The ICC Academy Warriors will return to the UK in July and August, competing in the prestigious English Schools Cricket Association (ESCA) Schools Cricket Festival at Kings’ College in Somerset, the former school of English starlet Joss Buttler.
41 players will be representing the Warriors in Somerset, supported by the world class coaches from ICC Academy in Dubai, who’re currently preparing the teams for what they’ll face in the UK.
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During their time in Taunton, the Warriors will play against age group teams from several First Class County Cricket Clubs, including Gloucestershire, Yorkshire and Essex.
In addition, the ICC Academy Adult Warriors, supported by the Electron Group of Companies, will be travelling to Leicestershire, alongside another Under-13 Warriors group.
The adult team will play games against local club sides, with the Under-13s taking part in a Twenty20 competition, run by City Cricket Academy (CCA), who’re frequent visitors to the ICC Academy in Dubai. The Under-13 players will compete in 11 games, as well as pay a visit to the home of cricket, Lords.
ICC Academy Head of Development and former Pakistan star Mudassar Nazar will be overseeing these tours.
He said, “We think it’s crucial our young players develop their cricketing skills, not just at ICC Academy, but overseas as well, cricket is after all a global game.”
“The UK is home to some of the best cricket clubs in the world and the lessons our players will learn are sure to help them develop as cricketers. However, going on tour isn’t just about cricket, we think the skills they’ll learn away from home will help them to grow as individuals too.”
This is the second year of tours undertaken by the Warriors to the UK, last summer the Under-18 and Under-13 Gold and Silver Warriors both played several games and fixtures there. The popularity of that has enabled the ICC Academy roll out and even bigger programme this year.
Talking about the tour, ICC Academy Manager Will Kitchen said: “Whilst our players get to sample the world class facilities here at ICC Academy regularly, the experience they will get from playing in the UK will make a big impression and I’m sure the number of young players we enable to play overseas will continue to grow.”
The UK aside, the ICC Academy has previously organised tours to Kenya and Nepal. Regular tour updates can be found on the academy’s website, www.iccacademy.net.
For more information about the ICC Academy’s coaching programmes, courses and tournaments, or for information on rentals please call +971 (0) 44481355 or email info@iccacademy.net.