28 March 2012
Corley Cricket Club has beaten over 1,500 community cricket clubs to be crowned NatWest’s Biggest Little Cricket Club – the most loved and worthy in England and Wales. Calling on their members, family, friends and local community to vote for them as part of a nationwide competition, they will now receive a helping hand from a host of cricketing specialists led by former England captain Michael Vaughan.
The team of experts visiting the Coventry club, will be boosting the club’s NatWest CricketForce efforts this weekend and helping with the preparation of facilities ahead of the new season. Michael Vaughan will be bringing a team of helpers including NatWest Pitch Doctor and ECB Pitch Consultant Chris Wood, tradesmen and NatWest staff to lend a hand. Jobs to be carried out will include the refurbishment of the scorebox and painting of the club house, changing rooms and perimeter fencing. The event at Corley Cricket Club will also be supported by Dulux paint and Flicx who will be supplying a Crazy Catching rebound net to help sharpen players fielding skills.
Racking up an impressive 22,817 points before the competition’s closing date Corley Cricket Club were shortlisted amongst four other clubs and were asked to submit a tie-breaker outlining why they deserved to win. The judging panel, which included Michael Vaughan, were extremely impressed by Corley’s community spirit in the face of adversity, despite experiencing seven break-ins and acts of vandalism already this year.
“We are a small family orientated community club who have endured a tough year. Although demoralising and difficult to deal with the NatWest competition has galvanised our members into action and we are honoured to be receiving a visit from Michael Vaughan and his team of helpers.”
NatWest Cricket Club captain, Michael Vaughan said: “We announced our search for the most loved and worthy cricket club at the beginning of March and the response has been fantastic. I’m now looking forward to visiting Corley Cricket Club on Sunday to lend a hand and encourage local businesses and the community to come along and get involved too.”
Dominic Warne, NatWest Senior Marketing Manger, said: “Across the country cricket clubs are run on a shoestring budget and volunteers from local businesses and the community are essential to ensure they thrive. Our staff will be swapping balance sheets for dust sheets and paint brushes this NatWest CricketForce weekend and getting involved in the hard work at Corley Cricket Club and at hundreds of other clubs participating nationwide. We hope the visit from Michael Vaughan and his team of helpers at Corley Cricket Club will inspire people to support the club this summer and for many years to come.”
The NatWest Biggest Little Cricket Club campaign will have more great rewards and incentives for clubs available throughout the year. To be ahead of the crowd and in with a chance of winning, clubs are encouraged to keep an eye on natwest.com/cricket, the NatWest Cricket page on Facebook and twitter.com/NatWest_Cricket for all the latest announcements.