Table cricket final comes to Hove

Northease Manor school in Lewes were crowned East Sussex table cricket county champions last week at The 1st Central County Ground, Hove, home of Sussex Cricket.

The victorious team were made up of Isabelle (11), Ashley (11), Harvey (12), Eran (11), Lily (11) and Harry (10).

The Northease Manot team are presented with their prizes

Northease Manor were one of six schools and colleges competing at the county final on Tuesday 20th February, part of the Lord’s Taverners national table cricket competition.

The other teams involved were Hillside School, Portslade, Hazel Court School, Eastbourne, Hazel Court FE Faculty, Eastbourne and Downs View Life Skills College, Brighton.

Participants ranged in age from 10 to 21-years-old.

Northease Manor will now join The Angmering School – winner of the West Sussex county final last month – in the regional final that takes place at the K2 in Crawley on Thursday 10th May.

The winner of that event will earn the right to play in the national final at Lord’s on Thursday 21st June.

Speaking at Tuesday’s county final, Sussex Cricket’s Chief Executive, Rob Andrew, said: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome over 30 young people to the ground and see them having so much fun playing in this great cricket competition.

“The fact we have ten girls and 23 boys from secondary schools and FE colleges playing together really highlights the truly inclusive nature of this format of the game.”

Rob Andrew tries his hand at table cricket.

Helen Mackay, Assistant Headteacher at Hazel Court Secondary School commented: “Our students really enjoyed the day and gained a lot from it. It was extremely well organised and a great venue!”

Neil Watson, Teacher at Hillside School added: “Today was excellent day and one of the best events we have done.  The boys loved it and it was very easy to get involved in. Many thanks and hope to head down for a game soon.”

Table cricket gives people with more severe physical disabilities and learning difficulties the opportunity to play the game and compete in a structured tournament.

More than 30 players were involved in Tuesday's final. 

The sport is growing rapidly with 7,168 participants nationally in 2016/17, up from 552 in 2014-15.

Sussex Cricket delivered 26 separate table cricket projects in 2016/17 reaching 384 people. This number is on target to reach 500 in 2017/18.

Every year, the six-a-side national competition is run by the Lord’s Taverners, the UK’s leading youth cricket and disability sports charity.

Alongside this year’s tournament, the Lord’s Taverners has introduced a Table Cricket Leaders Award. This provides selected participants the opportunity to develop and be recognised for their leadership skills and confidence by helping to deliver events in the competition.

The Table Cricket Leaders present at last Tuesday’s county final were 24-year-old Lewis Pope, his Sussex county disability squad teammate, 15-year-old Woodlands Meed College student, Callum Wolff, 19-year-old Harry Jackson and 20-year-old Ben Gilburt, both from Downs View Life Skills College.

If you’re school or college would like to get involved with Sussex Cricket’s table cricket programme, please e-mail aroop.tanna@sussexcricket.co.uk.  

Champions!

How does a game of table cricket work?

The game is played on a table-tennis table or similar, with boundary fences set up around three edges.

Teams are made up of six players and each team bats once.

Every team member bats and bowls for one over each.

The ball is delivered down a ramp and the batsmen use a mini cricket bat to attempt to hit the ball.

The members of the fielding side who aren’t bowling surround the three edges of the table using a sliding board to try and intercept the ball once it has been hit by the batsman.

Runs are scored if the batsman hits the ball into the boundary without it being intercepted by the fielders. The number of runs scored depends on which part of the boundary the ball hits.

If the fielder manages to intercept the ball and it hits the white part of their board, then no runs are scored. If the fielder intercepts the ball and it hits the red central part of their board then the batsman is caught out.

The batsman can also be out bowled if he misses the ball, LBW if he misses the ball and it hits his body and caught behind if he edges the ball behind.

If a batsman is dismissed, five runs are deducted from his team’s total.

The team with the most runs after both sides have batted is the winner!

Check out these handy video guides from the Lord's Taverners for more information...