Woodford Halse pupils have a ball with cricketing legend
Local primary school pupils in Woodford Halse were bowled over when former England and Yorkshire cricketer Darren Gough made a surprise appearance at a practice session.
The pupils were taking part in the England and Wales Cricket Board’s initiative called ‘Chance to Shine’ staged at Woodford Halse Cricket Club.
Darren, who is an ambassador of the Gigaclear Rural Sports Club Fund was at the club to meet volunteers and players and see new cricket nets purchased by the fund. The former England player and Strictly Come Dancing winner took time out during his visit to join in with the coaching and offer the youngsters some bowling and batting tips.
Woodford Halse Primary School Head Alison Crockford said: “Pupils had a wonderful time learning some of the fundamentals of cricket under the guidance of the ECB's Chance to Shine team and it was an added bonus to have someone like Darren Gough join us. It's opportunities like this that help sow the seeds that one day might see one of our youngsters playing for England!”
Fund ambassador Darren Gough said: “It was great to spend the day at Woodford Halse Cricket Club. The volunteers who run the club, as well as the players, are clearly very passionate about the game and they made me feel very welcome. In my role as ambassador, I was really pleased to see the cricket nets that the fund purchased for the club being put to good use.
“I know the club is keen to establish a youth section, so it was particularly pleasing to see young pupils from the local primary school take part in a taster session at the club. It was really great to see how Gigaclear's funding is providing game-changing support at grassroots rural sports clubs around the country."
Woodford Halse Cricket Club Chairperson Richard Stevens said he was delighted to welcome Darren to the club. He said: “To have someone like him show an interest in what we do is a great boost for the club. The rural sport club fund has already enabled us to buy new cricket nets and we hope to build on our relationship with Gigaclear in the future.”
More than 2,200 homes and businesses in Woodford Halse, Byfield, Hinton and Eydon - as well as surrounding rural communities - are now able to access Gigaclear’s full fibre broadband offering ultrafast speeds up to 900Mbps. For more details, visit www.gigaclear.com