Wanstead and Snaresbrook Cricket Club

Wanstead and Snaresbrook Cricket Club - Courtney Walsh Foundation

The Courtney Walsh Foundation
Wanstead and Snaresbrook Cricket Club is very pleased to announce the Courtney Walsh Foundation as the charity we shall support during 2012.

The Courtney Walsh Foundation works to provide opportunities for youths and for meaningful changes in their lives through cricket in Jamaica

The Foundation is a registered charity and will work in three main areas:

•Street20 Cricket - a fast moving, affordable and sustainable version of the game to be introduced to an initial 12 inner city communities.
•Disability Cricket - "enabling the disabled" will involve the development of cricket programmes for three categories of disability.  Visually impaired (blind), physically disabled (wheel chair) and learning disabled.
•Young Offenders project - using cricket in one of the juvenile correctional institutions to engage young offenders and support their transition from custody to community.

There are other long-term projects which will include the establishment of a Cricket Centre to develop further the skill base of various categories in the Foundation's programmes and the construction of infrastructural practice facilities in each adopted community.

At Wanstead we shall promote a variety of initiatives in support of the Foundation during 2012. 
Foundation Dinner June 2012

Wanstead & Snaresbrook Cricket Club had the great privilege of hosting our second Dinner in aid of the Foundation, with special guests Courtney Walsh, Michael Holding and John Altman.



The Club raised £2,940 for this worthy cause, and some very generous donations were also made.  We are very grateful to Lord Kamlesh Patel and Lord Gulam Noon for supporting the event.

Tahir Iqbal of Elite Event Caterers generously provided and presented the meal, and Fred Apps was the man behind the exquisitely drawn and framed illustrations which were raffle prizes.


   Many other people thoughtfully volunteered their help in very different ways.

All the pictures are here: do have a look.

Anjali Bamrah also shot some really exciting videos:

1    John Altman's jazzy, cool Amazing Grace

2    John Altman plays “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”.  Paul Newman (Daily Mail) Introduces the Question and Answer Session with those legendary fast bowlers Courtney Walsh & Michael Holding.

Their thoughts on the current West Indies Tour of England, player selection, whether West Indies can reproduce former glories, the future of West Indies cricket, West Indies Cricket Board, Dinesh Ramdin's celebration, & Darren Sammy and Captaincy



3   Q & A Session continued: 

Darren Sammy & captaincy (continued), Kevin Pietersen retiring from the shorter version of the game, do cricketers play too much cricket?



4    Q & A Session continued:

Usain Bolt as a cricketer, the importance of fitness, would we play in the IPL?  Should Gayle play for the West Indies? How to nurture a young fast bowler, Skysports commentators, Most enjoyable test victim, West Indies domestic cricket






Thanks very much, again, to all guests and members who attended the dinner and to all those who supported the occasion as volunteers.

Arfan Akram
Club Captain
June 2012

An Evening with Michael Holding



The club was delighted to host this event with Mr Michael Holding at the club's favourite restaurant Memsaheb-on-Thames on 19 September 2012, to raise funds for the tour to Jamaica in aid of the Courtney Walsh Foundation.

See the pictures here.
Kit For The Courtney Walsh Foundation
Kit For The Courtney Walsh Foundation

Next February an adult team and supporters from Wanstead will be touring in Jamaica in support of the Courtney Walsh Foundation, Wanstead’s 2012 charity.
The youngsters who receive help from the Foundation have very little cricket equipment or clothing.
When you replace your own or your child’s bat, pads, helmet, gloves or clothing, please do not throw the old kit away if it is usable and clean.
Please bring your unwanted cricket kit to the club when you come and we will arrange shipment to Jamaica.
Do contact Arfan Akram, club captain, if you have any questions.

Thank you.
Kingfisher Quiz
Kingfisher Quiz

In aid of the Courtney Walsh Foundation, Wanstead Cricket Club hosted a very successful curry and quiz evening on Thursday 5 April.  We were supported, in turn, by Kingfisher Beer, Lahore Kebab House and Matchroom Sport as well as, of course, all guests and members who attended.

Quiz host Arfan Akram started the evening with a brief background of “where the money raised will go”, and showed a video of the amazing work that is being done by the Courtney Walsh Foundation.  The club hopes to contribute to the community based, grassroots cricket activity by aiding a tour to Jamaica by EBB qualified coaches in 2013.

 

Kingfisher Beer, the new sponsors of the ECB Clubs Championship; Lahore Kebab House, who donated the tremendous food; and Matchroom Sport, with their donation of a snooker cue signed by Steve Davies, were the generous backers of the enjoyable evening.

The quiz was most definitely tough, with 8 rounds of questions being posed by famous cricketers via video.  After a tense tie-break, Keith Lloyd and his team from Snaresbrook Football Club went home with the prize of a case of Kingfisher Beer.

Mahesh Velani weighed in to win the snooker cue.

As well as raising awareness of the Courtney Walsh Foundation, the evening raised the huge sum of £986 which Foundation will use to enable less privileged people to receive access to the game we love.

Members will remember, of course, the dinner we held in 2010 which was graced by those legendary sports stars Michael Holding, Jahangir Khan and Courtney Walsh himself.  Later this summer we shall host a similar stellar event.

Wanstead Cricket Club appreciates greatly all thge contributions made by sponsors, guests and members.
Jamaica Tour, February 2013
Tour Report

Arfan Akram  February 2013

Wanstead & Snaresbrook Cricket Club travelled to Jamaica on their first overseas tour, generously supported by Ark plc. The objective of the tour was to help with the Courtney Walsh Foundation. The Jamaican cricket legend, Courtney Walsh, personally helped organise the tour, which as well as playing cricket matches also involved exploring the natural beauty that Jamaica has to offer.

