St. Paul’s Primary School from Grangetown in Cardiff were today (January 25th) the inaugural winners of The St. John’s Cup held in the National Cricket Centre at the home of Glamorgan County Cricket Club in Sophia Gardens.
St. Paul’s won the competition for Church in Wales Primary Schools after going head-to-head with a team from St. Mary’s The Virgin in Butetown in the keenly-fought final, with the school from Grangetown winning by eight runs having made 48 compared with 40 by the St. Mary’s team in the time-limit softball game. Zain-ul-Hassan, the young all-rounder who has joined the Glamorgan staff for 2023 made the presentation to the winning team, as well as taking part in a Q and A session with the enthralled girls and boys.
“The St. John’s Cup is yet another of our indoor cricket tournaments which we have been trialling over the winter months in the National Cricket Centre”, explained Dr. Andrew Hignell, the Club’s Heritage and Education Co-ordinator who has overseen the competition which has also seen the participating schools have a behind-the-scenes tour of the Sophia Gardens ground and the CC4 Museum of Welsh Cricket. “With the support of Canon Rev. Sarah Jones of St. John’s Church, we have invited some of the schools within the parish for this inaugural tournament, and we have exciting plans to expand the tournament next year and to involve Church in Wales Primary Schools from other areas of South Wales.”
“We have been exceptionally busy over the course of the past few months as not only have we welcomed school groups for Stadium Tours, we have successfully run three tournaments – The Riverside Challenge involving a cluster of primary schools in the area within walking distance of the cricket stadium and the Turnbull Trophy involving pupils from a selection of Roman Catholic Primary Schools.”
“All three tournaments have been won by schools from the same area of South Cardiff with Grangetown Primary winning the Riverside Challenge and St. Patrick’s winning the Turnbull Trophy. It was great to see the enthusiasm today with all of the matches being played in the right spirit. We look forward to seeing all of these youngsters continue to enjoy playing cricket, as well as attending matches here at Sophia Gardens in the coming months.”
If you would like further information about any of these inter-schools competitions or school visits to Glamorgan Cricket, please send an email to museum@glamorgancricket.co.uk