On 4th February, WCB and Edgbaston welcomed participants from five schools to the 2022 Lord’s Taverners Table Cricket Tournament. WCB Table Cricket Officer Andy Turnbull gave us his insight into the day.
“What I love most about table cricket,” enthuses Andy Turnbull, “Is how it enables young people, who maybe wouldn’t otherwise get the opportunity, to represent their school in an exciting external sports event. Table cricket is a pan-disability sport so participants with mixed needs can come and enjoy a day of competitive sport outside of their usual school day.”
“It’s been brilliant to welcome 40 participants from five schools to Edgbaston,” continues Andy. “The first and second placed teams will go through to the Lord’s Taverners regional final in April, but most importantly everyone has enjoyed the opportunity to be active and part of a competitive sporting event. Having been unable to hold the tournament last year due to Covid restrictions, it is particularly great to have everyone back here at Edgbaston for the first time since February 2020. Talking to some of the teachers, this is the first chance most of the participants have had to attend an event outside school for over two years, so it’s an important landmark for them.”
Andy has been responsible for organising the tournament between the following schools – Wilson Stuart, Fairfax, QAC Harborne, Sherbourne Fields in Coventry and Victoria School in Northfield. He also arranged for guest appearances by the Championship Trophy and Bob Willis Trophy, making another of their popular trips out of the Warwickshire silverware cupboard to a community event. They were joined by Gwenan Davies and Thea Brookes from the Central Sparks squad, who came along to the tournament after their own training session to meet players and try their hand at table cricket. Another very welcome visitor was Daryl Davies, incoming Lord’s Taverners West Midlands Chair, who spent time with the teams and presented the medals at the end of the tournament.
“It’s been a busy, intense, but enjoyable day,” admits Andy, after the tournament. “Previous national winners in 2017, Wilson Stuart School, won all of their four matches to take first place, with Fairfax School coming runners up. These two schools will now go on to represent Warwickshire in the Lord’s Taverners regional final in April. Congratulations to them and to all the other participants, who have come to Edgbaston and played the tournament in a great spirit. Whilst it has been a competitive day, it has also been brilliant to see team members meeting fellow participants from other schools, chatting, and helping each other out, even if they haven’t met before. This competition is about much more than table cricket skills.”
Table cricket is played on an adapted table tennis table. Teams consist of six players bowling six overs a side. Bowlers use a plastic ramp to send the ball down to the batter. They can choose whether to bowl with a straight ball or a biased ball that will swing the ball to the left or right. Each batter faces six balls, and scores runs depending on the area of the table they hit the ball to. Hitting the central areas scores one run, a hit to the side panels scores four runs, and reaching the back panel scores six runs. Fielders use a plastic rectangle which they place strategically to ‘catch’ the ball. If a batter misses the ball they are out. The scoring system is the same as in pairs cricket, starting on 200 runs, with runs deducted when given out.
For more information about Table Cricket, please contact Andy Turnbull, WCB Table Cricket Officer, at [email protected]
