The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Royal Military Police (RMP) have swapped bullets for bouncers to bring cricket to the schoolchildren of Basra Province over the past six months.
The Iraqi project is designed to make the British troops a more benign presence and encourage the locals to report any terrorist activity. Brigadier James Everard CBE, Commander of 20th Armoured Brigade, is amazed at how well it worked.
“I had never dreamt that cricket would form a bridge between our two cultures so successfully. And how wonderful that somebody has found the time to channel his passion so positively in an area where such delights are limited.”
That somebody is Major Andrew M. Banks (right), the Officer commanding 110 Provost Company RMP, who says he “wouldn’t dream of deploying without my cricket bat”.
Major Banks, who returned from a seven-month tour based in Basra at the end of last year, taught the notoriously bewildering rules of cricket in Arabic to a traumatized and suspicious populus embroiled in a sectarian struggle.
“They have no concept of bat and ball games, which I found quite surprising. The teachers were sceptical at first, until they saw the kids having fun. When we gave the teachers the ECB’s cricket sets for them to use they seemed pleased.”
The children played Kwik Cricket, developed by the ECB as a basic form of the game. Now sponsored by ASDA it is played in schools and clubs across England and Wales with over 110,000 children taking part in the National Competition last year.
Oliver Mott managed the project for the ECB from Lord’s. He said:
“It’s fantastic to see the positive aspects of cricket being used to such good effect in this difficult situation. Cricket, of all sports, is very good at teaching the benefits of teamwork and fair play while being excellent fun.”
ASDA, official sponsors of Kwik Cricket in England and Wales, donated the kits, which proved perfect for the testing conditions of Iraq, which according to Oliver worked well,
“Kwik Cricket was the natural choice for this project, it is cricket in its most basic form and so attractive to children, it’s very easy to use and the simple kits of plastic bats and balls can be packed up quickly in case of emergency!”
The Iraqi project is designed to make the British troops a more benign presence and encourage the locals to report any terrorist activity. Brigadier James Everard CBE, Commander of 20th Armoured Brigade, is amazed at how well it worked.
“I had never dreamt that cricket would form a bridge between our two cultures so successfully. And how wonderful that somebody has found the time to channel his passion so positively in an area where such delights are limited.”
That somebody is Major Andrew M. Banks (right), the Officer commanding 110 Provost Company RMP, who says he “wouldn’t dream of deploying without my cricket bat”.
Major Banks, who returned from a seven-month tour based in Basra at the end of last year, taught the notoriously bewildering rules of cricket in Arabic to a traumatized and suspicious populus embroiled in a sectarian struggle.
“They have no concept of bat and ball games, which I found quite surprising. The teachers were sceptical at first, until they saw the kids having fun. When we gave the teachers the ECB’s cricket sets for them to use they seemed pleased.”
The children played Kwik Cricket, developed by the ECB as a basic form of the game. Now sponsored by ASDA it is played in schools and clubs across England and Wales with over 110,000 children taking part in the National Competition last year.
Oliver Mott managed the project for the ECB from Lord’s. He said:
“It’s fantastic to see the positive aspects of cricket being used to such good effect in this difficult situation. Cricket, of all sports, is very good at teaching the benefits of teamwork and fair play while being excellent fun.”
ASDA, official sponsors of Kwik Cricket in England and Wales, donated the kits, which proved perfect for the testing conditions of Iraq, which according to Oliver worked well,
“Kwik Cricket was the natural choice for this project, it is cricket in its most basic form and so attractive to children, it’s very easy to use and the simple kits of plastic bats and balls can be packed up quickly in case of emergency!”
By Oliver Mott
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