Hampshire Cricket Board, the governing body for all recreational cricket in the county, has unveiled free cricket sessions for young people across Basingstoke.

The ‘Street’ programme has been organised in partnership with Vivid Plus, Brighton Hill Community School, Chance to Shine and Hampshire Cricket Board with the aim of opening up cricket and providing more access to cricket for young people in the Basingstoke area.

Using Brighton Hill Community School as a base, the introduction of sessions in Basingstoke aims to drive further youth engagement sessions across community spaces around the town.

‘Street’ also operates free-to-access sessions at two locations in Portsmouth, with the project joining the successful Southampton Wicketz programme in providing growing, county-wide urban cricket delivery.

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Across the county, 14 weekly ‘Street’ sessions are now in action, giving young people with previously little or no access to cricket, opportunities to play the game.

Hampshire Cricket’s ‘Hawks City Academy’, the innovative inner-city talent pathway established in Southampton in November 2021, is also set to launch a Basingstoke centre this year, utilising the existing relationship between Brighton Hill Community School and Hampshire Cricket Board.

Hampshire Cricket Board, in partnership with Vivid Plus, received funding from Hampshire & Isle of Wight Police and Crime Commissioner, Donna Jones, for the project as part of her drive to support victims, reduce offending or re-offending, and protect the vulnerable from crime and exploitation over the next three years.

The Hampshire ‘Street’ project aims to engage young people in regular sport in their communities, operating as an early intervention to youth crime, anti-social behaviour and exploitation.

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Cricket development director Ben Thompson said: “We want to make it accessible to everyone whatever their background.

“Working with Vivid Plus, we believe we can have a positive impact on our communities and make regular sporting activities accessible to young people in urban areas.’’

Urban cricket development officer Sam Moss said: “We have seen exponential growth of cricket in Hampshire cities over the past few years and we are really excited to bring this to the Basingstoke area.

“With the support of Brighton Hill Community School, the project is already proving very popular, with 33 young people attending our very first session. We are looking forward to developing the Basingstoke Street project over the coming year”.

The ‘Street’ sessions are now running every Tuesday at Brighton Hill Community School, 4.30-5.30pm for ages 9-11 and 5.30-6.30pm for ages 12-15.

It’s free of charge, families are welcome and participants can wear what they want (there is no need to have cricket attire).  For more information and to book a place please contact Sam Moss at sam.moss@ageasbowl.com or call 07384 115633.