Bath resident, Kat Byles, has teamed up with Urlings Cricket Club in the West Indies, Antigua and Legendary Fast Bowler, Sir Andy Roberts, to raise £2,500 for their cricket club house.
During a recent trip to Antigua, Kat visited local village cricket club, Urlings CC for several home and away matches.
Inspired by the mix of the club’s spirit, natural youth talent and senior players and coaches with national and international experience, she leapt at the chance to get involved.
Kat Byles said: “I’ve been lucky to be part of grass roots sports around the world for many years and Urlings Cricket Club has the magic.
“The younger children are the first to arrive and last to leave and practice non-stop often no shoes, no pads, just raw talent.
“They have cricket in their hearts. We want more of this wonderful spirit on the global sporting stage.”
Sir Andy Roberts is from Urlings Village and was the first cricketer from Antigua to play Test cricket, a legendary fast bowler who played world-class cricket for Hampshire County CC and Leicestershire County CC.
Backing the campaign he said: “There’s great local cricket talent in Urlings and surrounding villages. A club house will provide the much needed facilities, pride and focus to bring this talent through to the club and national level in Antigua and Barbuda.”
If you’d like to support grass roots talent in the West Indies you can make a contribution here: http://www.gofundme.com/UrlingsCC.
The Cricket Club House will include home and away changing rooms, toilets for teams and guests, a bar which will also generate consistent revenue for the club, a meeting room, trophy cabinet and storage space.
It will also include an outside deck seating area that will blend into the shade of the giant Tamarind tree.
£5,000 is needed for the building materials, fixtures and fittings. The club has access to a large number of local builders who have pledged to volunteer their time, skills and equipment to build the Club House.
£1,500 has already been raised locally and Kat aims to raise £2,500 online from international donations.
The cricket season in Antigua runs from January to July.
