Two weeks until first Cricket Memories Match
9 May 2014
Gloucestershire legend Mike Procter has confirmed he’ll be attending some of the very first ‘Cricket Memories Matches’ to be held in the country, organised by his former club.
Proccie, who’ll be in the UK for some of the summer to promote his charity ‘The Mike Procter Foundation’, has kindly agreed to make an appearance at two of the three special matches. There’ll be a stall set up by Sporting Memories Network (SMN) who are helping organise the special games, so fans can ‘donate’ their memories, bring along memorabilia to get signed and even have the chance to share stories with the man who is the subject of so many.
“Each professional sports club in the country has a special page on the SMN website where fans can upload their own memories.” Roz Hutchings, Head of Community Engagement told us. “If you take a look at Gloucestershire’s pages it is no surprise 100% of the stories on there at the moment are about Mike Procter as he was such a formidable cricketer with an unforgettable character. So, when Proccie told us he’d be coming to the UK this summer and agreed to support the ‘Cricket Memories Match’ we couldn’t believe our luck. To have him there in person will make it even more special for fans sharing their stories and sparking up some really interesting conversations.”
One Gloucestershire fan who has uploaded their memory on to the SMN website is non-other than BBC Sports Presenter John Inverdale: “My abiding sporting memory in the West Country concerns watching Mike Procter bowling for Gloucestershire, and being the most exciting cricketer I think I had ever seen. I used to spend hours trying to bowl off the wrong foot (as he did) and hours falling over as I failed miserably.”
The games, which will be a celebration of the history and heritage of the club, will also raise awareness of dementia. There will be an appeal for members, fans and former players to add their memories to the growing collection of tales of Gloucestershire County Cricket Club which are being used to support older fans living with dementia. Memory Makers (volunteers) will be on hand to interview spectators during the three games which are on the following dates:
Friday 23rd May 2014.
Gloucestershire will take on Middlesex in a T20 game that also marks the club's 125th anniversary of playing at the Bristol County Ground.
Friday 18th July 2014
Gloucestershire host Surrey in the exciting T20 format, during the Cheltenham Cricket Festival. The festival was started by James Lillywhite in 1872 with the first match being played against Surrey which was won by Gloucestershire.
Monday 25th August 2014
The Bristol County Ground is hosting the first in the series of One Day Internationals between England v India. The tourists take on England in a five test series throughout the summer before rolling up in Bristol for the first in a five game ODI series.
One week today Gloucestershire kick off their NatWest T20 Blast campaign on 16th May when they face arch rivals Somerset in a tense game which is certain to keep you on the edge of your seat.
Tickets are still available for both matches online at www.gloscricket.co.uk/tickets or by calling 0117 910 8010.
