Gidman gets a taste for Street Cricket at inaugural schools festival
29 January 2014
Will Gidman swapped the manicured outfield of the County Ground for the sports hall floors of City Academy to take part in his first game of street cricket.
The Gloucestershire allrounder, 28, couldn’t resist getting involved in the action after dropping in at the GCB’s inaugural Bristol schools street cricket festival.
He said: “I haven’t really come across it before – it wasn’t around when I was growing up – but I think it’s great. More importantly the kids seem to really enjoy it.
“It’s been a long time since I played with a tennis ball. My batting was alright but bowling was a different ball game altogether. It was really good fun though.
Instead of following normal indoor cricket rules the teams played each other in a game of Street20. This is a fast-paced form of the game, made up of 20-ball innings and played with a tennis ball covered in tape.
City Academy dominated the festival after both their A and B teams made the final. The Academy’s A side were crowned champions with a 14-run win over their classmates – a victory that that saw them achieve a 100% record on the day.
Downend School and Brislington Enterprise College – who brought two teams - also took part in the competition which was the first of its type in Gloucestershire.
The festival highlighted the increasing popularity of the Street20 format, which is played at the Gloucestershire Cricket Board’s growing number of StreetChance projects. Funded by the Cricket Foundation, the GCB currently runs 10 schemes in Bristol and two in Cheltenham to encourage youngsters in inner-city areas to take up cricket.
Gidman played for both City Academy A and Brislington Enterprise in their game against each other and also gave all of the students present a chance to try and bowl him out.
The year 10 and 11 pupils also had the chance to quiz him on all aspects of his career, with questions ranging from how he became a professional, to whether he would rather play for Somerset!
Will said: “The students were awesome – I was really impressed. Their enthusiasm was there for all to see. They all seemed to give the ball a good whack and the way that modern cricket is going that’s no bad thing.
“The festival just proves that cricket doesn’t have to be an expensive game, you can just grab and a ball and have fun with it. Not all schools are lucky enough to have the time or facilities to play cricket outdoors so this is a fantastic substitute.”
The GCB’s Bristol StreetChance sessions are held after school at venues right across the city. Some are aimed at juniors (8-15) and others at young adults (16-24). There are also two projects just for girls. For more information visit www.gloucestershirecricketboard.com/street-chance or email GCB projects and programmes manager Chris Munden at chris.munden@glosccc.co.uk.
Chris said: “Street20 is a brilliant way to get young people who wouldn’t normally play cricket involved in the game. We first introduced it at our after-school StreetChance sessions but it is great to see it now being played in schools as well. Hopefully competitive events like this will encourage pupils to keep playing and to go on to join their local clubs.”
The event also featured a Gloucestershire CCC stand with information about youth membership which costs just £20 in 2014. The students also had the chance to enter a prize draw for free tickets to watch Sri Lanka A v New Zealand A at the County Ground in August.
