Players from Warwickshire and Worcestershire will be lending a helping hand as cricket clubs around the land to prepare for the new season.
It will not be the cricketing skills of Hick, Knight, Streak et al. that is utilised this weekend, however. Instead they will be required to take up paintbrushes and hammers as they redecorate pavilions, paint sightscreens and generally improve facilities for cricketers at grass roots level.
NatWest CricketForce is an ECB initiative aimed at rejuvenating the nation's cricketing facilities. Over 1,000 cricket clubs and an estimated 70,000 volunteers have signed up to take part in the nationwide scheme which, it is estimated, will generate between £20-25 million of investment into club cricket.
Warwickshire's Heath Streak, Jonathan Trott and Moeen Ali will visit Attock CC in Moseley. Trott said: "Many young players start at places like Attock CC. Without their youth systems, young cricketers would never get a chance."
Worcestershire quartet of Graeme Hick, Stephen Moore, Steven Davies and Richard Jones will spend the day at Swindon CC, helping to lay a new patio before attempting to hang curtains.
Hick said: "Ventures like this make a huge difference to the facilities available to young players. We all started at club level and it is vital that we do as much as we can to support the next generation." ..SUPL:
