BBC Sport Kwik Cricket Tournament 2003 is the biggest yet
The 2003 BBC Sport Kwik Cricket Tournament is now under way with games taking place in Primary Schools throughout England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
ECB Media Release
22-May-2003
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Over 5,500 schools will enter, making it cricket's biggest competition. With 10 children per team squad - teams must field at least one girl - over 55,000 boys and girls under the age of 11 will battle for the chance to appear in the National Final at the Trent Bridge international ground in Nottingham on Tuesday 15 July. An England player will preside over the final, in which 16 teams will contest for the title of national champions.
The champions will win a brand new set of playground markings worth up to £7,000 for their school.
David Leighton, ECB Primary Schools Development Manager, said: "We are delighted to have BBC Sport as sponsors of our hugely successful Kwik Cricket Tournament. The competition goes from strength to strength - we had record numbers last year and we anticipate even more teams taking part this summer, which demonstrates that cricket is very much alive in schools throughout the country.
"The playground markings are a fantastic prize. They transform what can be an uninspiring playground into a hive of sporting activity for all the children in the school to enjoy. The headmaster of the winning team will be delighted."
The 2003 BBC Kwik Cricket Tournament begins with local and district festivals (to be played by mid-June), with the winning teams progressing through to the county finals (to be played by late June). The victors of the county finals qualify for the regional finals (to be played by Friday 4 July), and the most successful will progress to the national final.
Playground markings
The playground markings and targets, devised by the ECB's Development Department, will not only encourage boys and girls to play sport in their breaks but will help teachers deliver the school curriculum.
Numbered targets will help with numeracy skills while the layout of the targets within the playground will facilitate more organised PE practice time. In addition, the brightly coloured markings will allow matches and training for a multitude of sports, including cricket, football, netball and hockey so a wide-range of sporting tastes can be catered for.
The markings will be installed by Highway Safety Systems, a Stockport-based Company which is the largest supplier and installer of pre-formed playground markings in the UK, thus ensuring that they will be of the highest quality.
Kwik Cricket - the rules
The two teams toss a coin to decide which team has the choice of either batting or fielding first.
Games consist of one innings per team, each innings to be eight overs long. The batting side is divided into pairs, each pair batting for two overs, with a new pair starting at the end of the second, fourth and sixth overs.
Each team starts batting with a score of 200 runs. Each time a batter is out, five runs are deducted and the other batter of the pair faces the next ball. A batter may be out bowled, caught, run out, stumped, hit wicket. There is no LBW rule unless the batter deliberately blocks the ball with a leg or foot.
Runs will be scored in the normal way, as will byes. Two runs will be awarded to the batting team for each wide ball and no-ball bowled, but no extra ball will be allocated, except in the final over of each innings when, in addition to the two runs, an extra ball will be bowled.
At the end of the first two overs, the first pair of batters retires and are replaced by the second pair until all four pairs have batted for two overs each. The second team then bats for its eight overs.
Each player on the fielding side must bowl one over and bowling will take place from one end only (bowling over-arm where possible). Players on the fielding side do not need to rotate fielding positions. With the exception of the wicketkeeper, no fielder is allowed within 10 yards of the batter until the ball is played by the batter.
The team with the higher score wins. In the event of a tie the team taking more wickets will be the winner. If it is still equal, each player bowls one ball at the wickets (no batter), with the team scoring the higher number of strikes the winner.
2003 BBC Sport Kwik Cricket Tournament dates
County Finals: Bedfordshire - 24/06/2003 - Flitwick CCC Berkshire - 25/06/2003 - Wokingham CC Buckinghamshire - 17/06/2003 - tbc Cambridgeshire - 01/07/2003 - Clare College sports Grd Cheshire - 02/07/2003 - Warrington Sports Club Cornwall - 18/06/2003 - St Austell Cricket Club Cumbria - 20/06/2003 - Keswick Cricket Club Derbyshire - 27/06/2003 - Harehay CC Devon - 20/06/2003 - Newton Abbot Dorset - 10/06/2003 - Bryanston School Durham - 16/06/2003 - County Ground Riverside Essex - 03/07/2003 - Billericay Gloucestershire - 25/06/2003 - Cheltenham Cricket Club Hampshire - 25/06/2003 - The Rose Bowl Herefordshire - 19/06/2003 - Luctonians CC Hertfordshire - 25/06/2003 - Shenley Cricket Centre Huntingdonshire - 25/06/2003 - Hinchingbrooke School Isle of White - date tbc - Newport Kent - 06/07/2003 - St Lawrence Ground Lancashire - 26/06/2003 - Old Trafford Leics & Rutland - 18/06/2003- Grace Road Lincolnshire - 21/06/2003 - Hartsholme CC London - 24/06/2003 - Walker Ground;Southgate Middlesex - 03/07/2003 - Lord's Norfolk - 24/06/2003 - Horsford County Cricket Ground Northamptonshire - 25/06/2003 - The County Ground Northumberland - 20/06/2003- South North CC Nottinghamshire - 30/06/2003 - Boots Sports Ground Oxfordshire - 27/06/2003 - Rover Sports Club Shropshire - date tbc - Wellington CC Somerset - 08/06/2003 - Country Ground, Taunton Staffordshire - 24/06/2003 - Cannock CC Suffolk - 30/06/2003 - Woolpit Surrey - 08/07/2003 - The Oval Sussex - 24/06/2003 - Horsham CC Wales - tbc Warwickshire - date tbc - Kenilworth Wardens CC Wiltshire - 27/06/2003 - Devizes Worcestershire - 16/06/2003 - County Ground, Worcester Yorkshire - tbc
Regional Finals:
East - 08/07/2003 - Bury St Edmunds
East Midlands - 07/07/2003 - Boots Sports Ground
North - 25/06/2003 - Graham Sports Centre, Maidens Castle
North East - 04/07/2003 - Headingley Cricket Club
North West - 07/07/2003 - Warrington Sports Club
Northern Ireland - 24/06/2003 - Ballymena CC
Scotland - 24/06/2003 - Stirling County CC
South - 03/07/2003 - Rover Sports Club, Oxford
South East - 09/07/2003 - East Grinstead CC
South West - 27/06/2003 - Newton Abbot
Wales South - 9/7/03 - Aberystwyth CC
Wales North - 4/7/03 - Sophie Gardens
West Midlands - 02/07/2003 - Wallsall Cricket Club
National Final:
Tuesday 15 July, Trent Bridge (Nottingham)