countries such as Nepal, Suriname, Bermuda and Uganda. Countries that don’t enjoy the benefits of larger Test playing nations or even associate nations but giving the chance to these other nations to play against an elite team is invaluable experience and will help grow the game in more ways than one.

To be honest, I have no idea where this blog was going and I could go on forever about the number of charities doing amazing work from Chance to Shine to Street Child United and don’t get me wrong there’s still a long way to go but I just wanted to show everyone the incredible projects that are running all around us and most importantly, that my obsession with the sport is well founded…