The Drax Cup 2010 was officially launched today (Tuesday 30 March 2010) by Yorkshire Club Captain Andrew Gale and current cup holders Westville House Primary School from Ilkley.

Now in its fourth year, the Drax Cup is the biggest cricket competition for the Under 9s age group in the country. Last year, some 350 schools and 3,500 boys and girls across Yorkshire took part.

Andrew Gale is ambassador for the Drax Cup 2010 together with TV presenter Harry Gration.

Andrew said: “Cricket in schools faces competition from many other sports, like football and rugby, so the Drax Cup is a terrific way to get children excited about the game and grow interest at grassroots level across the region. Cricket is also a great sport to help kids stay fit and healthy.

“Yorkshire is a hotbed for cricketing talent so I’ll be following the tournament as it unfolds and looking out for tomorrow’s cricketing stars.”

The competition is sponsored by Drax Power Limited and organised by The Yorkshire County Cricket Club in conjunction with Yorkshire Cricket Board and Yorkshire Schools’ Cricket Association.

Melanie Wedgbury from Drax said: “We’re delighted that the Drax Cup attracts more and more schools every year.

“Youth sport and education are two important themes of our support for the local community and this competition brings both together by enabling children to participate and support their learning. “

The Drax Cup supports the ‘Every Child a Writer’ and ‘Every Child a Reader’ programmes introduced by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) by encouraging team members to write match reports to be read out in school. This year, tickets for Yorkshire Twenty20 matches will be awarded as prizes for the best match reports.

The tournament follows a cluster festival format and the finals will be played at Headingley Carnegie Stadium on Sunday 4 July prior to Yorkshire v Warwickshire in the Friends Provident Twenty20 Cup.

The sponsorship by Drax is part of Drax’s Cricket in the Community scheme which also provides cricket coaching to schools.

For full details and competition rules visit www.yorkshireccc.com/draxcup.

For more information, please contact:

Melanie Wedgbury
Head of External Affairs, Drax Power 01757 618381

Lisa McGauley/Samantha Addie
Imagen PR 01943 468778

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Notes to editors

1. Drax operates Cricket In The Community, a scheme designed to provide cricket coaching in primary schools as part of the company’s support for education and to promote sports learning as part of the National Curriculum, which is supported by Yorkshire Cricket Board.

2. Drax has three ECB-qualified cricket coaches among its employees and also works with Katherine Brunt, 2009 Cricket World Cup winner and member of the successful England women’s Ashes team in 2005 and 2007.

3. Under 9s cricket is played with a softball and uses Kwik Cricket Equipment bats and stumps. It is an 8-a-side pairs game with each innings of 16 overs played on a wicket 17 yards long and the boundary set at a maximum 25 yards.

Melanie Wedgbury from Drax and Andrew Gale, Yorkshire County Cricket Club Captain and Drax Cup 2010 ambassador with current cup holders Westville House Primary School from Ilkley.