Hampshire Cricket Offer New Coaching Opportunities For Inner City Cricketers A new partnership between Hampshire Cricket and Cantell School in Southampton is providing new high level coaching to promising young cricketers. The Inner City State School Partnership will see a number of elite level coaching sessions hosted for young state school cricketers with high potential. The partnership will see Hampshire Cricket utilise Cantell’s facilities to run the sessions with the aim of ensuring young people in inner city areas have an equal opportunity to access cricket coaching. Young players are invited to sessions via nomination through the Hampshire Cricket Board and the Lord’s Taverner’s ‘Wicketz’ programme. Hampshire Cricket Head of Player Development, Charlie Freeston said: “We are delighted to partner with Cantell School. This has been created to ensure that young players identified through the programme gain access to high level individual coaching sessions run by Elite Level 4 professional coaches. “For many reasons, many of these players would not filter into our current pathway systems so this programme has been created to ensure an equal opportunity for those who may be disadvantaged from gaining normal access to cricket coaching and County pathways.” Wicketz is a cricket programme initially aimed at young people aged 8-19, living in areas with high levels of poverty. It provides year-round weekly cricket sessions as well as workshops that teach vital life skills. Hampshire Director of Cricket Giles White said: “This is an exciting new initiative that links the professional game in Hampshire with the excellent work done through the Wicketz programme setup by the Lord’s Taverners and the Hampshire Cricket Board. The aim is to reach a broader pool of players and to give them entry and opportunity to the professional game.” Cantell School Headteacher Harry Kutty said: “We’re really passionate about this programme, it opens elite level instruction to a more diverse audience and to young people who might not otherwise have the opportunity to access such coaching. What Hampshire are offering with this Inner City State School Partnership needs to be copied up and down the country.’’