E.C.B Academy youngsters raise funds for their Isle of Wight trip

The E.C.B. Regional Academy at the County Ground in Taunton is now in full swing, and as part of their course a group of the young players are busy raising sufficient funds to finance a cricket tour to the Isle of Wight this coming summer.

Director Mark Garaway told me: "I had just decided to take a group of our younger Academy players and potential recruits to the Isle of Wight to take part in the Under 16 Festival when an invitation came to me from Ventnor Cricket Club to take a side over to play a game to mark the opening of their new pavilion and cricket facilities."

The match to commemorate the opening of the new facilities at Ventnor Cricket Club, which is Mark's old club, takes place on Sunday August 17th the day before the start of the Isle of Wight Under 16's Festival.

Mark continued: "What we have decided to do is to take a slightly older side that will include the likes of Neil Edwards to play against Ventnor and then the younger players will stay on for the rest of the week to play in the festival."

He concluded: " Ventnor is my home and I have always wanted to take a side back to play against them, but funding has been the problem. However as part of their Athletic Career Advice (ACE) studies the Academy players have a module entitled sponsorship and fund raising, so the group have set up a committee to set about raising the £3000 they require to go on the trip, which is an excellent way of putting the theory into practice for their own benefit."