Joe Root launches National Cricket Week by inspiring kids with a game of cricket on a 2G Flicx Pitch

New England Test captain Joe Root, stopped by at his former primary school in Sheffield yesterday for a surprise visit to launch the 2017 Yorkshire Tea, National Cricket Week which uses the #powerofcricket to inspire children to participate. Root was introduced in the school assembly before joining in a cricket session on the schools playground hosted on a 2G Flicx Skills pitch owned by the school.

Joe hosted a cricket masterclass, bowling at some of the children before taking a more familiar role with the bat. PE co-ordinator Richard France is delighted with their Flicx Pitch which they purchased a couple of years ago

“Our Flicx Pitch plays a vital role in our cricket programme; not only do the bright colours excite the children but for us its not practical to create and maintain a turf wicket at the school so the Flicx Pitch has solved this issue – whilst its portability means that we can use it on both the school playground and to convert our playing fields”

Yorkshire Tea National Cricket Week will take place this year between the 19th -23rd June.  Over 1,500 schools take part in the event every year and turn their timetable over to cricket. Organisers Chance 2 Shine provide schools with cross-curricular cricket lesson plans, from teaching coordinates of a cricket field in Maths to pinpointing cricket playing countries in Geography.

Clubs hold Kwik cricket competitions for their local schools, while schoolchildren in Brighton and Cornwall compete in inter-school beach cricket tournaments. Sign your school up to participate in 2017 at http://chancetoshine.org