As the first team roll back into The County Ground for 2023 preparation, there is plenty of activity around Wantage Road, especially in the community team.

It’s great to take this time to visit local Northamptonshire cricket clubs and see the improvements they have made over the last year or so. One such club is Wellingborough OGs who have utilised the county grant fund to improve their bar area and create a more welcoming environment.

If you need any information on the county grant fund and how to access funding, then please contact jim.hawkins@nccc.co.uk or patricia.hankins@nccc.co.uk.

It’s Black History Month this month and so it was great to see our 2022 media player of the year, Emilio Gay, join a group of young cricketers for a special tour of The Oval to celebrate.

Emilio is an ambassador for Chance to Shine who organised the event and created a fantastic video below:

You can read more about the great work Emilio is doing with Chance to Shine here.

As mentioned in the previous catch-up, Northamptonshire Women’s cricketer Josie Groves has been called up to play for England in the U19 T20 tournament in January.

We caught up with Josie to find out what her emotions were like when she received the news:

“I was sat on my bed after school and a number came up on my phone” said Josie on how she found out the news.

“I almost didn’t pick up, but I’m glad I did because it was Richard Bedbrook telling me I had been selected into the 15 travelling to South Africa!”

“I don’t remember much after that, but I do remember running into the hallway after the call and yelling ‘guess who’s got a plane ticket to South Africa for the World Cup in January’β€œ

Read the full article about Josie’s amazing achievement here.

As always, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved in cricket over the winter as the community team are busy delivering all through the colder months.

There is still time to book onto a range of coaching courses starting this weekend and running through to 2023. Kick start your career in cricket coaching and explore courses here.

In collaboration with Lord’s Taverners, Steelbacks in the Community run free, weekly cricket sessions for players with all disabilities. The sessions provide coaching, the chance to compete and the benefits of playing sport and achieving wider outcomes.

For more information as to how to get involved, please email pratic.rachh@nccc.co.uk.

The Steelbacks in the Community mailing list is beginning to take shape and so please do sign up here to get all of the latest news from the cricketing community in Northamptonshire.

The Community Round-up is proudly supported by the Steelbacks in the Community Principal Partner – Cummins.