Burns' Eye View

London County hosts ‘The Canterbury Festival’ for Under 12′s

By Neil Burns on April 7th, 2010

As an organization, London County Cricket Club was delighted to host ‘The Canterbury Festival’ over the Easter weekend for County Under 12’s. The Special Event gave us great pleasure in providing an opportunity for a minimum of 44 young cricketers to participate in the inaugural event.  It proved to be an ideal way to begin the London County Colts project for talented young cricketers with such a successful launch.

Cambridgeshire, a Kent XI, London County Colts, and Norfolk were the featured teams.

Event Director Richard Baxter deserves fulsome praise for his vision, his industry, and his management of both people, and process. Such a combination of skills ensured we had a superb tournament and a memorable event. In addition to Richard’s indispensable contribution, other parents, and key staff at Kent College were also major factors  in making ’The Canterbury Festival’ so successful. Despite conceiving an idea of staging an event against the odds in terms of inclement weather, its success became a triumph for human spirit.

One of the biggest thrills for me, was the integration of all the teams on a social basis, highlighted by the impromptu game of football with ‘pick-up’ teams on the campus at Kent College during one of the evenings. The superb dining facility (and excellent food) also provided a wonderful forum to bring people together as our point of convergence.

Seeing fathers and sons staying together at a school campus and engaging in a range of conversations highlighted the value of a process which brings people together for a few days within a confined space, but with an informal ‘feel’. Such experiences can leave a lasting impression and offer some cherished memories in years to come.

It is always a pleasure to see young cricketers play with skill, joy and competitive spirit. The three days at Kent College, Canterbury provided the backdrop for a pre-season event for young, county age-group standard players. The vision for London County Colts is to be a Development XI for cricketers under the age of 13, who want to play quality cricket on good grounds, in order to understand more about their all-round potential, both on, and off the field.

The standard of play was good, especially the fielding. Cambridgeshire looked a well-organised and highly-competitive unit, which explains why they have only lost one match (in two years) out of their last twenty, before this tournament. Their left-arm pace bowler Tom Cox was selected as one of the most promising young cricketers on show over the Easter weekend by the other team managers. Norfolk’s wicket-keeper/batsman Sam Hunt, and Kent’s Ed Solly were the other two recipients of cricket books as their prizes for their performances which singled them out as highly promising talents.

London County Colts Captain Amar Verdi led his team to victory at ‘The Canterbury Festival’ by scoring 49 (as the opening batsman), to secure a one-wicket victory in the play-off decider against Cambridgeshire on the final afternoon. The finale was played out in front of players from all four of the competing teams, their respective coaches, parents and additional spectators. It was the perfect conclusion to a most enjoyable few days. It kept everyone fully engaged right up until the decisive final blow by London County Colts’ Arthur Godsall which cleared mid-on and allowed Arhtur and his partner Josh Selvey to put on an undefeated 10th wicket partnership of 12 runs and emerge victorious.

The tension which precipitated the climax of a gripping match challenged everyone’s temperament, not least those directly involved in the heat of ‘the battle’.  Whatever level of personal experience any adult has in the world of performance, I imagine the anxiety of observing one’s offspring having to  ‘face the music’, is infinitely greater. Likewise, the joy that one must experience should they succeed in such circumstances, must touch any parent on a very deep level, possibly more than anything else experienced as a performer themselves.

Arctic temperatures, strong winds, intermittent rainfall,  failed to dampen the spirits of everyone involved in what was an inspirational experience for all of us who believe in the power sport has to unite people for a greater good. Cricket is a wonderful vehicle to help people to understand more about how to contribute effectively to a collective effort, as well as challenging each and every player physically and mentally to summon a peak performance when the moment arises for any player to respond to an important situation. There can be no more dramatic situation (and no greater test of a player’s temperament) than a match held in the balance, knowing that the result will determine a tournament, where only one wicket remains and a handful of runs are required. When the sun came out to grace the occasion in the final hour, one sensed that a more powerful force was celebrating the success too.

I feel inspired by so many elements of a wonderful experience this Easter. The game of cricket will remain healthy for years to come so long as we have young players with talent, ambition and respect for its history, spirit and ethos. As the late, great, Sir Donald Bradman once said:
‘‘May cricket continue to flourish, and spread its wings –
the world can only be richer for it’’