Cricket club members triple as popularity rises

Yahoo

6 days ago

A cricket club said it has seen a surge in new members and that more young people have been taking up the sport.
Divesh Patel took over as chair of Wellingborough Indians Cricket Club in Northampton three years ago when membership had dropped to about 30 people.
He said there had been a lot of interest from the local community, particularly young people, who had been following England in the Test series.
The club now had between 90 and 100 members with two senior teams and young people continued to join.
"We have seen a surge in the popularity of the sport in general and have had a lot of interest from around the local community, it has been great," Mr Patel said.
"We continuously get a lot of interest in joining the club and hopefully [we will] continue to grow as kids are taking a lot of interest in the sport," he added.
Club president Dilip Patel, who has been with the club since it formed in 1968, said there had been "tremendous change" over the years.
"We didn't always have these type of facilities. Now we have a lot of players coming from all sorts of backgrounds," he said.
"We have a lot of pride in what we have done to date and all out youth are getting the opportunity to reap the benefit of the hard work we have put in over the years.
"[The club] means a great deal to me and our community, especially the youth, and it gives them a great opportunity to come and enjoy the facilities we have here," he added.
Dilip Patel said the club was open to anyone who wanted to play cricket, but it was not just about the sport, adding the social side was also a huge benefit.
Om, who plays with the under-10s, said: "I like playing cricket and it's always fun to meet all my friends."
Anjni, who played on the under-13s, added it was fun to bond with the team and have fun while playing as well as being competitive.
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Related internet links
Wellingborough Indians Cricket Club