Coinciding with the start of the cricket season, Mark Ellis, Barry Athletic’s youth coordinator arranged a school and club visit for local children to learn all about the basics of cricket. Ex-England Cricketer and World Cup Finalist Chris Lewis was on hand to pass on his knowledge and expertise.
Barry Communities First supported the day along with Cricket Wales, Glamorgan Cricket and some volunteer coaches from Barry Athletic.
First stop was Oakfield Primary School where 28 children participated in a taster session followed by a Kwik Cricket game. The success of the session has encouraged them to start an after-school cricket club.
Next stop was Barry Comprehensive where ITV Wales were in attendance to film for a news item in the evening. Over 50 boys attended the session and it was great to see Year 7 and Year 8 boys getting involved and enjoying Chris’s coaching. A few of the boys were interviewed as part of the filming session and Headteacher, Mr Gerry McNamara was an interested spectator.
After lunch, Chris’s final school was Ysgol St Curig where he learnt some Welsh and again over 50 children participated in the session with a variety of bowling, batting and fielding drills.
Chris visited Recovery Cymru as part of his tour, talking to clients who have been on journeys recovering from drug and alcohol addictions and then spent an enjoyable hour with volunteer youth coaches from Barry Athletic enjoying coffee and cake courtesy of sponsors Cadwaladers at their Barry Island café.
The final part of the day was a training session with the Barry Athletic Cricket Youth Section where over 10 new children attended who had been at the earlier sessions, taking the session to over 50 in numbers. With the impending new Cardiff and Vale Junior cricket league starting for the Under 9s and Under 11’s, this was an opportunity for Chris to put the children through their paces and it was great to see them all enjoying themselves as the ground was bathed in early evening sunshine.
Mark Ellis said: “Having Chris visit was inspirational for everybody involved. Watching him interact with the children was great, he really enjoyed his visit to Barry and I’m sure his lasting legacy from the day will be that whatever your age or ability, to be outdoors playing cricket can lead to fun and friendships being developed.
"As Chris commented, cricket has given him a great life travelling all over the world and meeting people from all backgrounds and communities."
Glamorgan's Mark Wallace is the current PCA Chairman. Wallace talked about the support the PCA has given to Chris on his road to recovery after Chris was jailed for six years in 2009 for drug smuggling. Lewis is now part of that support programme to impart his knowledge and experience to the younger generation.
Wallace said: "Sometimes cricketers can fall on tough times. There are guys like Chris who have gone down the wrong path, but they have come and spoken about how that can happen.
"Cricket has got quite a public image with depression, so having people like Chris come and speak so openly, so honestly and candidly is absolutely fantastic. It's great to have cricketers share their experiences and help the next generation."
Barry Athletic Cricket Club welcomes players of all abilities both boys and girls from the ages of 7 -13. Training takes place on Tuesday evenings from 6.00pm – 7.30pm with matches for U9’s on a Sunday morning and U11’s on Monday evenings.
For further information on the Barry Athletic Cricket Youth Section and the Golden Ticket scheme please contact the Youth Coordinator, Mark Ellis 07826 020707.