It may be the middle of winter but more than 200 kids from seven different Penrith primary schools tried their hand at cricket this morning as part of the Milo T20 Blast Tournament.
The popular tournament, which is designed to encourage kids to play more cricket, saw Year 5 and 6 students from multiple local schools face off against one another.
“They play four games across the day, there’s no final, they just go out there and have a good time,” said Jonathan Lees, Senior Development Officer of Cricket NSW Sydney Outer-West Region.
“It’s participation-based, so every kid can have a go even if they’re not the best cricketers. It’s just about getting as many kids as possible playing cricket.”
Ben Eggins, Year 6 teacher at York Public School, said his school often competes in the Milo T20 Blast Tournament.
“It’s something we participate in regularly. It’s good fun for the kids, it keeps them active and involved in cricket,” he said.
Mr Eggins added the success of the tournament is often translated back at the school playground during lunch time.
“During summer in Terms 1 and 4, there’s lots of games of cricket going on in the playground,” he said.
“Kids come back to school, after seeing how fun it is, wanting to be the next Glenn McGrath.”
Due to the success of the day, Mr Lees was hopeful more kids will join a local cricket club.
“We often get a good response after an event like this. We distribute information about different clubs in the local area as well as different programs we are running, and we often get a lot of new children.”
The next Milo T20 Blast Tournament will take place in St Clair on August 14.
