Over 160 local school children recently took part in a pairs cricket tournament, part of the national Chance To Shine campaign. year five and year six children from Ottery St Mary and West Hill primary schools took part in the event that was organised by Ottery St Mary CC and cricket coach, Trevor Griffin, writes Ian Townsend.

Chance to Shine is a national campaign that was launched by The Cricket Foundation in 2005 and sets out to bring competitive cricket - and its educational benefits - back to at least a third of the country’s state schools over a 10 year period. Now in its seventh year, the scheme recognises the power of cricket to help young people acquire important skills, values and attitudes for their future lives.

Trevor explained: “Chance to Shine is breathing new life back into school cricket, while helping to educate thousands of children through the game. I organised this competition as a celebration of the benefits that competitive cricket can bring and for the children of Ottery St Mary to demonstrate how much they’ve learned about the game since we started in April.”

This is the first year that Ottery St Mary CC have been involved in the project, having secured funding from the DCB as part of their efforts to encourage more girls into the sport. Club chairman Rob Bradshaw-Smith enthused: “It was a fantastic day to cap what has been a very successful start to our Chance To Shine project.

Our aim was to encourage more girls to get involved in cricket and as a result of the coaching and work carried out so far, we’ve now set up an U12 team who have already played their first game. We’re also looking into starting an U15 squad as well, as the feedback and enthusiasm from the girls has been so positive.”

One of the teachers from West Hill Primary School, Mrs Harris, said: “The competition was great fun and we’re really grateful to Trevor for organising the competition. It was fantastic to see so many children demonstrating their skills, and having fun.”

with big smiles on their faces – and all within the spirit of the game”.

A total of 24 matches were played in the tournament, with West Hill’s teams crowned the eventual winners, for which they received the MCC Spirit of Cricket Trophy.

Ottery St Mary colts section train on a Friday night from 6:30pm till 8:00pm at its ground in Strawberry Lane. The girls’ team are managed by ECB qualified coach, Alex Clements, and anyone wanting to get involved can either turn up on the night or contact Rob Bradshaw-Smith on 07786 398089 for more information..