Cricket-News.Org

Surrey County Cricket Club has announced today that over £250,000 was raised in last Monday’s Pakistan Charity Match at the Brit Insurance Oval that saw Pakistan play an International XI.

Despite rain marring the start of the event, reducing the game to ten overs a side, over 20,000 people were present to witness some of the world’s best cricketers on display in a match that went right down to the last ball. Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni were all in blistering form with the bat but it was Pakistan who eventually stole the show by reaching the required target off the very last ball.

The Club’s major sponsors, Brit Insurance donated £100,000 of the money raised, which will go towards helping those affected by the disaster that struck Pakistan last October.

Dane Douetil, Chief Executive of Brit Insurance, said, “To have raised over a quarter of a million pounds for the President’s Earthquake Relief Fund is a remarkable accomplishment and further evidence of what can be achieved when the cricket community pulls together in support such worthy causes. To have attracted a crowd of over 20,000 to the Brit Insurance Oval was a tremendous effort and the players, public and media should be applauded for their valuable support”.

He added, “As match sponsor, Brit Insurance is extremely proud to have played a significant part in the overall fundraising effort and hope that the monies raised will make a major difference to the lives of many people affected by the catastrophic events in northern Pakistan last October.”

Paul Sheldon, Surrey Chief Executive added, “Brit Insurance’s generous sponsorship of the Pakistan Charity Twenty20 match made a significant impact on our fund raising efforts. We are deeply grateful to some of the world’s greatest stars for making themselves available. It was marvellous to have the ground packed with supporters cheering on their heroes.”

Comments(0)

On Sunday 25th June an audience of over 18000 witnessed a spectacular event as Sir Elton John played at The County Ground, Hove. Not only was it a success in front of show but also the behind-the-scenes running of the event.

This was a major project taken on by Sussex County Cricket Club, Marshall Arts, Brighton & Hove City Council and the Emergency Services and it was a massive achievement for all concerned.

Inspector Kevin Claxton of Sussex Police said, “We are very pleased that the Elton John concert was a huge success. Many  parties were involved and consulted, from Sir Elton’s management and the promoters, to the Cricket Club, various City Council departments, Stewarding and the emergency services. It is clear that all agencies worked excellently together, in planning and running the event. This resulted in an absolute minimum of disruptive behaviour, no arrests, and a first-class event for those attending. It demonstrates to us the value of successful multi-agency working in running top-rate events in the city, in a safe and crime-free way.”

A council spokesperson said: “The event went smoothly and was a great success .  The council received only very few number of noise-related complaints in comparison to the large number of people who enjoyed the evening.”

Barrie Marshall of Marshall Arts said, “Elton John is a superb artist of whom there are very few. He has attained an extraordinary level of achievement both musically and as an entertainer throughout his career.

“His performance yesterday at the County Ground gave a crowd of 18,000 the opportunity to experience this for themselves.

“As promoters we have been very privileged to have been able to promote Elton John at such a wonderful ground, whose staff, led by Ian Waring and Brian Jeffries, have worked tirelessly with us to make the show a success. We look forward to being able to bring more artists  of this calibre to Hove in the future.”

This concert is the first that Sussex CCC has ever staged and to have such a high profile performer as our inaugural guest artist was an ambitious move.  Having been so closely involved with the set-up, the event and break down we can see exactly what such an event entails.  For example:  there were over 150 workers on site for six days, nine kilometres of cabling was used and on the day itself 500 gallons of Pimms was consumed, 4000 punnets of strawberries eaten and over 1000 buckets of ice used.

Comments(0)

On Wednesday 14th June, Banks’s will be hosting a Cricket Forum in the Pavilion Suite at Edgbaston. The forum will follow the first day 1 of the Liverpool Victoria County Championship match against Lancashire being played at Edgbaston from June 14.

The forum will be hosted by 96.4 BRMB and Capital Gold’s Tom Ross with guest panelists Warwickshire CCC Chief Executive Colin Povey, Club Captain Heath Streak and Dougie Brown. There will be the opportunity for people to put questions to the panel about all aspects of the game including Warwickshire CCC’s progress this season.

Everyone is welcome and tickets are £2 and can be purchased at the Edgbaston Ticket Office. The doors will open at 7.30p.m with the forum beginning at 8.30p.m.

For more information please contact Abi Dollery on 0121 446 3642 or by email at abidollery@edgbaston.com

Comments(0)