England Stars Help Launch £1m Cricket Facility
England cricketers James Taylor, Katherine Brunt and Sonia Odedra were on hand for the unveiling of a new £1 million cricket facility in Leicester this week, designed to provide ‘a major boost for recreational cricket in the city,’ according to the governing body.
The England trio took part in a coaching session with junior cricketers from Crown Hills Community College, which has been rebuilt at a cost of £21 million under the Building Schools for the Future PFI Initiative and was officially opened by the City’s Mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, and the ECB chairman Giles Clarke.
The project included a £1 million investment by ECB and Sport England to develop a new multi-purpose sports hall offering state-of-the-art cricket facilities to students from the college, the local community and talented young cricketers from across the East Midlands.
Clarke said of the launch: ‘The delivery of this project has been a team effort and we would like to thank the Principal and staff at the college, Leicester City Council, Sport England and Leicestershire and Rutland Cricket for their wholehearted support.’
‘This is a fantastic facility which will be of enormous long-term benefit to the college and play a major role in engaging the wider community in cricket and serving the needs of local clubs.’
‘It also represents a key part of our wider plans to engage more closely with the Asian cricket community at a national level and raise the standard of cricket facilities and pitches in urban areas.’
Sport England’s property director, Charles Johnston, added: ‘We are pleased to be partners in this high quality project which will provide a focus on cricket development for students at the college and in local clubs. This project is of strategic importance because Crown Hills Community College is the only specialist sports college in Leicester and Leicestershire with cricket as its focus sport.’
