Communities come together for inaugural Mayor’s Cricket Cup

From left: Chloe Throw, David Richardson, Balbir Selmer, Luke Gillam and Ramesh Parmar who together made up Team Ali

England may have lost the Ashes, but there was something to celebrate for Adil Rashid as his team won the inaugural Mayor’s Cricket Cup at Edgbaston.

The cup, hosted by Andy Street, saw both younger and older generations from across the West Midlands come together for a fantastic day of cricket on the hallowed turf at Edgbaston, with the aim of bringing communities together.

The 10 teams, which were a mixture of older and younger generations with around 80 people taking part, were named after current England stars.

Team Rashid emerged as the eventual winners of the Mayor’s Cricket Cup at Edgbaston

After four hours of cricket in the Birmingham sunshine yesterday, it eventually came down to Team Buttler against Team Rashid, with the latter coming out victorious.

Andy Street, the Mayor of the West Midlands and a keen cricket fan, said: “It was a brilliant day at Edgbaston and I hope every participant – young and old – had a thoroughly good time.

“With cricket very much in the public eye at the moment following England’s thrilling World Cup victory and the closely-fought Ashes contest, I thought it would be great to get communities together for a day of cricket in the sunshine.

“Sport has the unique power to unite, and with girls and boys and men and women of all ages and all backgrounds at Edgbaston yesterday, I think we showcased that.

“A special thank you must go to Edgbaston and Warwickshire County Cricket Club for providing the venue and the equipment, as well as arranging the timings and the structure of the tournament. The umpires and coaches ran the tournament with military precision, and they were ably supported by the Edgbaston volunteers.

“I must also thank Martin Levermore of MDTi for sponsoring the event and Holiday Inn Birmingham for supplying the snacks for the hungry competitors.”

Birmingham Bears and Warwickshire star Sam Hain presented the trophy to the winning team alongside Mr Street, and he stayed to take photographs and meet the participants.

Balbir Seimar, (pictured above)who played in the event on Team Ali, said: “I was a bit nervous when I came but it was great sportsmanship, with the youngsters and the older people supporting each other and encouraging each other to do well. I really enjoyed it.”

The Mayor’s Cricket Cup was supported by Warwickshire County Cricket Club, which provided professional coaches and umpires on the day alongside the equipment.

Ravinder Masih, the Head of Community Engagement and Government Relations at Warwickshire Country Cricket Club, said: “It has been a fantastic summer of cricket at Edgbaston with the stadium hosting five incredible Cricket World Cup games, an Ashes test and the upcoming T20 Finals Day. But there is something special about being able to add the Mayor’s Cricket Cup into that mix.

“The Edgbaston Foundation was delighted to work with Andy Street to make his aspiration a reality, and to create an intergenerational community initiative that encouraged young and old to get active and follow in the footsteps of their heroes by playing on the outfield at Edgbaston.

“Congratulations to Team Rashid who were worthy winners in the end, but I hope everyone who turned up on the day had a brilliant time and have made memories to last a lifetime.”