‘Tapeball Territory’-Queens Park Ward Bedford-Cricket Easts Urban Cricket Plan
(Parts of Queens Park are amongst the 10% most deprived nationally)
The following is a transcript of the BBC Look East regional news programme on 14/8/2023:
‘The Ashes couldn’t have been more exciting and the new Hundred format has already been on the TV too. But have you ever heard of tapeball, a game that sprung up on the streets of Pakistan (amongst other places) and is getting big here too. It is cricket……kind of!
Look East sent their correspondent Janine Machin to find out more:
So here’s a question, when is a tennis ball not a tennis ball?, the answer is when it’s a tapeball, til this morning I had no idea what it was, so if you get a tennis ball and wrap it in insulation tape then you get a tapeball and you can play this.
Tapeball tournament action
Janine continues: The tournament has been organised in Bedford by Cricket East, Abid is the local Head Coach (close to 30 youngsters attended).
Abid then explained though it looks a lot like cricket, tapeball makes it a lot more accessible for local youngsters so they are not having to buy expensive bats, pads and helmets. So, it’s just get a bat, some wickets and a tapeball and just play cricket (in this caged area), so they can just enjoy it without all the expense of actual normal cricket.
Janine commented that the ball is just taped up so it keeps more of its pace after it bounces. She asked Abid why he wanted to be a coach in this sport. He replied: Cricket gave me a pathway to excel, aim for this higher and as I grew up, I just thought give back to the community. Allow the kids to experience cricket, visit lots of different places and meet lots of different people.
Janine then introduced 2 excited youngsters: Yusuf told her that they liked and enjoyed playing it. Faizaan confirmed that it was good to be here with all their friends that they didn’t see everyday as people go to different schools, but here everyone in the community comes together.
Janine said that was a really good point to make and then said to Dave Summers Diverse Communities Officer for Cricket East that they run these free cricket sessions right across the east to bring communities together. Dave continued that people could contact him: dave.summers@cricketeast.co.uk if they needed more information. The day also included a coaching zone covering key game areas to keep all attendees active.
Further photos from tournament and coaching zone.
He went on to also say that this was part of the urban cricket plan across the whole of the Cricket East area (Huntingdonshire and Bedfordshire) including Luton, Peterborough and Bedford. Dave added that some of these youngsters from Bedford a few weeks were over in Pboro playing against them, all part of the inclusion policy to really use it as a vehicle to bring communities together.
Janine thanked Cricket East for inviting BBC to Bedford to see tapeball in action and then encouraged everyone to consider using a ball taped up to play this version of the game.’
Footnote-Ongoing game activity in Queens Park with support from the wider Cricket East Team:
A community defibrillator was provided by the National Asian Cricket Council. The Councils Chairman Gulfraz Riaz gave the following quote: ‘The National Asian Cricket Council to date have distributed close to £200,000.00 worth of defibrillators to the South Asian cricketing community nationally at no cost. We worked closely with Abid who was passionate about delivering such an import life safe equipment for his community and we were delighted to be able to provide defibrillators for Queens Park, Bedford linked to the club Westfield CC. The defibrillator programme is run in association with the ECB, The Club Cricket Charity and The Community Heartbeat Trust’.
Restart female programme-severely impacted by covid. See coach development below.
Widen youth sides currently u11 and u13 playing in local Leagues- this is supported by regular hardball sessions, 60 youngsters had attended All Stars and Dynamos programmes recently plus the weekly Chance 2 Shine Street Tapeball initiative regularly attended by 20-30 youngsters. Annual matches are also held against the Pboro Lords Taverners Wicketz Programme.
Youth Empowerment Programme-Series of modules constructed and led by Abid using sport as a vehicle to teach leadership, role modelling and various life skills providing a well-rounded approach to empowering young people to make positive contributions to their lives and the community. Links to local partnerships with the charity ‘Faith in Queens Park’ and Bedfordshire Police and their Crime Commissioners Office who supported a Sports Festival in the Ward.
Youth Empowerment practical session photos (this Module led by Dave):
Partnership with Northants CCC-Giving Queens Park volunteers/coaches, their families and young cricketers regular access to match tickets to experience first class county environments. 2 visits are planned for 2023.
Picture:
2022 Queens Park youngsters at Northants CCC with then Derbyshire/Pakistan player Shan Masood
Targeted coach development programme- Providing bursaries to support the professional development of identified individuals with the potential to support the sustainability of the game through: Support, Foundation and Core Coach course opportunities. 10 local coaches (inc. 3 females) have or will have been trained come early 2024.
Abid recently spent 2 weeks in Kenya working on the Cricket Without Boundaries charity.
Text and case study compiled by: Dave Summers August 2023