Local cricket clubs across England and Wales are being given the chance to go head-to-head against former England captain Michael Vaughan and his team of cricket legends thanks to the NatWest Locals v Legends T20 Series.
Giving teams the chance to create their own unique piece of history, NatWest Cricket Club captain, Michael Vaughan says, “Every local cricket club has its own legends who, on their day, believe that they can compete against the best. The NatWest Locals v Legends T20 Series will allow three grassroots clubs to win the chance for my team of former England stars to come and play them at their home ground for a one off match to raise funds for their club.”
For the winning clubs, the game hosted on their home turf will provide a great opportunity to get the local community involved and raise vital funds through activities such as selling tickets, organising a BBQ and opening up the bar to satisfy the appetite of their club members and wider community.
To be in with a chance of winning, clubs must be registered for NatWest CricketForce Fundraiser, which is an annual event encouraging clubs to utilise the August Bank Holiday weekend to organise activities to generate funds to help improve and repair their facilities. Once clubs have registered they need to demonstrate the strength of their support by enlisting their members, friends, and local community to vote for them online and make it into the top thirty on the leaderboard at natwest.com/cricket.
The thirty clubs with the most points when voting closes at 9am on Tuesday 26 June will be submitted to a judging panel who will decide which clubs will host one of the three NatWest Locals v Legends T20 games. The other shortlisted clubs will each receive a great prize, from match tickets to the NatWest ODI Series against South Africa to spaces at an exclusive training session with the England team, to help boost their fundraising efforts.
Paul Smith, Brand Director, UK Retail at NatWest, said: “We launched the NatWest Cricket Club last year with the aim of generating £20m worth of support for the grassroots game. One of the major challenges cricket clubs of all sizes face is the need to maintain and improve the standard of facilities.”
He added: “To make the NatWest CricketForce Fundraiser weekend even more exciting this year we decided to introduce the Locals versus Legends initiative in conjunction with the Professional Cricketers Association. What player or fan wouldn’t love to play against their heroes or watch them in action at their local club.”
Every club that registers for NatWest CricketForce Fundraiser at www.ecb.co.uk/natwestcricketforcefundraiser will automatically receive 500 points towards their total to help them get started and to encourage them to rally support in their local communities to raise funds for their club.
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Editors Notes
NatWest CricketForce Fundraiser
NatWest CricketForce Fundraiser 2012 will take place over the August Bank Holiday weekend (25-27 August). Clubs are encouraged to find innovative ways to raise funds that they can then invest in projects around the club during NatWest CricketForce 2013. This year NatWest CricketForce saw 1,938 clubs taking part with members, volunteers, tradesmen and more than 1,000 NatWest branch staff helping to rejuvenate club facilities.
NatWest Cricket Club
The NatWest Cricket Club was launched in 2011 to galvanise cricket fans across England and Wales to support their local club to ensure sustainable development of local cricket clubs.
Led by Club captain, Michael Vaughan, it is working to identify problems that local cricket clubs face and help to highlight and address them. Members are encouraged to volunteer time and services to grassroots cricket. Additional rewards for members include access to NatWest Series match tickets and exclusive cricketing experiences (including the chance to train with the England team, applicable to NatWest current account holders only).
Membership is free and fans can show their support by registering at natwest.com/cricket.
NatWest aims to generate £20m worth of additional support for the grassroots game by 2013 through a combination of volunteering, fundraising and contributions from local businesses and communities.
NatWest Locals v Legends T20 Series competition criteria
The NatWest Locals v Legends T20 Series initiative is open to all cricket clubs in England and Wales who are registered to participate in NatWest CricketForce Fundraiser 2012.
Registration for NatWest CricketForce Fundraiser is via www.ecb.co.uk/natwestcricketforcefundraiser
The competition voting period will be open from Monday 23 April 2012 and will close at 9am on Tuesday 26 June. Votes can be registered on natwest.com/cricket.
The thirty clubs with the most points on Tuesday 26 June will be asked to write why they should win the top prize in 200 words. The twenty-seven runners up will receive one of the following prizes, to help with fundraising initiatives throughout the season:
- Two spaces at a training session with the England cricket team
- Two spaces at a training session with a member of the England cricket team
- A pair of tickets to the NatWest International T20 match between England and South Africa at Durham on 8 September 2012
- A item of merchandise signed by the England team
Voting, and full terms and conditions for entry can be found at natwest.com/cricket.
The NatWest Locals v Legends T20 Series is run in association with the Professional Cricketers Association.
Further NatWest Locals v Legends news during the cricket season can be found at
- NatWest Cricket page on Facebook, and twitter.com/NatWest_Cricket