Burns' Eye View

Sporting impressario and London County Foundation Member Barry Hearn is the Main Sponsor of the London County Prestige Match  between ‘Hutton’s Xl’ and ‘Compton’s Xl’ for highly promising young (Under 13) cricketers from the north, and the south of England The match is being played at The Denis Compton Oval, Shenley on 1st and 2nd September, 2011.

He joins Monty Panesar and Gemaal Hussain as sponsors of the Special Event, which is designed to identify and develop future talent for ‘top-class’ cricket.

Barry Hearn’s Matchroom organisation have been instrumental in transforming many sports over several decades and as Chairman of the company, the popular Essex-based self-confessed ‘sports nut’  has been central to identifying and developing sporting and commercial talent, and providing the platform for it to succeed.

Matchroom’s support of London County has come through the long-standing friendship between Barry and myself, since we first met when I was a young wicket-keeper/batsman at Essex in the 1980′s during Essex’s golden spell of Championship-winning days under the captaincy of Keith Fletcher, and then England legend Graham Gooch. At the same time, Barry was busy with another Essex and England sporting success, the legendary Steve Davis, who became the six-time World Snooker Champion.

However, Cricket has always been a deep passion for the fun-loving Chairman of so many sporting organisations these days that it is hard to keep up with him and his zest for life. Leyton Orient, PDC Darts, World Snooker, PGA Europro Tour Golf, Poker, Fish-0-Mania, and marathon running to name but a few.

Barry’s son Eddie, himself a fine cricketer and former Essex Schools All-Rounder, is now playing a major role at Matchroom’s Essex-based headquarters, and is delighted to add his weight to the opportunity London County Cricket Club is creating for highly promising young cricketers to play quality Cricket, on good grounds, under the watchful eye of experienced Cricket people.

Barry Hearn and the Matchroom team are a passionate group of fun people who love their sport. It is great to have them on board as a sponsor of young cricketers to help nurture the future generation of England cricketers to maintain England’s push to remain at the summit of the game.

Barry, I thank you and all of your great team…

Panesar and Hussain Back London County Prestige Match:

Two of English Cricket’s leading Asian cricketers are sponsoring a London County Prestige Match for Under 13 cricketers at The Denis Compton Oval, Shenley this week.

England spinner Monty Panesar and Somerset opening bowler Gemaal Hussain have generously sponsored the two teams who are playing in a unique challenge match on 1st and 2nd September between ‘Young Gentlemen of the North’ and ‘Young Gentlemen of the South’ over two days.

The match will be known as ‘Hutton’s Xl’ v ‘Compton’s Xl’, as part of the process of adding some cricket history to the modern youngster’s development.

The two professional bowlers are delighted to be lending their support to London County, who, as a private Cricket Club, are the organisers of this unique invitation event. For under 13 cricketers to play in a 2-Day format and be observed by experienced professional coaches on such a superb ground helps make the event so special.

Panesar, Sussex’s leading wicket-taker this season, said that he was delighted to contribute towards the cost of staging the match in his role as a London County International Ambassador:

 ‘‘I have been so impressed by the quality of the work done by Neil Burns and Richard Baxter in creating the London County Colts Programme and  giving young cricketers, some of whom come from less-advantaged backgrounds, an opportunity to develop excellence in Cricket. I have enjoyed working with some of the young players this season at some of the London County Colts matches, and the Player Development Workshops I have attended on days off from my Sussex commitments.

I believe that some of the spinners have genuine potential. Kush Patel, Jan Gray, Baz Medlycott, and Nathan Baxter all bowled very well in the Bedser’s Xl v Morris’s Xl Celebration game we staged last month to celebrate two of the world’s great cricketers, and the special bond of friendship the pair enjoyed.

Neil Burns also has high hopes for Jay Ghelani, a left arm chinaman and googly bowler from Cambridgeshire and Jahed Mia, a left arm spinner from Tower Hamlets.”

Hussain meanwhile is backing the project because he believes in the process Neil Burns has created at London County, to develop cricketers in a different way, having been a beneficiary of London County’s Search 4 a Star Programme in 2005 and 2006. When he was a student and  dreaming of playing professional cricket he turned up at Lord’s for the ‘Pop Idol 4 Cricket’ style event, which launched him to stardom in the professional game.

After being Gloucestershire’s Player of the Year in 2010 and the leading English First-Class bowler with 67 wickets @ 22 apiece, Hussain moved to Somerset in the close season, where he took his career best figures of 6-32 against Worcestershire earlier this season.

Sadly, Hussain’s season has been blighted by an ankle injury but he hopes to be back for the climax to Somerset’s end of season push for a first County Championship title and a CB40 Final appearance at Lord’s to add to his remarkable story as a ‘late developer’.

Hussain said: ‘ Neil Burns and everyone involved with London County are committed to developing people to grace the game. Their focus is on personal development as well as cricket development, and the experiences I have benefitted from have been numerous. To think that in 2006, myself, Tim Linley and Alex Hales went to Neil’s Academy in Cape Town and also on the London County Overseas Tour, and now, we are all enjoying success in English Cricket. It is a dream come true.

I want to enable others to benefit from the same opportunities I have enjoyed by sponsoring these youngsters to be part of a ‘London County Experience’ ’’

Neil Burns added that he was thrilled that two top professionals wanted to put back into the game in such a way:

 ‘‘ Top Sportspeople can play a major role inspiring the next generation of stars by setting the right example when they are on their stage, but to have two modern players so committed to sponsoring youngsters and their development is wonderful. FOR ENGLAND TO REMAIN NUMBER ONE IN THE WORLD, we need to invest wisely in our future generations and allow more people, from all backgrounds, to enjoy access to greater opportunity to pursue excellence in Cricket, so that England can continue to steal a march its competitors in world cricket.

In our own ‘different’ way, London County continues to add value to the game by creating special experiences for talented young people to develop themselves, on and off the field of play.’’

If any individual would like to come and observe some future stars in the making, they are most welcome to pop down to The Denis Compton Oval at Shenley today and tomorrow and be part of what promises to be a magical experience for all involved.

Last Thursday, I attended a special fund-raising event for Murali’s Foundation for Goodness at Shenley, hosted by his dear friend Glucka Wijesuriya.

What a man and what a project he has started.

Raising 5.5 million USD is a major undertaking but I would not bet against the magician winning another one of his major battles in life.

Murali is an exceptional human being and I hope that he can make the difference to the people in the north of Sri Lanka’s lives in the manner he hopes to. How wonderful it is when cricketers and other sportspeople are so committed to life beyond their own world.