DURBAN: The hundreds of students, many in school uniform, who watched the thrilling Twenty20 World Championships game between India and England at the Sahara Kingsmead Stadium were not there by chance or as paying spectators.
The excited learners who watched Yuvraj Singh write his way into the history books on Wednesday night by becoming the first player in the newest format of the game to hit six sixes in an over were specially selected by Cricket South Africa (CSA) to attend three matches.
A decision by CSA some months ago to introduce this new and exciting format of the game to youngsters living in areas where the Twenty20 matches would be played has proved to be a great success.
Each local cricket union was tasked with picking 500 youngsters to attend selected matches. The children were already familiar with cricket, having come through the Bakers Mini Cricket development system or from schools that play cricket.
The children are transported to the matches and receive a T-shirt, cap and refreshments and judging by their enthusiasm and excitement, this form of the game is without a doubt a huge hit.
In addition to these 500 children, a further 4000 tickets have been made available by CSA and the International Cricket Council for distribution to children from disadvantaged schools in the Durban area who have also been able to experience all the fun and action that is part of Twenty20.
Commenting on the issue, ICC chief executive officer Malcolm Speed said, "Having these children coming along and experience the excitement of international cricket first-hand is fantastic for South Africa and for the tournament.
"They help generate extra atmosphere in the ground and hopefully the thrills and spills of this type of cricket will encourage them to seek out the longer forms of the game, both as spectators and participants."
"They are the next generation of watchers and players in South Africa and with this encouragement to get involved in cricket they can help our strong sport grow even stronger."