The team arrived at Kingston airport on Thursday 14th February and spent the afternoon walking the sacred Sabina Park Cricket Ground turf followed by a relaxed evening at the Wyndham Hotel. Friday 15th was the Touristy day before their first matches on Saturday 16th. On the Saturday W&SCC participated in the inaugural Ashman T10 tournament in Comfort. The Herons lost their first match by 5 runs and then won the 2nd game by 5 wickets to finish 3rd in the tournament. The lads spent the rest of the day coaching the under-privileged young kids in the local area as well as handing out some of the donated cricket equipment.

On Sunday the team took on one of the strongest teams in the island, Lucas CC. The match was played in a very competitive spirit, W&SCC's Adnan Akram top scored with 70*, however the Herons lost by 4 wickets with the home side showing their quality.

Monday 18th was one of the most amazing experiences for the group as the morning was spent at the Bob Marley Museum which was then followed by playing a cricket match against the prison inmates at Tower Street Prison, in one of the most dangerous prisons in the world. There were a few hundred inmates watching and the whole experience started anxiously but ended with much mutual respect between the inmates, guards and members of W&SCC. The Inmates batted first in a cage cricket match in a 15 overs affair match. The prisoners scored 187, with opener Mr. Linton scoring a mammoth 140*. The Herons were never really in it, and eventually lost by 30 runs. Some say losing was the safest way of escaping alive.

Tuesday's match v Portlands CC and a disability coaching session was cancelled due to the poor weather. However Courtney Walsh managed to get a couple of the disability kids to play in the major match of the tour, W&SCC v the Courtney Walsh Foundation XI the following day. During the match the coaches spent time coaching and talking to the guys and sharing experiences and views. It really was inspiring. The match itself was a 'perfect performance' by the tourists. The Herons were invited to bat first by Courtney Walsh and batted very well; Arfan Akram scored 41 and then was out to the great man himself. Courtney definitely enjoyed seeing the back of Arfan mainly due to the amount of twitter stick Arfan gave Courtney pre tour, Courtney got the last laugh. Adnan Akram again continued his great form with the bat scoring 57 and was well supported by Matt Smith and Jay Williams before Zain Shahzad changed the game scoring 75* from 31 balls, leaving W&SCC with 275 from 40 overs, the perfect batting display was then followed by the perfect bowling performance. The unlikely hero with the ball was Dev Patel taking 3 for 28. Courtney Walsh was the last to fall, bowled by Asif Khan and the Herons won by 60 runs. Martin Pluck and Len Enoch during the presentation donated 3 full cricket bags worth of equipment to Courtney Walsh and Brian Breese (CWF Manager).

In typical Jamaican style, Martin Pluck (Chairman) and Arfan Akram (Captain) had been approached by Jason Henzell from Breds, Treasure Beach Foundation, a few days prior to ask if they fancied a T20 fixture. The two agreed to the kind offer and felt it would work perfectly as we can stop over on the journey to Negril.

Also in typical Jamaican style, we arrived at 10.45am thinking the match would start at 11am, to be told that we were to have lunch before the match and the match will start at 1pm. So we went to Jason's beautiful beach restaurant, Jack Sprats, and had lunch. We were also not told that current West Indian cricketers Jerome Taylor and Darren Powell were playing and opening the bowler, oh and also the match was being recorded for the National News. It's fair to say we came second in a two horse race. The Treasure Beach Pirates scored 160 for 8 with Fayyaz Khan the pick of the bowlers getting both Jerome Taylor (stumped Jay Williams) and Darren Powell (caught first ball) out. Both dismissals were shown on National News TV. The Herons sadly didn't bat as well, eventually all out for 72. However the hospitality and amazing location was definitely worth the visit.

The team then went on to Negril for a couple of days to relax and enjoy the Jamaican sun as well as some beach football and cricket before they reluctantly prepared themselves for the long flight back to London.

Note to Press - pictures to follow in a couple of days, awaiting official permission from the Jamaica authorities to pass picture from the Prison so they can be used for media purposes.

Quotes: Arfan Akram W&SCC captain: "The tour to Jamaica has been one of the greatest experiences, not many people can say they have played a game of cricket against prisoners in one of the most dangerous prisons in the world, let alone sit and talk to the inmates. This tour really could not have happened without the support of Michael Finlay from Ark Build Plc and Courtney Walsh. The Courtney Walsh Foundation really does go direct in to the community and work tirelessly giving positive change to those that feel have been forgotten in society"

Martin Pluck: Chairman "The whole trip has really touched all the tourists. They will go back to London as much better human beings. W&SCC take absolute pride in our commitment to the local community work we undertake in the East London area and now to have taken this to the international stage is something that we can really be proud off. Special thanks to everyone involved in making this cricket tour such a great success." Courtney Walsh CWFoundation President: "It really did give me great pleasure when Arfan Akram spoke to me early 2012 to say that Wanstead & Snaresbrook CC will be touring my beautiful country Jamaica to support my Foundation. I have visited Wanstead & Snaresbrook CC a few times in recent years including two amazing fund raising dinners and having had first hand experience of watching the amazing work they do in the local community gave me so much delight knowing they will be supporting the Foundation. I am now even more delighted that all 26 touring members have had an incredible time. Having spoke to most of the team, it really does please me that they have had such an incredible experience whilst in Jamaica. For me they are not the only ones who will have lasting memories, they touched so many hearts of those less priviliged in Jamaica these young people will never forget the visit. Already the visit has given me much motivation to continue the great work the Foundation does. I genuinly thank all the tourists and all the partners that have made the tour happen, we at the Courtney Walsh Foundation are honourd and touched and I hope our relationship continues for many years ahead." A comprehensive selection of photos from the tour is here.