Cricket investments paying off

Swanton Morley Cricket Club made a successful application last year to the Norfolk Community Foundation for a Grassroots grant and was pleased to be awarded a provisional grant of �2,000.

Around �500 was spent on the purchase of attractive, innovative cricket coaching equipment for the club's youth section and this proved to be very effective and popular during the outdoor training sessions last summer.

A further �1,300 was spent on special coaching courses, completed by four club members during the winter, and also to subsidise the cost of several Child Protection and First Emergency courses, which are mandatory for all those involved in training youngsters.

More recently the club has been able to spend �200 to hire the Neatherd School Sports Hall on five Saturday mornings, for two-hour sessions, to provide indoor cricket training for girls and boys between eight and 13 years.

This has been an excellent precursor to the forthcoming season when three junior teams will be trained: under-11s, under-13s and also, for the first time, a girls' team.

Highly qualified coach Wayne McKinney, who has devised the carefully-structured training programme at the Neatherd, is delighted with its success, and he paid tribute to the enthusiasm shown by his fellow coaches and thanked other club members for freely giving up their time to help.

The final session is on Saturday, April 9, 10am-noon.

Outdoor coaching sessions for youngsters begin at the Angel Cricket Ground on Monday, April 18, 6 to 7.30pm.

Visit wwwswantonmorleycc.co.uk or ring George Northall on 01362 637620.